Kodak EasyShare DX4900 4MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom and Travel Kit Value Pack

Title : Kodak EasyShare DX4900 4MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom and Travel Kit Value Pack
Author : Kodak
Release Date : 20021010
Binding : Electronics
Regular Price : $499.99
Amazon.com Price : $483.27 ( 3 %)
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Editorial Reviews :
The Kodak DX4900 builds on the success of the EasyShare range, bringing 4.0 megapixels and a whisper-quiet 2x optical zoom lens to this easy-to-use and extremely affordable package, which includes the handy Kodak travel kit for DX EasyShare series cameras.
The travel kit contains carrying case, battery pack, and charger. The padded carrying case has been custom designed to protect your camera and provide you with ample storage for accessories. The battery pack features two AA NiMH rechargeable batteries. The convenient battery charger can charge these batteries in three hours or less. It also comes complete with U.K., European, and Australian plugs.

The DX4900 is essentially an update to the successful 3-megapixel DX3900, with a new 4-megapixel CCD capable of producing good poster-size prints. Indeed, the camera was named best point-and-shoot digital camera in its price range at the 2002 Photo Marketing Association Awards, based on color accuracy and image and print quality. This is important, because the EasyShare range of digital cameras, while not among the prettiest available, perform extremely well against the competition and at the same time offer extraordinary ease of use.

The DX4900 is, in fact, as easy to use as a compact film camera. Picture taking is as simple as loading the CompactFlash card and the battery and setting the date and time. From there, the camera operates in auto mode and takes pictures with excellent color balance in most situations.

Should the need arise, the camera can be set to override the ISO settings from 100 to 400, shutter speeds from 0.7 to 16 seconds, sharpness, metering, resolution from 1 to 4 megapixels, color settings, white balance, and exposure compensation from -2 to +2 in 0.5 EV steps. Despite the ability to set these, we feel that this camera performs such a good job of image capture in the auto mode that you will rarely have to alter these settings.

Another new feature on the DX4900 is the 'advanced digital zoom,' which claims improved performance, reducing pixilation. Limited testing showed that the combination of real-time interpolation combined with modest image sharpening does improve the appearance of pictures taken using the digital zoom.

The software supplied with the DX4900 includes USB connection software, album creation software, image transfer software, and Kodak picture software. The transfer software runs in the background and starts up whenever the camera is detected and then guides you through transferring your images. Once an image is transferred, you are passed over to the picture software, which allows you to view your images and apply simple image enhancements, e-mail them, and organize images in an album.

Pros:
Affordable, easy-to-use point-and-shoot 4-megapixel camera
Auto mode very satisfactory, but can override with good range of manual controls
Named best point-and-shoot digital camera in its price range at the 2002 Photo Marketing Association Awards--and we agree
Includes Kodak travel kit

Cons:
Maybe not the best-looking camera around--but it gets the job done
Would be nice to have more of an optical zoom

Buyer Reviews :
I dare you to try to find another fantastic 4.0 Megapixel digital camera at this price! I am in love with my Kodak dx4900! I purchased this camera when I found a price that was too phenomenal to pass up. I am so pleased with the performance of this camera, ease of use and the function range available.

First, let me address the ease of use. After switching on the on/off button you have 3 modes to select from via a dial setting: picture review mode (allowing you to view all pictures currently stored on your compact flash card), capture/picture taking mode and setup mode. All modes allow you to choose many available options (I will address these later), if you choose to do so, by selecting from menus. However, fabulous results can be obtained without selecting from various options this camera has to offer, allowing the user to snap a picture quickly. Next, you can utilize the two zoom buttons to get up to 2 times closer to your subject (by using the telephoto option in the picture taking mode, you may use the digital mode to get up to 3 times closer to your subject). After your options are selected you are ready to snap a picture which is immediately viewable on the lcd screen. You are then given the option to delete your picture if you are not satisfied. The picture is automatically stored on the flash card if you do not chose to delete. Many other digital cameras on the market are not novice friendly and require several settings before you are ready to snap your favorite subject.

Within the Capture Mode, the following menu options are available: light exposure compensation (controling the amount of light allowed into the camera), white balance (correcting the amount of white desired in the picture in different light settings), color mode (controlling color tones), quality (picture resolution), exposure metering (the amount of light entering the lens) ,sharpness (highlight or blend of the edges of the subject), ISO speed (camera's sensitivity to light), shutter speed and date and time stamp. In the capture mode, a menu button is pressed to pull up the menu for these options and the user uses an up and down arrow to scroll through the options and choose the settings.

Within the Review Mode, the following menu options are available: magnify(zoom in on portions of the picture for viewing purposes), delete picture, protect (preventing special pictures from being deleted), slide show (displaying all pictures on the flash card in a slide show fashion), print order (used with a Kodak Personal Picture Maker printer) and picture information (displaying the date each picture was taken). In the review mode also, a menu button is pressed to pull up the menu for these options and the user uses an up and down arrow to scroll through the options and choose the settings.

Within the Setup Mode, the following menu options are available: power save (allowing you to chose your balance of battery performance with camera performance), digital zoom (telephoto option), camera sounds (various camera function 'beeps'), date/time set, video out(chosing the video out standard available in your area), language, format card (used to erase or format a corrupted compact flash card), reset user settings (reset to factory defaults) and about this camera (displaying name and model of your camera). Again, a menu button is pressed to pull up the menu for these options and the user uses an up and down arrow to scroll through the options and choose the settings.

Software is included with this camera allowing you to upload, view and print your pictures from your Windows or Macintosh based computer. Pictures can be uploaded directly from your camera via an included cord hooked to an available USB port on your computer or a Kodak Easy Share docking station can be purchased allowing the user to both easily upload pictures while also recharging the digital camera batteries simultaneously. The Kodak Easy Share dock also requires a USB port for uploading ca

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