Review 3 of 16
Price Paid:
$300.00
from Staples Summary: First let me say that I'm an experienced 35mm photographer. Having used everything from an Exakta VX to Nikon N90s, and using a Canon EOS Elan IIe for the last several years, I didn't expect to find a digital that I could afford that I would be happy with. I saw this camera a while back at Wal-Mart, and looked at it because I thought it was an SLR. I was impressed by the price and the Schneider-Kreuznach lens, but a little disappointed that it wasn't really an SLR.
Last week, I found it on clearance at Staples for $100US less than it usually sells for elsewhere and bought it. I'm not sorry at all. In everything from convenience features to quality, I'm still thrilled. Pictures are sharp, properly-exposed, and colorful, just like they should be. The preview screen is the largest available, and excellent. The electronic viewfinder works well and is nearly as sharp as the screen on back. It's easy to use, takes great pictures, and is essentially silent if you turn off the ersatz "motor drive" sound.
Let me address the shortcomings mentioned by other reviewers.
1. Blur. Many people mention blurry pictures as a criticism of this camera. They probably don't mention that they were trying to handhold shots at full zoom. The lens is 38-380 equiv. in 35mm terms. I always used 1/focal length as a shutter speed guide. It would be bright conditions indeed for the camera to select 1/380 sec. The camera can shoot from ISO 80 to 400 with acceptable results, but 80 is by far the best and the camera does default to 80 if it possibly can make the shot that way. This might sometimes mean that you have a vivid picture that's motion-blurred. If you can keep a reign on trying to use more zoom than you have the hands for, you won't encounter blur. Also remember that focus precision is more important at longer focal lengths. It takes longer to focus when it's zoomed all the way out.
2. Bad night pictures. I've not encountered a camera that has a night mode that's better than I am. If you take over control of this camera, you can get great night pictures. I shot pictures of the stars last night, and they came out perfect. Most of that was because I knew to shoot on manual, bracket exposures, and have realistic expectations. No camera's automatic modes will let you shoot pictures like in National Geographic or the Neiman Marcus catalog.
3. Rechargable battery. Many people wish it used AA batteries so you won't be tied to a charger. Don't worry about it. It will shoot hundreds of pictures on one charge, so just remember to charge the battery after a long day of shooting. Big deal. I like that I won't have to buy AA batteries for it. The cost would add up.
4. Lack of "raw" image format. I havn't had a problem with this, and noone short of a real pro is likely to. It does store pictures only as JPG, but I havn't seen any problems one would normally associate with that. YMMV.
5. Slow movie framerate/noisy movies/no zoom in movie mode, etc. This is not a camcorder. The movie mode is like a freebie for me, and I recognize the reasons for these weaknesses. If you really want to shoot movies, buy a MiniDV camcorder instead. You'll be a lot happier with it.
6. Non-pocketable size. How could you possibly expect it to be much smaller?
7. Uncomfortable grip. I've got bear-paw hands, so it's not as comfortable as the meaty contour grip of my EOS. It's not the worst I've felt, but they could've gotten this a little better by adding a little more size to that end of the camera. I don't think that it would hurt anyone's feelings if that end were just a smidge larger. See #6
8. Controls. These are some of the best and most intuitive controls I've seen in a long time. However, it seems that way to me because they so closely mimic the controls on my EOS. I especially like the fact that the control dial is lighted. Expect to stumble through it a little if you aren't generally used to using versatile cameras, but you'll quickly find that it can do most of what you'd expect from a 35mm SLR and then some. Strengths: Image quality is (so far) superb. Good price, excellent features and versatility, light weight, included rechargeable battery, zoom range (I could go on for a long time). Weaknesses: 1. Software. Once I got it installed, it works flawlessly and easily. However, it required a service pack update to my Windows 2000 that gave me a BSOD and required a full reinstall. Ouch. That upset me a little, but I did fix it. That wasn't really Kodak's fault, but just be warned.
2. Power up takes a little longer than I would like, mostly because the lens folds itself into the body when the camera is powered down. It takes it about a second to reach shooting position. Once there, focusing and zooming do not change the length of the lens barrell.
3. Using "speeds" higher than ISO 140 gets grainy in a hurry. It looks remarkably like enlarging old high-speed film. Dark areas get a random blotchiness that averages to the right color, just like the Konica 3200 color print film used to. If you can stick to bright lights or the tiny flash. An external flash can be used for better range. Vivitar 283 fans, rejoice! It doesn't require a dedicated flash. Similar Products Used: Kodak digital models from DC120 on up, cheap Concord digitals, Nikon Coolpix models, high-end 35mm point-and-shoots like Olympus or Pentax, Canon EOS Elan IIe. Customer Service: So far, fine. No problems with camera, call to Kodak over software install answered my questions.
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