1001010100001111010101 : A Shot of My Cat in the Garden (Kodak DC3200)

Member Name: SpankMarvin

Product:	Kodak DC3200
Date:	03/08/01 (264 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Not too expensive, Practical, Photos can be re-taken until they are satisfactory

Disadvantages: Battery warning not very reliable, Overactive flash

If you are at all like me, then this will be a familiar story. You decide to go out for a day with a few friends, maid monkey on tow to take care of the picnic and to keep the champers cold. You bring along a camera, and get all manner of wacky, zany snaps of a brilliant time which you will, with the aid of afore mentioned photos, remember for years to come. The next day you hurry along to snappy snaps and give them your film, opting for the rather expensive 1-hour option because you simply can’t wait. Finally you get the prints and – 36 photos of sun glare, huge thumbs and seagulls, nothing else. Worse still, absolutely nothing because the film didn’t even wind on and you didn’t realise.

If only it was possible to know that you have taken a decent shot…

Well, thanks to digital cameras, it is. I picked one of these up about 6 months ago, although I still use film cameras, and they really aren’t that bad. The Kodak DC3200 is not the most advanced of digital cameras, nor is it the least. It does however do the job very well, and for a relatively cheap price for a digital camera.

The DC3200, thankfully, is completely devoid of pointless gimmicks. It has a normal viewfinder, as well as an LCD preview screen, which can be used to see what the photograph will look like before it is taken. If this preview screen is switched off, it will just show the photo for a couple of seconds after it has been taken, so you can check it is satisfactory (this option can also be disabled). The best way to do it is to take a series of photos (if your memory card has enough space). You can then flick the switch on the camera from photograph mode to preview mode, and flick through your photos, deleting bad ones and leaving you with the select few you want, and more memory to take more photos.

There are three options in photograph mode for the quality of the pictures you are taking. Thankfully, these are lab
elled, GOOD, BETTER, and BEST, for those who want things simple. Thanks.

THE QUALITY – BEST

BEST takes photos of 1152x864 pixels in low compression

BETTER also takes photos of 1152x864 pixels, but in high compression (taking up less memory, but sacrificing quality slightly)

GOOD takes photos of 576x432 pixels, in low compression (takes up least memory, same quality as BEST standard, but half the size)

Got that? All the photos are saved to memory as JPEG images. The GOOD quality setting has the advantage of enabling you to zoom in, but only x2.

The white balance can also be adjusted, according to the light source around you, ensuring that you actually look the colour you are, and not green (not applicable if you really are green). It might be worth getting familiar with this setting, as the correct setting will sometimes give better results than the AUTO setting.

The camera has a built-in flash, which can be set to ON, OFF, or AUTO. One thing I did notice with the AUTO setting is the fact that it is set to flash even when there is enough light. The result is that it is easy to overexpose if you are not careful, leaving a photo which looks more like a snowstorm than Jimmy pulling a moony. Use this setting manually – it’s more reliable!!!

The camera has four language settings: English, French, German and Spanish, so if you are German, you are fine, if you are learning French you are also fine, but if you are Polish whose only second language is Greek, you may find it hard to use this camera.

The DC3200 is very easy to use. It doesn’t have many buttons (it doesn’t need them) and all the settings are adjustable by interacting with the little LCD screen, very simple. The camera comes with 2MB built-in memory, although this is not enough for a decent series of photos, and is also slow to access in comparison with a memory card.

The memory card fo
rmat is Compact Flash cards, and anything from 16MB upwards is likely to be enough to either equal or outperform the capacity of an average roll of film. To give an idea: With 2MB, the camera will take 5 shots on the BEST setting, 9 on the BETTER setting, and 22 on the GOOD setting. With a memory card, not only is the capacity increased but the time it takes to access the memory is also noticeably quicker.

The camera takes 4 AA batteries, and has the tendency to suck the power somewhat, particularly with the flash and preview screen on. If these are off however, battery life isn’t too bad. The one real problem is the camera’s annoying habit of showing a full battery meter until it is too late and it dies on you. I would strongly recommend rechargeable batteries, they will save you a lot of money. Alternatively, just plug it into the mains using a DC adapter. Other little annoyances are the overexposure danger mentioned above and the PC connecting method. The DC3200 connects to your PC via serial cable, which, using the software supplied with the camera, you can tweak and save to disk. The actual software does the job well – the anti-redeye facility works particularly well (again, if you actually have red eyes, you may want to skip this step). The problem really is the uploading time, which seems to be forever due to the serial cable, and can become infuriating if you have taken more than about 15 photos. However, this problem is sorted by buying a Compact Flash card reader, which doesn’t cost an awful lot, and will give you almost instant access to your photos.

The down sides to this camera are minimal however; it is fun to use, as well as giving you the ability for trial and improvement with your photos without costing you money. Some companies will also send you prints if you send them the files, which again can actually save you money by not paying for wasted exposures. It is simple to use and good enough qua
lity for recreational use, as well as the ability to work with the images instantly on the computer. Now you can publish your best mate in drag on the internet for the world to see! Hurrah!

Summary: