I recently purchased the Fuji S5000 - my first digital camera from 7dayshop.com, it came at a bargain and i got a packaged deal that came with a soft bag and rechargeable batteries.It has been about 2 months now. In that period i have used this baby to shoot over a few hundred photos (some of which i will be soon posting here). Personally, i am very pleased with the result. Even friends who own other digital camera's have found the pictures to be better in comparison with those taken with their cameras.
Its SLR look not only make it (and me) look good but the camera has a very firm and comfortable grip. Its got a great manual (especially for a first timer like me). Apart from that it comes with a USB port (something that allows you to connect it to a laptop/pc and "fetch" your photos out) and a Video-out plug as well (play your movies or see recorded photos on your TV !).
What makes it light is that it does not come with it own re-chargeable battery (u know like the handycams do), but use 4 AA alkaline batteries or a 5V AC Adapter (i dont use this). The box comes with
- A 16 Mb memory card (ask for xD series card, most stores have them or buy them online). I also found out later that Olympus also uses the same kind of card and u can swap them around with your friends. This one can store only about 32 pictures on default setting. The best thing is that nowadays photo shops have these kiosks that can read your pictures directly off your card and print them.
- 4 AA Alkaline batteries and a comfy shoulder strap (putting this one is a bit tricky - read the manual)
- USB cable - this is priceless if you have a computer with a USB port (dont lose the cable!)
- AV Cable - see your pics/movies on TV
- A software CD (i didnt require it - i use webshots or picassa can do the job well). Just attach the USB cable and u are ready to go !
- Lens Adapter ring and Lens Cap - now, if you plan to have you camera for a loooong time, then keep these attached to your camera. I dont use my camera without my adapter ring (u can see it attached to the lens on the pic above). Thats because if you use your lens cap without the ring and you turn on the power with the cap on (which u tend to do many times), the lens rams itself into the cap (not a good thing !). With adapter lens fitten, thats taken care of.
All in all, here's a recap - Its a great buy, worth the money. But requires some additional purchases like a additional memory card (i bought a 512 Mb)and a carry case .
Update (19-Mar-06): The photos - all of them!. I've even started a photo blog here.