great value, great pics, and my battery lasted fivemonths! (Kodak Easyshare DX6340)

Member Name: visioncat

Product:	Kodak Easyshare DX6340
Date:	05/06/04 (233 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good photos, sturdy, good battery life

Disadvantages: poor online manual, no case included

Full review
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I decided to buy a digital camera as a Christmas present to myself and decided on the Kodak Easyshare DX 6340 as it appeared to offer both value for money and great specs for the cash.
I was not disappointed!

I bought the camera from Dixons for £179.00 and took a lot of pictures over the holidays in a variety of conditions. The picture quality of 3.1 megapixels is more than enough for an amateur camera user like myself. My partner, who is a keen photographer was also pleased that he could adjust settings like the apature and he was impressed by the action, landcape and night time functions. The three flash functions (auto, red eye and fill) are also impressive and effective.

You can choose between four different picture qualities depending on how much space on your memory card you want to use (I have a 128Mb, which is completely worth the £60). I use the second highest setting with excellent results ? I don?t even need to use the highest setting to get excellent photographs when printing.

The zoom is reliable and more than enough, and if you want to get even closer, you can use the macro feature (my favourite), which allows you to take pictures from a mere 60cm away. I have found that I can even get a little closer and still get good results.

Downloading the pictures to both my PC and Mac via the USB cable has not been a problem, although the accompanying software is a bit annoying ? I have not yet managed to get the Kodak easyshare software off my start bar on the PC.

There have been some complaints about the battery life on this camera, but I have found a way around it: on the set-up menu, you can switch off ?live view? ? the screen does not automatically come on and stay on ? you only have to press the little mouse to activate the screen. Through this alone, I have made the rechargeable NIHM battery it c
ame with last over five months and over a thousand photographs and I only had to change it three days ago!

The screen is both bright and a good size, and the zoom feature makes it easy to review the quality of your snaps before you download them.

It isn?t the smallest camera on the market, but it?s size makes it a lot easier to hold still than some of the other smaller models.

The sound video function is fun and not bad quality, but you can only get short clips. It?s not something I personally use, but it?s a fun extra to have.

The casing is sturdy which is reassuring, given there isn?t a camera case included. I haven?t felt the need for one because the camera is very compact and doesn?t have any appendages that could get damaged in the bottom of my messy handbag. It would be better if the camera came with a paper manual (it is on a CD)

Nevertheless, I wholeheartedly recommend this reliable and value for money camera.

Summary: