When I was a kid and fascinated with photography, I was given several cameras over the years. I did the usual kid stuff, some pretty good I thought, but the film threading, mechanical adjustments and processing hassles and costs lost me. During my last two decades of world travels I passed up wonderful opportunities to take pictures of exotic locales. I had neither the required professional skills nor the time to assiduously study and practice the art of photography. The technology was too complicated. Yet, the interest lingered on.
Two years ago a Fuji ad caught my eye. It was the first 1.5 million pixel camera that did so much for amateurs. No film. No threading. No processing. The warmth of technolust surged over me. I had to have it. I got it. I learned plenty. A few months later, the MX-2700 with 2.3 million pixels hit the market and FotoFun the Fuji outlet in New Westminster, had me as their biggest free-spending customer. I learned even more. Four months later Fuji delivered the MX-4700 to the world. We might as well have married. It never left my side. Today, I take it EVERYWHERE.
The consummate skill that most professional photographers acquire over 20 or 30 years of hard work is now built right into the digital camera. If you can point and press the silver button you've almost always got a great picture.
Go no further. Click this link to the Fuji world website and see for yourself.
Here's another great example of just-in-time learning.
On the Fuji website click the "Super CCD" logo to get Fuji's Super CCD Mini-Movie which illustrates why this camera is so sensational and provides 2400 by 1800 pixels of high quality resolution.
Click on: javascript:newWindow('superccd.html") and receive -- in simple pictures -- what the latest Fuji technology can do for you. There, you've just saved wasting two years of your life learning the hard way.
This camera is G R E A T !
A dial on the top of the camera guarantees a professional picture. The dial presents several selections. For night pictures (ever watched professional photographers spend an hour setting up for a single shot?), mountain shots, portrait, standard, manual (for people who simply have to have another dial to turn to) and a simultaneous triple shot that provides under-exposed, over-exposed, and a perfectly exposed version. It also handles Macro (close-up) shots between 20 cm (7 inches) and 80 cm (30 inches). Adobe PhotoShop lets you become a digital computer generating graphic artist. It isn't that simple, but half the work of becoming a real photographer has been eliminated.
The last selection on the dial is for video shoots. The MX-4700 allows an 80-second instant video clip that you can sell to CNN for mega bucks if you capture the right sequence. THEN you are a professional.
An optional extra just available is the Fuji MG-64S (64 MGB chip) Smart Media image memory card. It can hold 1,000 pictures. It's not cheap, but that's all you need for that whole two-week vacation shooting. It can take up to six minutes of broadcast quality video! Pictures can be edited right in the camera or later on your computer screen. One other point. Use the best batteries. For this camera it requires two (2) AA cells but they must be nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) or Ni-Cd. I recommend the Ni-MH and make sure you get those with the 1600 long-pwer rating.
Now are you famous or what?
Start buying more storage space for your computer. You can now get 20-gigabyte hard drives for under $200 (US$130). Buy it you will need it.
More great technology and information on the next page of your Dr. Tomorrow's Digital Diary.
This story contains video.
