Pure Picture Pleasure (Kodak DC3400)

Member Name: Wolfie1974

Product:	Kodak DC3400
Date:	22/09/02 (184 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: packed with functionality

Disadvantages: only 8MB card supplied

~ Introduction ~

Around a year ago, I became a little fed up with the process of getting camera film developed and the associated costs, so I decided that it was time that I got with the times and went searching through various catalogues and shops for a digital camera that would suit my requirements and expectations.

As most of us know, with traditional photography, we first have to buy the camera film that typically consists of 24 pictures and when we have taken all of our 24 snaps we have can then get our film developed at additional various cost depending on how soon we want the pictures to be developed.

It took me literally days to decide on which camera to buy – I took time looking at the specifications and features of a number of cameras that were on the market at the time and eventually decided on the Kodak DC3400.


~ Product Description ~

I would describe this camera as medium sized as it is certainly not the smallest or lightest available and I have also seen many that are much larger.

The camera has a predominantly silver coloured front; it has a dark grey back and underside. The front of the camera also has grey rubber cushioned areas positioned such that you can grip the camera when taking pictures so that it is comfortable for your fingers and the camera will not easily slip. There is also a soft rubber lens cap in the same colour and is attached to the camera by a cord so that it will be lost.

On the back of the camera, there is a dial on the right-hand side to switch between the four modes that are capture, review, connect and camera set-up. On the left-hand side there is an LCD (liquid crystal display) screen that measures approximately 1½ x 1 inches and is surrounded by six buttons that are menu, activate, left, right, up and down. Higher up is the look-through glass and the slider power switch.

On the top, there is another LCD screen that measures approximately 1
½ x ¼ inches and displays status information of the camera settings, battery life and number of pictures remaining. The function buttons (3 in all) that control settings such as the flash and the timer surrounds this display. On the right-hand side, there is a directional zoom control and the photo capture button.

On the under-side of the camera there is the battery compartment on the right-hand side that takes 4 AA batteries and when releasing the flap, the orientation to place the batteries are clearly marked. To the left-hand side there is a lever to eject the flash card that stores the photographs. In the centre there is an embedded cog that allows you to adjust the brightness of the image on the LCD on the back of the camera. There is also a threaded hole so that you can attach the camera to a tripod if this suits your needs.

On the left-hand side of the camera, there is solid flap that is the place where you would insert or retrieve your flash card, alongside this are three soft rubber flaps for DC IN (mains power), video out (connect to TV) and uplink/downlink (connect to computer).


~ Features ~

· 2.0. Mega-Pixels (sensor can receive enough information for quality 10x8 photo prints)
· Supplied with 8MB Compact Flash card.
· Image resolutions – High at 1760x1168 or Standard at 896x592
· 3 levels of image quality, good (use for web pages or e-mail), better (general everyday pictures) and best (for 8x10 prints).
· Number of pictures – for the 8MB card
o 98 at standard on good quality.
o 52 at standard on better quality.
o 36 at standard on best quality.
o 34 at high on good quality.
o 19 at high on better quality.
o 12 at high on best quality.
· Picture format - Exif version 2.1 (JPEG base)
· Colour – 24 bit 16,777,216 colours.
· Date/Time stamping on pictures (toggle)
· Video out (PAL/NTSC) connect to TV for a slideshow, adjustable between 1 a
nd 99 seconds per slide.
· Flash (auto/fill/red eye/off)
· Self-timer – 10 seconds.
· Zoom – 6 levels, 2 x optical zoom, 3 x digital zoom
· ASA/ISO sensitivity - 100
· Battery power saving mode (toggle)
· 4 AA batteries (recommend rechargeable Ni-Mh batteries)
· White balance (auto/daylight/fluorescent/tungsten)
· Exposure compensation
· Comprehensive menu to allow altering of settings and flash card management. (can also be done via PC)
· Software for PC or Mac.
· Weight – 12 oz. or 332g (without batteries)
· Size – 5.2 x 2.1 x 3.0 inches or 133 x 54 x 76 mm.


~ Software ~

The software is available in two different formats, one for the PC and one for the Mac. The software installation is easy and rapid, takes under a minute for full installation. The software allows you to change the camera settings and manage the photographs stored on the flash memory card.

Once the software is installed and when the camera is connected to the PC via either the USB or RS-232 serial cable, your computer will recognise the camera as if it was an additional hard-disk, thus allowing you to use software that already comes with your computer such as Windows Explorer to browse the contents of the compact flash memory card and carry out typical operations to the photographs that have been stored, such as delete, copy, move or formatting of the card.


~ Instruction Manual ~

A comprehensive user manual is provided consisting of around 450 pages, that is published in 3 different languages (English, French and German) – the first 145 pages are in English.

This manual has an excellent format, showing how to carry out of each of the operations/functions step by step and pictures on every page too. The pictures are in black and white but still legible.


~ My Use ~

When I first bought this camera, I was a little disappointed that they
only gave a 8MB flash memory card as this just is not enough for my liking in terms of the amount of photographs you can store before having to download them to your PC, so I purchased a 64MB card soon after allowing me to store the following number of pictures:

· 393 at standard with good quality.
· 209 at standard with better quality.
· 144 at standard with best quality.
· 138 at high with good quality.
· 76 at high with better quality.
· 51 at high with best quality.

I have used all of the functions on the camera to great effect and have saved a lot of money in the process. I print my own photographs on an inkjet printer using photo quality inkjet paper, my last pack of paper cost me £25.99 for a pack of 100 A4 sheets and can typically fit 4 photos per sheet, so if we do a quick sum of £25.99 divided by 4x100 = 400 pictures, then it costs roughly 6p per photo also bearing in mind that if you are not fussy, then you can print on ordinary paper. Indeed you can also do a full A4 sized print that would roughly come to 25p.

When I first started using the camera, I discovered that the batteries did not last for long, I was experiencing complete battery drain after between and 1 to 2 hours of use, I then later discovered that this was primarily because I was using the preview function too much – the preview function shows whatever is in the camera’s focus on the LCD screen on the back. Unfortunately the camera does not have a setting to switch this off, so I always have to deactivate it by pressing the activate toggle button.

I think that the slideshow function is a superb idea and have used this a couple of times to date, this I have found to be especially useful when I have had a camera filled with 100+ pictures with a delay of 5 seconds before showing the next picture.


~ Recommendation ~

A great digital camera packed full of functions that has currently lasted over a year p
roducing fantastic quality photographs, and had survived many trips both in this country and abroad. In fact looking at it now, it doesn’t even have a single scratch on it.

The makers of this camera at Kodak have got it right, the user interface i.e. menu system is extremely intuitive, it took me only a couple of days to get to grips with all of it’s functions.

When I bought the camera, I paid £300 for it and after a quick search for this camera, I have discovered that the “DC” range of camera’s are now obsolete after Kodak’s release of the “DX” range. However, I would still recommend this camera as one to look for as a second-hand or an auction purchase as you will be getting a great camera for a bargain.

For those of you who would like to look at the new Kodak range of camera’s, I would recommend a visit to Kodak’s web page at www.kodak.co.uk - from this web page, you can go into the digital camera section, here you will be invited to take ‘the camera tour’ that loads up a macromedia flash page that gives you some interaction (menu system) with that camera as if you were using it yourself.

So, for a tried and tested camera has served me well and will do so for some time to come with absolutely no problems at all, what else can I give it but 5 stars?

Summary: