Fuji Finepix M603 Review Posted

The Fuji Finepix M603 is a digital camera that attempts to be lots of things at once. It can capture both still images and moving images, so you can use it to take photographs and record VGA movies. It has a 3rd Generation Super CCD sensor which is made up of 3.3 million pixels, but actually delivers 6.03 million recorded pixels. It has a massive 2.5 inch LCD screen, but is compact enough to fit in your pocket. It is very simple to use, with a PictureCradle supplied for easy downloading of images to a computer, yet it claims to produce perfectly exposed, richly detailed, noise-free photographs in any situation.

So does the M603 deliver on all of these promises? Find out in my review.

Website: Fuji Finepix M603 Review

Published: Thursday, November 20, 2003

Reader Comments

1. Thanks for your detailed review. I'm just gonna order an M603 now.
   
   Seasons Greetings,
   
   Mark.

   Mark Sullivan at 11:19am on Saturday, December 20, 2003

2. No problem - I hope you enjoy using the camera

   Mark Goldstein at 11:25am on Saturday, December 20, 2003

3. excellent review - really useful info and very handy insights into how the camera is to operate

   carl at 09:40pm on Monday, December 22, 2003

4. Cheers Carl! Are you ordering one as well?

   Mark Goldstein at 09:39am on Tuesday, December 23, 2003

5. I just bought a FujiM603 for £295 + 1Gb microdrive from a PCPro offer.
   
   I had a small budget and had to decide between a cheap miniDV camcorder or this. Since I have two small children it was a difficult choice, but the savings on film processing and films together with the fairly decent 640x480 Vga movies meant I chose the Fuji. Only have to take one camera to the zoo. Over the first two days I took over 100pics plus countless movie clips. The 1Gb microdrive is really what makes the difference here. Not forgetting that I am lucky enough to have a PC to empty it onto.
   
   In a couple of years hopefully there will be many more still/video choices available. Sony's new camcorder with just under 3million pixels for comparison is £1400.
   
   

   Charlie at 10:33pm on Wednesday, December 24, 2003

6. I am thinking of purchasing this camera but I would like to request a few things.
   
   I would like to see what the video quality is like on this camera @ both resolutions and fps...
   
   Also, does this camera not have different options such as Night Scene/Sport/Landscape etc etc?

   Ken at 04:19am on Saturday, December 27, 2003

7. £295 + 1Gb microdrive sounds like a good deal to me Charlie.
   
   Ken - the M603 does not have the different scene modes that you mention.

   Mark Goldstein at 12:51pm on Saturday, December 27, 2003

8. I use this little camera for the family, for which purpose it is sublime. You can photo or video the children & the screen is big enough to show them an instant play-back, and the kids are fascinated by it. The photos and video are certainly good enough for general photographic use and I use this camera more than any of my other ones (Minolta D7 & DV Camcorder). It's size makes it very portable and I have found it's build quality and battery life very good. The best thing I've bought this year.

   Joe at 05:25pm on Tuesday, January 13, 2004

9. I need a camera which can be used to take good quality photos and then easily uploaded to the website or used in printed campaigning material.
   
   Your review of the M603 hased prompted me to purchase.
   Saw the camera for £199 in Asda - so will compare other prices and start clicking away.

   Matthew at 03:22pm on Sunday, January 18, 2004

10. £199 sounds like a good price - I believe Amazon and PCWorld may also be selling it for £199. I think the M603 will definitely meet your requirements.

    Mark Goldstein at 12:39pm on Monday, January 19, 2004

11. I only use it on best quality video setting - yes you need the microdrive, as a couple of minutes will eat up well over 100 MB, but you have the option of replaying it to a video and
    storing it there. It isn't anywhere near DV standard, but
    seems not that far off Hi-8 (mono). I don't have an issue with quality, and because it is so light & not that expensive I am far more inclined to carry it, resulting if far more valuable (to me)family video taken. Photos are very good just taken as a £200 camera alone. The screen is big & viewable enough for all to see the replay without requiring my laptop of TV, which is a big bonus at a party. Features are limited, it is basically a point & shoot. Video indoors (filament bulb) is a little dark & a bit red/orange biased, but again perfectly viewable. I tried a lot of cameras & chose this one in the shop for its size, build quality, size of screen, video ability and photographic ability for the price. I saw nothing else to rival it for so many features on a budget. The only downside for me was shutter delay which can be a nuisance - but I don't know how it compares to similarly priced cameras.
    

    Joe at 01:58pm on Monday, January 19, 2004

12. Bit unclear on my last posting:
    this camera has many good features wrt. screensize, build quality, video & photo quality, compactness, but the photographic control features are limited.
    cheers
    Joe

    Joe at 02:04pm on Monday, January 19, 2004

13. I was concenred that on some of the sample images (especiallu where there is a building set against blue sky) it appears that the image has been quite seriously JPGed. You can see a lot of burring near the edge of the buidings.
    Are these images consisten with the other results that you have got?
    Has anyone else had problems with that?

