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Fujifilm FinePix S304: manual and user guide

The 3.2 MP Fujifilm with a 6× zoom and an electronic viewfinder. Its official manual, then the essentials for using it.

Fujifilm’s official PDF, which it no longer publishes: the link opens the copy kept by Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

Getting started

Batteries It takes 4 AA alkaline batteries or 4 AA Ni-MH rechargeables, never lithium, manganese or Ni-Cd. Slide the compartment cover, lift it, insert the batteries following the polarity marks, then close it without forcing.
Card It records on an xD-Picture Card. Open the slot cover, push the card all the way in, then close it: inserted the wrong way round, it won’t go all the way in. To remove it, push it in and gently lift your finger.
Switching on for the first time Turn the power switch to photo mode. The first time you switch on, the screen asks for the date: press MENU/OK, choose the year, month, day, hour and minutes with the arrows, then confirm with MENU/OK.
Language Press MENU/OK, go to OPTION then SET-UP and confirm. Scroll down to LANGUAGE, choose ENGLISH and press MENU/OK.
Your first photo Remove the lens cap, set the dial to AUTO and place the subject in the AF frame, at least 80 cm away. At halfway, a double beep sounds and the green lamp stays lit: then press all the way.

In Manual mode (M on the dial), you set exposure compensation from -2.1 to +1.5 EV, white balance, aperture (f/2.8, f/4.8 or f/8.2), sharpness and flash output.
The Scene position offers Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night (exposures up to 3 s) and Cont., which takes 2 shots in a row.
Movie mode records with sound, at 10 frames per second: 60 s per clip at 320 × 240, 200 s at 160 × 120. The lens stays at wide angle, and only the digital zoom works.
The Macro button focuses from 10 to 80 cm. The mode is cancelled when you change mode or switch off.
The adapter ring takes a standard filter or the WL-FX9 (wide angle, about 30 mm) and TL-FX9 (telephoto, about 340 mm) converters.

For photos, you frame in the electronic viewfinder by default. The EVF/LCD button switches to the screen. The choice goes back to the default when you switch off.
It comes set to 1M quality (1280 × 960) from the factory. For full resolution, choose 3M-F (2048 × 1536) in the QUALITY menu.
A new card, or one formatted on a computer, should be formatted in the camera: playback mode, MENU/OK, ERASE then FORMAT. Formatting erases everything, protected images included.
Never open the battery cover with the camera on: you risk losing images or damaging the card.
After about 2 minutes without use, it switches off. To turn it back on, move the switch to OFF, then back to the mode you want.

The flash pops up with the OPEN button. When it’s down, it doesn’t fire.
Range in Auto mode: 0.3 to 3.5 m at wide angle, 0.8 to 3.5 m at telephoto.
The Flash button cycles through Auto, red-eye reduction, forced flash, slow sync, red-eye and slow sync, flash off.
With the flash in macro, remove the adapter ring: otherwise a shadow may appear at the bottom centre of the image. With a converter fitted, the flash can’t be used.

Below 10 °C, alkaline batteries don’t last as long: warm them up in your pocket, or use Ni-MH instead.
Always change all 4 batteries together, of the same brand and type. The camera draws a little power even when off: don’t leave Ni-MH batteries in it for a long time.
For long storage, remove the batteries and the card. Without batteries, the date and time are erased.
When it goes from cold to warm, condensation can form: switch it off and wait an hour before using it.
Dust the lens, screen and viewfinder with a blower brush, then with a soft, dry cloth. Never use solvent or benzine on the body.

Sensor: 1/2.7-inch CCD, 3.2 million effective pixels (3.34 million in total)
Lens: Fujinon 6× zoom, 6-36 mm (38-228 mm in 35 mm equivalent), f/2.8, f/4.8 or f/8.2, digital zoom up to 3.2×
Focusing: autofocus, 80 cm to infinity, 10 to 80 cm in macro
Shutter: 3 s to 1/1500 s
Exposure and sensitivity: 64-zone TTL metering, programmed auto, ISO 100 equivalent
Screen and viewfinder: 1.8-inch LCD screen, 62,000 pixels, 0.33-inch electronic viewfinder, 110,000 pixels
Files: JPEG (Exif 2.2) up to 2048 × 1536, AVI Motion JPEG video at 320 × 240 or 160 × 120, with sound
Power: 4 AA alkaline or Ni-MH batteries, or AC-5VH/AC-5VHS AC adapter, about 300 to 350 shots depending on the batteries and on viewfinder or screen use
Card: xD-Picture Card from 16 to 128 MB
Dimensions and weight: 99.7 × 77.3 × 69.3 mm, about 295 g empty, about 437 g with batteries, card, lens cap and wrist strap