First Impressions
The CX7300 (CX = point & shoot, 7 = seventh generation Kodak design, 3 = 3 megapixel, 00 = no zoom lens) is a solidly designed camera. The plastic body is rigid and contoured so that it fits nicely in your hand. It looks and feels like a camera that could be tossed around, dropped, and chewed on without suffering significant damage. The controls and display are very easy to use and understand. I think Kodak has done a great job with the user-interface on their cameras.

Installing the software was simple and straightforward. The USB drivers worked perfectly the first time on my Windows 98 computer. Once the software is installed, it detects when you plug the camera into the computer and automatically synchronizes the pictures on the camera and on the computer. I really like that feature, though you can disable it and do it manually if you like. The camera shows up as a removable drive, so you can copy files to and from the internal memory and the SD card quite easily.

In general I find the software easy-to-use and helpful, thought there are a few things about it that bug me. The e-mail feature that Kodak touts on the camera box and on their web site turns out to be pretty annoying. There is a 'share' button on the camera that lets you select pictures on the camera for e-mailing to other people. You can send e-mail addresses to the camera and select who you want to send it to right after you take the picture. The next time you synchronize the camera to the computer it sends the picture as an attachment to an e-mail. Of course, it also sends an advertisement for Kodak along with it, but it still works well. Picasa (free photo organizing software from Google) also lets you send the picture directly to people, though it doesn't work with the camera the way the Kodak software does.

The movie mode worked ok, though the movies were a bit dark in normal indoor lighting. You should be aware that this model does not record any sound. Your movies will be silent.

Picture Quality - Disappointing
One thing I noticed right after taking the camera out of the box was that there didn't seem to be any of the little 'windows' that you find on cameras with autofocus lenses. There is a good reason why I didn't find them, it doesn't have autofocus. The lens on this camera is a focus-free type. That means they use a really small aperture and a single focus lens and hope that everything you photograph will be far enough away that you don't notice the difference.

Pictures in indoor lighting conditions tend to be blurry, since the shutter speed is slow to compensate for the small aperture. close-up shots (I mean closer then about 5 feet) are noticeably 'soft' - when you look at them on the computer you can't quite make out any details, like whiskers on a face, or eyelashes. In general, the pictures look like they were taken with a disposable film camera (not surprising, since disposable cameras have focus-free lenses). I know it is an inexpensive camera, but I expected better and Kodak was certainly vague about the type of lens they put on this camera.

On the flip side, the colors were very good and the flash works very well. The camera has a night mode, which helps capture background details in low light. You have seen pictures taken at night where the people in the picture have stark white faces from the flash and everything behind them is a misty gray. The night mode prevents that from happening and lets you get good pictures even with the flash.

Overall, pictures from a suitable distance looked good (not great, but good). If you are happy with the pictures from disposable cameras, then this camera will not disappoint.

My Reaction
I decided to return the CX7300 after a few days. I just wasn't satisfied with the lense quality. However, I was impressed with the user-interface, software integration, and build quality of the camera so I replaced it with another Kodak, the CX7330 (30 = 3X zoom lens) for $149. I must say the difference is astounding. The CX7330 has a glass autofocus lens and the pictures are fantastic - sharp and detailed even in low light. It also has a lot more features such as audio recording in the movie mode and auto-orientation, which automatically flips pictures rightside-up when you take them with the camera sideways. Since it was only $50 more I can't recommend the CX7300.

Conclusion
While this camera is perfectly functional and a good bargain since you get a lot for your money, it is not a good value. For only slightly more you can get much better picture-taking capability in the CX7330. The CX7300 does have one other major advantage that will probably not be found on many other cameras - it is rugged. Since the lens doesn't move it is much less fragile then the zoom lenses on other cameras that stick out from the body. That aside, I would not recommend this camera.


Recommended:
No

Amount Paid (US$): 99
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Fool-Proof for Absolute Beginners