    Stuart at 12:41pm on Tuesday, January 27, 2004

14. Basically,after reading your review-I went and bought one!!! Got it from my local Jessop's for £178!!!!!!!!!! ,it was the last they had in stock and they priced matched Dixons who sold out(i've discovered the camera is now discontinued)-the camera is fantastic and the reason i got it was for the MPEG ability(i already have a regular camcorder-HI8 type) i can film and put straight onto the web -no conversion or mixing required..thanks for the review.........

    leonard george at 11:09pm on Wednesday, March 24, 2004

15. I'm glad you found the review useful Leonard and I hope you enjoy using the camera

    Mark Goldstein at 11:44am on Thursday, March 25, 2004

16. The review of M603 is excellent. It very appropriately describes the usefulness of this piece. It is not the best for both digital & camcorder but is the best in the market if one were to combine price & its features. I bought this piece 1 year ago from Singapore at US $400 (without additional memory) and what is good about it is the huge LCD, good picture quality. The movie quality when viewed on TV is not good and appears blotchy. Wonder if there is a better way to view it. The zoom is perhaps the biggest dissappointment and one realizes inspite reading earlier reviews that the camera seriously lacks. Otherwise the camera is very attractive and stops people sometimes to ask where we got this piece. I am also awaiting the development Fuji has on xd cards - last year they claimed 8GB cards in this format could be launched by 2005!

    Raghu at 10:25am on Tuesday, June 15, 2004

17. Very helpful review, will probably buy this model. Many thanks

    Mike Penn at 07:02pm on Monday, July 05, 2004

18. I bought this camera in Asda for £199 and have not used it yet. Thanks for the comprehensive review it is most helpful.
    Do you know what is the biggest memory card available?
    
    I have seen 128mb for £40, is this reasonable?

    elsie at 11:47pm on Tuesday, July 13, 2004

19. A Fuji 512Mb card currently costs about £110 on Amazon, whilst a 256Mb one costs £65.

    Mark Goldstein at 04:23pm on Wednesday, July 14, 2004

20. Mark, You will not regret it. The stills, I must admit are crystal clear and the prints I have recently taken in my new HP computer are very good. Enjoy. Thanks /Raghu

    Raghu at 03:52am on Thursday, July 15, 2004

21. An excellent detailed review. I would have liked, at the end, an alternative recommendation, perhaps a camera of similar price that rates four stars or even five.
    
    

    james welsh at 04:24pm on Tuesday, July 20, 2004

22. To be honest the M603 is pretty unique and I can't think of an alternative product at this price-range.

    Mark Goldstein at 04:30pm on Tuesday, July 20, 2004

23. M603 update
    
    I just took it on holiday and came back with the 1GB microdrive full with over 1000 3M stills and 6- minutes of edited-in-camera video.
    
    I have been very happy with the camera - I do hope Fuji make a successor.
    
    P.S. Does anybody know if I can use 2GB CF cards as Fuji recently anounced that their 1+GB XD cards are multi layer and will only be supported in newer cameras. I like the capacity on the microdrive but I have suffered a couple of write errors.
    
    Charlie

    Charlie at 12:18am on Tuesday, November 16, 2004

24. Maybe you could visit your local camera shop and try one out there?

    Mark Goldstein at 04:05pm on Tuesday, November 16, 2004

25. My Fuji M603 screen and pictures are now defective in that both deliver a strong cerise colour with distortion of the image - does anybody have any experience of this problem ?
    
    Simon Greene

    Simon Greene at 01:02pm on Thursday, August 11, 2005

26. does anyone know where i can obtain a LCD Hood for my finepix M603 digital camera, Please.
    
    Regards Carol harding

    carol harding at 08:25pm on Thursday, February 16, 2006

27. I've been using this camera for 3 years and it started with some major failures and errors
    :(, sometimes it doesnt turn on , sometimes the lens doesnt come out all the way ,. what camera should i buy next ? is it ok 3 years for this camera lifetime

    Flavio at 08:14pm on Monday, June 05, 2006

28. Hi Carol Harding,
    
    The LCD Hood for Fuji M603, you can get it from fujifilm.co.uk.
    
    Thanks
    Raghu

    Raghu at 07:51pm on Friday, May 16, 2008

29. Hi Flavio,
    
    My camera Fuji M603 is still in excellent condition no failure or errors, it has great picture quality which gives a 6 Million pixel output; as present gen cameras.
    
    Thanks
    Raghu

    Raghu at 07:58pm on Friday, May 16, 2008