| Product: |
Kodak Easyshare CX6330 |
| Date: |
04/05/04 (455 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Simple Operation, Smart Looking Thing, Clear Layout
Disadvantages: No Case, Buggy Software
When it comes to my birthday my better half is normally a bit stuck for ideas on the present front, but as I reached a milestone birthday this year, I was encouraged to think about something that might cost a bit more than the usual wine, chocolates and socks, but something to consider as a more of a momento of me being over the hill.
After some discussion I decided to look into digital cameras, having no idea whether they would be worth the money or whether ther were any real benefits in owning one. I already use digital photography at work, so I was well up to speed with the technology involved, and had a fairly good idea what was good and bad about digital but I suppose I took it a bit for granted.
We all did a tour of the shops and slowly crossed off the contenders:-
Independent retailer - knowledgable but only selling digital zoom cameras (gave me a good tip about batteries though - later)
Currys - no help whatsoever
Comet - I think the photography expert got the day off, or perhaps the year off.
PC World - someone who knew their stuff.
I deliberately did not go into Jessops.
One camera in particualar took my eye in Currys, but as their assistants were in 'can't you see we're busy - go away' mode, there was little they could tell me about the Easyshare CX6330.
PC world had the biggest selection and an assistant that seemed to know his stuff.
He pointed out that this camera was not the cheapest but not the most expensive either.
Optical zoom was a big plus - there were a number of cameras on display that were digital zoom only, i.e., you could zoom but at the expense of picture resolution.
It was light, and pocket size, well coat pocket anyway.
There are 5 different shot modes, automatic - for general picture taking, sports - for situtations where the subject is likely to be moving, night time - with a special flash mode, scenery - for distance shots, and
closeup - for stuff less than 10cm away. I thought at that point he was going to say "an idiot could operate it" rather in the manner of Boycey form Only Fools and Horses.
"They connect by USB and the CD is in the box" was the only thing I could fault the assistant on.
I know from previous bitter experience that this part of the process can be the most frustrating
and stressful if it does not work properly.
There is also a video mode that records with sound.
The buttons on the back are simple and clear, delete, menu, review and share.
Altogether I thought it was a well laid out camera, it had a reputible name attached to it, and it also looked the business - too many of the cameras on display were cheaper and looked it, no more than a credit card with a hole in the front.
When not in use the zoom lens is tucked away inside the camera behind a built in lens cap, switch on and the lens automatically appears ready for use.
The whole easyshare thing was a bit over the top - a special docking port you could buy for £stupid to organise print and e-share your pictures from - why bother. Let's face it who also has a box in the loft with album after album of photpgraphs that only get to see the light of day
a) when the loft gets cleaned out (approx never)
b) when the kids need a picture of when they were toddlers to take to school
c) when you want a picture to embarass the missus with.
so printing was not a high priority for me.
I bought one and I am pleased with it.
The first negative was predictably with the computer-camera connection.
In the box you get a video cable to look at your pictures on the TV, and a USB cable to upload onto your PC. The Easyshare software on the CD would not run on my PC, apparently it is a common fault.
I was a bit unhappy about the fact that you had to install the whole Easyshare program even if you only wanted to use the image transfer part
of the program. I already use Paintshop and decided that I did not want another learning oppurtunity with Kodak software.
The camera connection software was the only element you could install separately. With this program you can connect to the PC and your camera appears as a new folder in explorer that you can open and copy files onto your PC hard drive.
Apparently the problem with the Easyshare software is well known - they do not like firewalls, or anything else running on USB at the same time, but no mention of this was made in PC World.
Another thing to watch is these cameras can eat batteries. The CX6330 takes two AA batteries, and will happily take pictures to fill the internal memory (approx 32MB) a couple of times over. However, the more you use the LCD screen, the more your precious batttery life is lost. I try not to use the LCD monitor for picture taking, it is quite easily turned on and off - and try to limit the review of pictures using the screen only when it is absolutely necessary, i.e., when the camera memory is full.
It has already been the case that I have taken pictures and the batteries have expired writing the data to the internal memory, leaving no power for the zoom lens return.
I haven't got one yet but I will be investing in a charger in the near future.
You can increase the image taking capacity by purchasing additional removeable SD cards - I think they had 256MB available in store.
You really do have to be an idiot to take bad pictures with this camera.
The pictures I have taken so far have been good clear images with realistic colour reproduction.
The one negative I have found on picture taking is that this camera is not so good in low light conditions without flash. Having said that the setting with a special 'in-fill' flash takes great night time pictures, especially indoors.
OK digital photography is still a good way off traditional film, but they are good eno
ugh, I have already submitted one picture to our local paper for a landscape feature, and the published picture in colour looks fine.
I thought Kodak would be a good buy, thinking that they know their onions - there are much better camera on the market, but you pay for the privelage of having them.
I think this camera is a good value for money purchase form a solid name in the photographic world.
I probably take more pictures now than I ever did before, and I am more likely to take the camera out with me than ever before.
The tiniest of bitter taste was left when I realised there was no camera case included in the package.
I don't think it would have cost a massive amount to include a basic PVC case? However, it does fit neatly into at least two of the now redundant 35mm APS camera cases we have.
BP
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