Exceptionally easy-to-use, high quality camera
Written: Mar 15 '05
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Pros: Fabulous quality, easy to use, very good price
Cons: Nothing significant other than the shutter lag when red eye reduction is on
The Bottom Line: Great price and quality; everyone can use this camera
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| fskinner's Full Review: Kodak EasyShare CX7430 Digital Camera |
I have been looking for the right digital camera for my personal use for about a year. Recently, a friend sent me a picture she took using this Kodak digital camera. I did some research on it and decided to take the plunge.
I wanted nothing less than a 4 megapixel camera because my intent is not just to share them on the internet, but print them on my new photosmart printer.
Installation of software on my computer: straightforward and quick. I started using the software as soon as it was installed - it is very user friendly, even if you don't read any instructions.
Display screen: the size and quality of the display screen is very good. Literally, what you see is what you get. I have been able to quickly view a picture I just took and if I don't like it, zap, I delete it and try again without using up the memory in my sd card with bad photos.
Telephoto capability: this is good for the price. If there had to be one thing that wasn't exceptional, this is the right thing because you're able to zoom in on the final picture using the view screen. When I've done this and printed zoomed/cropped pictures, I've lost nothing on the quality. So, you don't need a heavy-duty telephoto feature because you can zoom in on what you wanted in the finished picture.
Delete funtion: as simple as it gets. There's a well-positioned dedicated delete button on the back of the camera that you hit, then confirm deletion, and it is gone. Convenient and no accidents.
Various modes: action, indoor, close-up etc. There are numerous functions like these. All produce pretty nice pictures although I've stopped using the the close-up mode because regular mode works just as well.
Movie mode: we get a kick out of this, but nothing more. It's not meant to be high-quality, just a bit of a toy. It's a lot of fun for clicking a quick message and emailing it - more of a webcam quality than a movie camera.
Battery: digitial camera AA bateries came with it. We went on vacation and I had the camera on a lot (3-4 hours) over four days not wanting to miss shots. By the end of the trip, the battery was dead. So, I went out and spent the $20 on a set of four rechargable digital batteries: two for using with two spare at all times. I highly recommend doing this right off the bat. Buying disposable batteries will add up.
Expansion: I didn't have time to buy a dedicated card before we left, so I popped the sd card out of my palm and used it for pictures in this camera. That was one of my requirements that the camera use sd cards since my pda already did and I didn't want to have yet another different accessory. It's nice having that flexibility. My 512MB card will hold about 400 top quality pictures.
Downloading photos: the camera comes with a cable that quickly plugs into the camera and usb port of your pc. You can download everything at once or choose to select picture by pictures. On vacation, I hooked the cable up to my camera and laptop, downloaded all of my pictures at one time, and then emailed them using my wi-fi in a hotspot so my family had the pictures the same day we took them across the country.
Share function: there's a dedicated "share" button on the back of the camera for emailing, printing etc. I haven't used it yet. I've used the cable and the onscreen menus for doing both.
Shutter lag: okay, if I could improve one thing about this camera, it would be to shorten the lag. When I took off the red eye reduction, this improved greatly and the red eye isn't awful anyway. If you're doing sporting events etc., take off the red eye.
Ease of use: I have yet to read one word of the manual and I've been taking, sharing, emailing, and printing pictures for a month. There are cool features that I haven't used yet but that's okay. It's doing everything that I wanted as a normal camera already. Anything else I read about or use is a bonus.
Printing: I just plop the sd card into the slot in my HP photosmart printer and print my 4x6 photos. I'm very pleased with the quality. I've also made a collage of downloaded photos on my pc and printed them using my plain old hp r60 with nice results on 8 1/2 x 11 photo paper.
Case: mine did not come with a case. I had an old one that clipped onto my belt and that's exactly what you'll want: a case that protects the camera and makes the camera handy. You'll find you'll be taking a lot more pictures than you did before.
As I said, I'm sure I've only scratched the surface of what this camera can do. But if you're looking for a fabulous quality digital camera at a very reasonable price that you can just pick up and start clicking, this is the camera for you. I love it and highly recommend it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 160
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
fskinner
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Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 0 members
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