When your camera can't hold the date or time
Dennis Fouse wrote:

My Fujifilm 3800 will not hold the date/time info when changing batteries even though the book says it should hold it for 6 hours. Is there an internal battery that needs changed?

Now, while I'd like to take credit for knowing everything (and I do take that credit, every chance I get, but for some reason no one really buys it!), no one here at Connected Photographer had any experience with this particular camera.

It took a few weeks, but with some help from the great PR guys at Text 100 (Fujifilm's public relations agency), we got the following official answer:

There is a battery on the circuit board that is supposed to maintain this info. If the info does not stay, it needs to be replaced. So the consumer would need to send it in for service...have them call 800-800-Fuji to get details for where they can send it in.

We passed this information along to Dennis, who seemed a bit resigned in his reply:

Thanks so much for the information. I thought there must be an internal battery but didn't expect to have to send it in for replacement. Oh well.

Stay tuned. We've got another battery-related question further down.

Becoming a professional
Young Nitesh wants to know about becoming a professional photographer:

I am 16 years old and am really excited about buying my first digital camera. My budget is 300 U.S. dollars. With your experience can you suggest a suitable brand and model? My ambition is to be a professional photographer. Hoping for an early reply.

Nitesh, first I want to tell you I'm glad you're going into photography. There's a lot of fun (and a good living to be had) in this area.

Now, let's talk about your budget. Most professional photographers are going to want to use an SLR. If you're not sure what an SLR is, read "What's an SLR?" at http://www.connectedphotographer.com/issues/issue200404/00001275001.html.

I did a quick search of eBay and found some digital SLRs under $700 (which, frankly, astounded me). But you're not going to need just the camera. With an SLR, you're going to need lenses and more, which will boost your cost quite measurably -- into the thousands of dollars, at minimum.