Decent camera for an affordable price
Written: Jan 27 '04
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Pros: Good design and very easy set-up
Cons: Battery life and tiny menu button
The Bottom Line: A good camera for the vacation photographer or recreational picture-taker.
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| parkavery's Full Review: Kodak EasyShare CX6230 Digital Camera |
It is tough to find a digital camera that will give quality pictures at a less than $500 price, and for recreational or family vacation-type photographers, this is an important niche. The Kodak CX6230 fills this need fairly well.
**FEATURES**
The CX6230 is geared towards novice photographers. There's no need to go through dozens of manual settings to get the perfect picture, because there is a large dial on the top of the camera that takes several kinds of specialty pictures, including night mode, macro (close-up) mode, burst (several shots in rapid succession), and several others. This is a nice feature to have because we can't always spend 20 minutes setting up our cameras to take a night-time shot, and with this camera, one twist of the dial will do the trick.
Also, the camera has a fairly large LCD screen, which can be used in "live mode" to set up shots, and also to review saved photos and alter the cameras settings.
This camera also many of the obvious features you would expect to find, including a date-time stamp, auto-focus, and auto-flash.
**SET-UP**
The set-up on this camera is surprisingly simple. Once the Kodak software is installed on your computer, you can turn on your computer, take a picture, plug in the USB cable, and immediately have it on your system. Thanks to the default modes, there's no time wasted thinking about the best settings to use. All you have to do is set the date and time and some personal preferences (like whether you'd like the LCD screen to work in "live mode", and you're ready to go.
**BATTERIES**
Terrible. This is one of the worst things about this camera. It ships with 2 AA batteries, which will die immediately. So yesterday I went out and spent $24 on an Energizer charger and 4 NiMH rechargeable batteries, and after taking about 12 shots in 24 hours, my camera is dying again. This will be a major issue for those family vacation photographers who will need their camera to work for more than a dozen shots.
Also, when trying to change the batteries, it is hard to get the camera to turn on. You have to jog the batteries around in their compartment a bit, and it's really an annoying trial-and-error activity.
**DESIGN**
Some of the design of this camera is good, and some is just downright awful. On the good side, the dial at the top of the camera is easy to understand and very functional. Also, the menus are clear and easy to understand, and buttons are labelled in an obvious manner ("Delete" will delete a picture, "Share" will upload pictures to your hard drive, etc.).
Unfortunately, the way to navigate the menus couldn't be more horrendous. I am a female with average sized hands, and I cannot use the rocker buttons that are necessary to navigate the menus. It is a 4-direction pad with an "OK" in the center, yet the pad is so small that in attempting to click the center "OK", I will almost always hit a directional button as well. This is BAD when you are deleting a picture, and the arrows move when you click OK so that you select "Delete All". I have done this on more than one occasion, and I picture the average male, whose hands are undoubtedly larger than mine, trying to use these buttons.
Also, note that when you take a photo, you must push the button down completely (it'll feel like 2 clicks), or else the picture will not take.
**PICTURE QUALITY**
This camera has fairly average picture quality. Because it is a budget camera, you will never get a crystal-clear picture, which is only magnified (pardon the pun) if you use the 3x zoom. However, this camera will take great pictures for the average person who doesn't need absolutely professionally clear shots.
My only annoyance with the photo quality is that what you see on screen or in the viewfinder is not exactly what your picture will be. For example, there is an extra 10% that will appear at the bottom of the shot and this 10% will be chopped off the top. So the photographer must adjust accordingly. Also, the camera does not do well in low-light or poorly lit situations, and in these situations sometimes the auto-flash doesn't come on even though it should.
**FINALLY**
The battery life is a major issue that makes me cringe to recommend this camera, but otherwise, this is a great budget camera for the weekend hobbyist. If you want to take pictures at Christmas, or on vacation, this camera will get the job done. But if battery life is a concern for you (i.e. you won't be able to charge it every day), this is probably not the camera for you.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 149.99
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
parkavery
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Member: Sharon Walls
Location: Kingsville, MD USA
Reviews written: 77
Trusted by: 13 members
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