Kodak DX4330: Great Starter Digital Camera
Written: Oct 27 '02 (Updated Nov 12 '02)
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Pros: Relatively inexpensive compared to other 3MP digital cameras
Cons: Photo quality and battery life is something to be desired
The Bottom Line: Great camera for someone who's looking for a relatively inexpensive camera and/or something easy to use. Others should look elsewhere.
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| fusefactor's Full Review: Kodak EasyShare DX4330 Digital Camera |
UPDATE: The price dropped recently from $350 to $300 for this camera at local stores, with some as low as $280. This camera is fast becoming a great camera for the low price.
Digital photography is my realm. I'm avidly using Photoshop and my photo scanner and printer to make surrealistic artwork and make digital prints. However, I, the digital photo enthusiast, was missing a critical tool: the digital camera itself.
After doing some research on digital cameras and decided that I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a camera, I settled on the Kodak DX4330. I went to Best Buy with my friend and picked up the camera for about $300 and also got a 128MB SecureDigital card.
Ease of Use
After getting the camera at Best Buy, my friend and I both got into my car and went to the mall. Without a peek at the manual, we figured out how to work the camera during the car ride there-- no joke. The camera is very intuitive and simple to use. You choose the shooting mode with the master dial on top of the camera, and press the shutter. It can't get any simpler than that.
For those who can't quite get started that quickly, the camera includes a quick-start guide separate from the manual that outlines everything you need to do to get set up right away.
Features
The camera features a 1.8 inch LCD screen, a screen larger than most digital cameras out there. The screen is very bright and easy to see in bright daylight. It also has capability of recording video with audio. There is a 3X optical zoom and a 3.3X digital zoom. All these features at a price of $300 made the camera quite appealing to me.
Design and Durability
The camera feels pretty solid and easy to hold. The hand grip comfortably contours into your hand, making it that much more easy to use-- all buttons are within reach. It is also moderately light for a camera its size. However, it is also slightly on the bulky side due to its odd shape. It is barely a camera that will fit in your pocket.
Image and Print Quality
Overall, the image quality of the camera reproduces colors vividly. Reds are extremely red and skin tones are very accurate. You'll only run into problems in low light situations, where everything seems to take on a muddy appearance to it.
The print quality of the DX4330 is something to be desired, however. Since the camera uses JPEG compression, when you zoom look closely at an image, you can see artifacts of roughness, one of the cons of JPEG compression. This makes enlarging an image to a large size quite undesirable.
With that said, with my photo printer, printing an image at 4x6 yielded great results-- fantastic color and accurate skin tones without any signs of flaws. However, printing at 8x10 showed some slight signs of the JPEG roughness described above.
Battery Life
The battery life is somewhat substandard as well. I shot about 70 images in broad daylight before needing to switch out the battery. Mind you, I rarely use the LCD screen when composing the picture, so your average Joe with his first digital camera with the LCD screen on all the time, will experience even lower battery life.
However, the camera accepts lithium and rechargeable AA batteries as well as the proprietary battery size Kodak supplies, so it is quite easy to run to a store and replace the batteries when needed. I keep a spare pack of lithium AA batteries in my car-- just in case the batteries die on me at a bad moment. (Kodak does not recommend the use of traditional alkaline AA batteries.)
Something that I would have liked is if the camera had some type of indicator showing how much battery power is left. That way, I could accurately predict when the camera would die.
Bottom Line
This is a great camera for someone starting out in the realm of digital photography and is looking for something basic and easy-to-use. However, if you're a more seasoned digital enthusiast, it's a better idea to hunt around for a better camera. Even with 3 megapixels, the JPEG compression will ruin your ability to make fantastic enlargements.
The only downsides were:
- Average battery life
- Decent quality for a 3 megapixel camera
You can't beat the price though-- I've seen the camera out there for $300 to $350.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 304.98
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
fusefactor
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Member: Ryan
Location: Union, NJ
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 0 members
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