Nice quality photos on a budget!
Written: Mar 07 '01
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Pros: price, ease of use, nice quality photos, LCD screen, small size, 2x zoom
Cons: several seconds between shots, only 2x zoom, flash card eject button awkward
The Bottom Line: If you are looking for a point and shoot digital camera that takes nice quality photos for under $300, this is a good one!
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| amknight's Full Review: Kodak DC215 Zoom Digital Camera |
As parents of (very cute) twin toddlers and as technical folks who do a bit of web work, my husband and I have been shopping for a digital camera for a while now. Of course, when camera shopping on a budget, one's options are a bit more limited, but with $300 to spend after Christmas, we armed ourselves with an Internet connection and researched, researched, researched!
What we were looking for was a point and shoot camera that took photos of at least one megapixel and had an LCD screen for reviewing shots directly on the camera. Our computer is just old enough to not have a USB port, so we also wanted a camera that did not require a USB connection but might have the option of us purchasing a USB adapter when we (someday) upgrade our computer. In addition, we wanted a camera that used some type of standard memory card so that it would not be too expensive to purchase more and on which would be able to fit a reasonable number of photos.
As we searched epionions and other sites, the DC-215 fit the bill! We found it online for about $275 at buy.com (and we had a $30 coupon to use!), so we purchased the camera with excitement. We were not disappointed. On the recommendation of other epinions users, we also purchased rechargable batteries (2 sets + 1 recharger), as we were warned the camera is an eater of the four AA batteries it uses. I have used the rechargable Nimh batteries from day one, so I have never had the battery problem, and I have not had to worry about "well, the batteries are getting low... I'd better not take a lot of photos here."
One thing I do like about the camera is that although it has a small LCD screen, you can take the photos by looking through an optical viewfinder. In fact, I recommend doing this rather than using the LCD, as you will get a better idea of what you're actually photographing (and the batteries last longer). The LCD is a little choppy if you're moving the camera, and what you see will not be exactly what you get. The LCD is useful for immediately reviewing a photo after you take it (you can "throw it away" if it has obviously not turned out) or for reviewing all of your photos without a computer. Just beware, as was stated earlier, that what you see on the LCD is not *exactly* what you will see on your computer. It is close, but it is hard to see detail.
The flash and the zoom are much like your average point and shoot - not high end, but great for regular home use. And you can choose your photo quality - a lower resolution of higher or lower quality, or a higher resolution of higher or lower quality. The lower resolution, 640x480, with higher quality has been more than adequate for my regular use, and twice as many shots can fit on a memory card, so this is what I have normally used.
If you would like to see some photos I have taken with this camera, you may see several shots at Indiana's Junior Miss website. I am the web administrator, and I used my DC-215 at this year's state program. Go to www.indianajuniormiss.org, and click on the "state photos" page. All photos from 2001 are from the DC-215. What you will notice is that the closer shots came out quite nicely, while the photos I took from the audience looking at the stage did not come out quite as well (that 2x zoom only goes so far!). For comparison's sake, if you look at the photos from 2000 and 1999, those were each taken with a Sony Mavica, which had a much better zoom lens (though it is digital, not optical). The close-up shots from the DC-215 are sharper, but the Mavica was definitely easier to use from a distance and did not have as much of a delay between photos. (And it costs three times as much... and the model I borrowed uses floppy disks, which are quite limited in how many photos they can hold.)
If you are looking for a really high quality camera, I am sure that you can spend a few hundred dollars more and get one - since purchasing ours in January, we have even read of a few in our price range. Prices are always going down as quality goes up when it comes to technology. The DC 215 does a more than adequate job, though, and we have loved using it. I would definitely recommend rechargable batteries, and the power will not be an issue. And if you do have a computer with USB, the millenium edition of the DC215 is the camera for you.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 275
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Epinions.com ID:
amknight
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Member: Angela Knight
Location: Indiana
Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 18 members
About Me:
Mother of twins and teacher by trade, I love my husband, daughters, and my Lord!
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