Kyocera Finecam S4

Opinion: Even though this camera takes clear quality pictures, the battery life is terrible.

I would say the longest this camera has gone without the battery dieying 30 mins- 1 hour and it wasent continusly used in that time. im not joking.

Please do not buy this camera.

Opinion: I have had the Kyocera S4 for a little over 18 months now - I bought it brand new when it was first available in the shops of London (£399.00 online)

The build quality is fantastic and there has been little or no noticeable damage to the casing or mechanisms in the time I have had it. This includes trips into the Arctic Circle, American Continent, Australasia etc - it has flown well over 100,000 miles since then and has been fine.

I have found my image quality to be better and better the more I have used it. Camera shake aside, the images are generally very clear, the colours fully saturated, and those I have printed have been of stunning clarity and colour.

The focusing mechanism is a little lazy and slow in low light and your distance to target may need to be modified by a small adjustment in either your position to target or zoom length to gain a quick focus. This can be troublesome - but by no means detracts from the camera enough to say it is a 'problem'

Once you have set your features, it can be a very useful point and shoot camera...

The Battery life can suffer if you do a lot of flash work...but generally, the battery will last a day (100-150 images) withouit needing a recharge...always remember to observe the golden rule and carry a spare battery - just in case...it has saved my life on many occasions...not literally...

I love this camera and would recommend it to anyone wanting a small, 'good' picture taker...professionals need not apply as this will not satisfy your needs - but for thopse who want a good starter camera - I can't think of anything better...

As mentioned in an earlier review - the price has come down due to the S5 being available - though for me, a quick comparison leads me to keep my S4 due to it's better 'RAW' image quality ability and a few other things...

Anyway - happy shooting...

Opinion: This was a very poor buy, even at 50 percent off at 350 euros. The problem is focusing. It doesn't. It is a very pretty and small package and fits in a pocket easily, but so is my mobile. If it didn't have to take pictures, it would be a desirable toy. Panorama, architectural and portrait shots all produced pictures with unacceptably fuzzy outlines. The colours were very faithful, but really, only in Macro mode were the results impressive. I am comparing with the Olympus Camedia C220z and the Nikon Coolpix 2000, both of which are better at doing the main task - taking pictures. The camera has a previous generation feel to it (hence discount). "Luckily", it broke after a month and I can use my refund to buy something else.

Opinion: HAVING USED NUMEROUS DIGITAL CAMERAS OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS,I CAME ACROSS THIS LITTLE BEAUTY FROM KYOCERA.I CANNOT FAULT IT-BUILD QUALITY SHOULD PUT K---K TO SHAME,PICTURE QUALITY IS LIFELIKE,AND FIND BATTERY LIFE TO BE MORE THAN ADEQUATE.CANNOT FAULT THIS LITTLE GEM!!

Opinion: i enjoy this camera very much.
the pictures are colorfull and sharp

Opinion: The main strength of this camera is its compact size. It is only slightly more bulky than my tiny Canon IXUS APS film camera, so I can carry it on my belt at all times. Its small size and light weight may make camera shake an issue, but this is largely a question of technique. The S4 seems very well put together, witha nice solid feel in the hand.

Though it can be used straight out of the box, this camera, as ever, will deliver better results if you take the time to read the manual and change any settings you need to.

I found the flash to be adequate, but I have had disappointing results using fill-in flash in daylight with backlit subjects. The metering doesn't seem to be able to cope with this task. All shots taken with flash seem to have a shutter speed of 1/64th second. Most of the time I get better results using ambient light and coping with the long exposure times.

There is an appreciable (1/4 second?) lag for each exposure, which is occasionally obtrusive for fast moving subjects.

I found the battery life to be quite shockingly short where the camera is left on. In practice, I tend to only turn on the camera when I actually need to take a shot, so, start-up lag aside, I can get a day's active shooting done before a charge is needed.

Though some manual control is possible, I find the need to scroll through the control-screens disruptive. I you want more than a point-and-shoot you should also look at a more pro-sumer orientated camera before buying. The price of this camera seems to be dropping quite fast. I paid £399 in Nov 2002, and I've recently since seen it for £50 less. Shop around.

The S4 is capable of quite impressive results. I have posted some shots here:
http://radio.weblogs.com/0100278/gems/gallery7.htm

I'm not completely convinced by the absolute capabilities of the camera in terms of over-all image quality, but my images are improving as I continue to use the camera. If you are looking for a well-built camera which you can carry everywhere, the S4 may be what you are looking for. It is almost a year old, so either try to get a good deal, or take a look at more recent cameras before you buy.

Update: I've downgraded my build quality rating of this camera as it has just died on me. (It's taking completely black pictures).

I bought the camera on 11/11/2002 and it failed terminally on 22/06/04, so it lasted less than 20 months and around 4,440 shots.

In reality, it lasted less time than this, as the reliability of the autofocus got worse and worse over the last several months.

I'm very disappointed. I was expecting obsolescence, of course, but to die after less than two years is lousy, especially as I bought the (not cheap) camera on the basis of it's build quality. I suppose a less well built camera could possibly have failed sooner, but I'll never know.

This experience hasn't made me any more likely to buy a Kyocera in the future.

Opinion: Wonderful digtial camera.
Super high pic quality! (4.0 Mpixels)
Zoomlens, digital zoom support
Small, compact, light (sigarette)
Solide metal body and cover
Quick starup up
quick flats ready (6 sec)
Battery longlife (about 150 pict)
Clear tft display 1.5 inch
Quite while working

Opinion: This camera too bad,don't buy.

Opinion: I tried FOUR different units of this camera and in each case I was unable to read/write SD cards other than the 16MB card that comes with the camera. I tried a 32MB card, 4 64MB cards and 128MB card, and in each case the camera reports "Card Error" - either immediately, or after taking one or two pictures.