Setup is pretty straight forward. Pop in the included SmartMedia card, put the batteries in, and start taking pictures. As for the software, drag and drop a couple drivers, install the image reader, and your off, simple as that. However, you may want to read the user manual before getting too into it, as you may find yourself totally lost unless you have a good understanding of what everything does.

The first thing you must get used to is the controls. Odd icons and names can make it difficult at first, but memorization comes quick. After a couple dozen shots, you get to know pretty much what every button does, and how to use them wisely. However, you will probably still have to refer to the manual from time to time, and just play with it at first to see what all of these little things can do.

Nearly everything you do uses the LCD display. While the 1.6 inch display is a little on the small side, it provides an excellent way to preview exactly what you are going to get, both before, and after the picture. Unlike many digital cameras, the FinePix 1300 allows you to adjust the brightness levels of the LCD screen, so you can see it in bright light, and semi dark conditions.

One of the greatest advantages to digital cameras is the image preview function. Before you ever download the image into your computer, you can see exactly what it looks like. With this camera, you can zoom in for detail, do a full LCD screen display, or view thumbnails for easy navigation. Plus, when previewing the pictures, you can delete the ones you don't want, freeing up memory for a better shot, or more photographs.

Another nice feature of this camera is it's 10-second self timer. While most film camera's come with this feature, it is hard to find an entry level camera that offers it. I don't think it's even worth it to buy a digital camera if it doesn't have this feature. The nice thing about the way Fuji put this one together, is they have the first five seconds as a solid indicator light, and the last five as a blinking light. This is very helpful in determining how long you must hold that pose.

Now, when you are shopping for a digital camera, many people will tell you to disregard digital zoom. Well, because of that, I just had to try it. While you can only use digital zoom with the 640x480 resolution, pictures still turn out nice with it. Granted, they are a little more grainy, but if you reduce the image size (say for posting on the web), you will never notice the difference.

This camera has more modes of flash and white balance then you could imagine. From slow flash, to auto flash, to red eye reduction. And white balance automatic, to outdoor, to shade, to different types of lamps. With all of these modes, you can pump out perfect photograph after perfect photograph.

Still another very cool feature is what I like to call "Flip book mode." Fuji calls it continuous shooting. What happens is you hold down the shoot button, and the camera will take up to 9 pictures in two second intervals. This mode is a ton of fun to play with, as you can make small scenes of activity, that look like they are moving. Maybe not the most useful, but still a ton of fun.

One of the fall backs to digital cameras is that they like to eat up batteries. However, with the alkaline batteries it shipped with, I was able to take about 125 pictures, play around with the controls for a while, review and delete pictures, and download the images to the computer all with the LCD screen and flash on. This is excellent battery life for a digital camera, as my film camera doesn't even get that many pictures in one set of batteries. At any rate, I recommend getting a set of Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeable batteries, as you will save many green pieces of paper.

But how many pictures can you store in this camera. Well, it ships with an 8MB Smart media card, and can accept cards from 4 to 64 MB in size. As an example, the 8MB card can hold: 12 pictures on the fine compression at 1280x960, 24 pictures on the normal compression at 1280x960, 47 pictures on the basic compression at 1280x960, and 89 pictures on normal compression at 640x480. The 8MB card will work well for moderate picture takers, but extreme picture takes will need a much bigger card.

Have I mentioned how good the images are from this camera? Not only do photographs intended for the web come out excellent, but printouts come out nearly like real photographs. 4x6 and 8x10 prints are very sharp when held at arms length, but show their pixels when you examine them carefully. But who cares! It's just fun to be able to point, shoot, transfer, and print

Finally, the greatest benefit to a digital camera, no film. By using the very simple software, and a quick USB connection, you can download your images to your computer, without waiting a couple days to get them developed. Just think, every roll of film you would have bought would be $2.00 for the film, and another $3.00 for processing. If you save $5 for every 24 pictures you take with your digital camera, you will soon see how it pays for itself.

The only problem I really came across was blurriness when the flash is off. The shutter is variable, and can shoot from 1/2 to 1/1000 sec. The less light available, the slower the shutter speed, and the stiller the subjects and camera need to be. However, this can easily be remedied by using the flash, or by purchasing a tripod.

From the pictures I took before writing this review (about 150), nearly all had superior image quality, even when using 640x480 resolution, and the 2x digital zoom. Not only do the pictures look good on screen, but printouts are top quality as well. If you are looking for your first digital camera, or looking to upgrade your old cheaper camera, this is definitely a digital camera worth looking for.

Pros	Cons
Great picture quality Very low weight Good looking LCD Moderately easy controls Long battery life Fast USB connection 7 modes of white balance 5 modes of flash Optical viewfinder as well as LCD viewfinder "Flip book" mode	No second LCD for quick settings reference Images can be blurry without flash Smallish LCD display
8/10 stars