Digital Camera for Christmas? Recommend: Kodak EasyShare DX6490
Originally posted by MacAztec
I am looking to get a digital camera <400$ range for Christmas, and I was wondering what you guys recommend. I want something with a good zoom, nice clear photos, good color accuracy, and good exposure balances.
As a serious amateur photographer since 1965, I'm extremely impressed by the KODAK EasyShare DX6490 in the under $500 range and I recommend it highly, but the Canon, Nikon and others championed in this thread are also very good.
But, you have only to read the excellent review posted by
zagato27 to understand my recommendation, which I have partially posted below:
"
Kodak EasyShare DX6490 performed -- it's a
great ultra zoom camera for beginners and amateurs. The 6490 also supports an
external flash, which is unusual for a camera in this class. The
large (and high resolution) LCD display was a nice touch, as was the way the LCD and EVF brighten in low light conditions. The photo quality was good, but not excellent, due to muddy details and softness. Redeye and purple fringing were also seen, but neither was horrible. The camera has average performance in most areas, except for playback mode, where it really screams."
Reasoning: My first digital camera several years back, is a Kodak 4800 (now discontinued). What I DO LIKE about the new Kodak EasyShare DX6490 are the several things that I came to NOT like in my camera - Kodak was listening to us and has made substantial improvements and reduced the price!
🙂
Compared to my 3x optical zoom, the new Professional quality 10X Optical Zoom Lens (38-380 mm equivalent for 35mm) is awesome, the much larger size of the LCD, an external flash, and the movie mode with sound are great.
NOTE: To play a
video file, you need
Apple QuickTime Player 6.0 or later.
Stock memory chips shipped in all Digital Cameras (DC) are almost throw away size (8-16mb), get a 128mb to 256mb immediately - very cheap now.
Night shots are much improved (fewer digital artifacts), which bring it more in line with Nikon lighting quality.
Caution: The KodakEasyShare software is compatible with Jaguar - Mac OS X 10.2.x, but the Panther version won't be ready until about Christmas.
Download at:
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=130/1466&pq-locale=en_US
No worries, your Mac should
automatically dowload photo images using the fast USB 2.0 cable into iPhoto, and you can use iPhoto, or Adobe Photoshop or Elements to take out any redeye or make any other image modifications.
A proprietary battery is not really a problem, for years I've used an extra battery and charger I bought from Kodak to keep me well powered. The internal Flash can be a big drain on that tiny battery, so this camera's External Flash capability is a real plus.
😀
Single Lens Reflex (SLR) was an appropriate issue to bring up in this thread because of the giant leap in quality and capability of an SLR compared to any BOX digital camera AND because the
Canon Rebel with zoom lens has broken the $1000 barrier! Those two factors are an awesome combination NOW.
Five to 7 years ago, the technology now available in the Canon Rebel SLR for $999 could not have been purchased even for $25,000; just look historically at the high-end digital cameras sold by Kodak & Nikon over this time period. Today the prosumer Canon Rebel compares very favorably to other SLR DC, including those sold by Nikon, Canon, Fuji and Pentax!
A photographer's natural preference for an SLR camera (all of them) is that you see
through the lens(TTL) of the camera exactly what the photograph is going to look like when snapped. "Hole" viewers in BOX cameras (film or DC) ONLY approximate, and even the best LCD is hard to read in under normal daylight and other compromising conditions. Plus, an SLR allows interchangeable lenses and filters, a BOX does not.
🙁
Until now, PRICE of a digital SLR has been prohibitive. No more!
😛
Pros and serious consumers (prosumers) want and need SLR. And now that the Canon Rebel SLR is available for under $1000 with a good zoom lens, there are going to be a lot of very happy prosumers this Christmas.
😉
What I haven't told you is my natural prejudice towards Pentax auto light/focus SLR cameras since 1965, and that I also have a medium format Pentax 645 with 3 quality lenses which can now be used with an adapter ring on the new Pentax digital SLR body for $1500.
So, do I get a Canon Rebel w/zoom lens or the new Pentax DC body ONLY at a 50% premium?
😕
And you thought your decision is hard. (I really like the new Kodak, shhhh!)
😉
