Used from 2002 - 2004  

My foray into the world of digital photography  started in 2002, I bought my first digital point and shoot camera -- a Fujifilm Finepix 2800 Zoom. No more film, no more development. But I still took horrible pictures. However, I could shoot all day, or at least until my 16 mb SD card got full. I used this point and shoot camera until it broke (yup, after two years, the lens broke clean off the body). The Fuji sported a 2 megapixel sensor plus a 6x optical plus, autofocus zoom lens. It Included a 16 MB Smartmedia card that could store up to 39 images at default resolution. Wow.

During the time I had the Fujifilm Finepix (2002 to 2004), I would take a lot a pictures. 3,910 pictures, give or take. I shot like I did with the old film cameras... not a lot of thought went into the images. Most of the images were of the family, the kids, shots around the house. I did very little experimentation, which I suppose was due largely to the limitations of the camera. Taking pictures was just perfunctory, as in "Oooh, a birthday party, let me take picture." Occasionally, I would actually compose a shot - but those are the exceptions. Nonetheless, the pictures I took in these early years are precious. I've kept every one, no matter how bad. I wish I took more! Below are some of the images from the Fuji before I broke it.

Camera Review: I just can't remember much. I do recall it was very light with a good zoom range. It was small, but very boxy. I recall that it produced sharp images. At the time, I thought the images were pretty good, but by today's standards, they are lacking. You can produce a decent photo up to about 8x10. Anything beyond that turns to mush.

Camera Specifications: * 2.1-megapixel CCD delivering image resolutions as large as 1,600 x 1,200 pixels. * 6x, 6-36mm lens (equivalent to a 38-228mm zoom on a 35mm camera) * Digital enlargement to 2.5x, depending on image resolution size * 1.8-inch LCD monitor * Electronic optical viewfinder * Full automatic exposure control. Shutter speeds range from 1/1,500 to 1/2-second * Apertures range from f/2.8 to f/8.2 * Adjustable white balance with seven settings * Sensitivity equivalent to ISO 100 * Built-in flash with five modes * 10-second self-timer * Movie mode (with sound) and Voice Captioning function * Continuous Shooting mode. Images saved in JPEG format to SmartMedia card (16-megabyte card included) * Power from four AA batteries or AC adapter (separate accessory) * USB cable for high speed connection to a computer * Interface software compatible with both PC and Mac platforms