Have I made a good camera choice as a beginning photographer?

Hi, I'm 14 and just about to get a start on photography. I've always loved take beautiful pictures on my iPhone 5, but recently I bought a camera (FujiFilm FinePix S8400W) to delve even further into the world of photography. I really wanted to buy a DSLR, and even came upon a decent offer, but I did not have the money. I got about $280 for Christmas and went ahead and bought the Fuji. It had promising features, it was worth the money ($230, I hope it was), and I liked the look. I wanted to know if what I bought will be good enough for somewhat serious photography or will I eventually have to buy a DSLR? I'd appreciate input from anyone with experience.

Any camera is good. One that lets you adjust the setting manually is better, and since yours has that capacity, learn to master expsoure.

What you bought is a superzoom, which means that the camera has a long telephoto lens built into the camera. That sounds cool, but it is not all that useful. Since you already bought it, then enjoy it. Learn what you can, take lots of photos, go back and review not only the photos but the settings so you can figure out what settings produce the results you like. Read about exposure and composition, starting with your owner's manual.

When my son was 10 he asked for a 35 mm SLR and from there he learned how to use the camera light meter to get excellent photos.

As you can see, age is not really in the equation at your point in life.

You need a fully adjustable camera like a 35 mm SLR or entry level dSLR to learn the fundamentals of photography.

You can buy a great used 35 mm SLR with lens for under $100 and the fact that you will be using film, will help you become a disciplined photographer.

After a year or so, using the 35 mm camera it will be a seamless move to a dSLR camera.

What this all means is that you need a fully adjustable camera to learn photography. Which you choose is basically base upon your budget

I'm still on the fact you're 14 with an iPhone 5.

Fuji are good cameras so it will serve you well and give a good introduction into photography. Experiment with it for a couple of years and get to know all about focus and exposure. You will then be able to use and enjoy a DSLR far more.