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Kodak EasyShare CX4200 2MP Digital Camera

Kodak EasyShare CX4200 2MP Digital Camera

List Price: $199.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: best value for digital
Review: All you have to do is play with this camera for a few minutes and you'll get the picture.--Kodak is still the standard!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Shot Each Time
Review: This is amongst "THE GREATEST GIFTS" I received this year! I love it, it's simple you don't have to be an expert to use this camera, and everything is ONE TOUCH! It's a great price and since I've gotten it pictures have been a cinch to get to relatives over seas, or just across the street! Anyone looking to make a wise investment, and love to take photos as much as I do I would recommend the purchase of this camera.......

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Flexibility on a Budget
Review: I found this camera at a day-after-Thanksgiving sale and decided to take the plunge. Most of my photography experience comes from throwaways and an old high quality professional camera, but I needed to take digital pictures to use as textures in 3D art.

A problem touched upon by previous reviews is the fact that the CX4200 burns through batteries at an extreme rate. My discovery is that if you use the built in screen, you can expect to get about five to ten minutes out of the camera before the batteries die. Also, if it is repeatedly turned on and off, the batteries burn up faster. My discovery is to keep the screen off as much as possible, and leave the camera running. Using this technique, I have managed to fill it's internal 16mb memory using two sets of batteries. I have found the quality of the images to be substandard compared to some examples I've seen elsewhere, and I question the colour reproduction. In some of my outdoor images of pine trees, the trees reproduce as a light almost grassy green, even though they are a darker colour. The camera is also very sensitive to movement. While I do not personally own one, I recommend some form of tripod if you want extremely crisp images. It can be fun to rapidly pan the camera as you take a picture, as you can get an almost timelapse effect. However, the CX4200 is extremely flexible, and I have managed to get decent pictures in almost all circumstances. I have placed the camera less than on centimeter away from a television screen and gotten a reasonably crisp image, as well as taken multipicture panoramas which tile up very cleanly.

If you're after professional quality on a budget, I suggest you go elsewhere. If you want a flexible and easy camera for pictures on the go, I strongly recommend the CX4200.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: perfect basic digital camera
Review: A previous review made a false claim regarding the flash. If you turn it off, it will stay off (or whatever you set it to) until you turn the camera off and turn it back on again. the default setting is always auto.

As for the quality, I think the camera is well-made, but perhaps some aspects of the design are lacking: the battery door opens very easily if you rest your fingers on it while holding the camera; the SD slot door clicks closed nicely, but the hinge is flimsy; the directional pad is hard to press in the middle (for the OK button) without also pressing one of the arrows at the same time. An annoying flaw is that the camera has trouble taking more than 2 pictures in quick succession. After that the camera takes several seconds to be photo ready again.

The same reviewer was accused by another reviewer from Seattle of being a racist based on the comment implying that everything made in China is cheap in quality. ...Being half-Chinese myself, I don't think there was anything wrong with the first reviewer's statement. Most of the stuff made in China IS cheap in quality. They're getting better, but it's practically a fact of modern life that "made in china" = significant probability of low quality.

Back to the camera: This is not a professional camera nor anywhere close to it. Diagonal lines, for example, are often pixellated even on highest quality (when viewed at actual size). that said, the quality of the photos is plenty adequate for simple photography, and its close-up photos (use the switch, take photo from range of 1') are top-quality--they are the best type of photo it takes.

the 2X digital zoom is pretty worthless, since it degrades the quality of the picture.

the camera gets very good battery life on 1800mah NiMH rechargeables.

when indoors and not using the flash, you either need to hold the camera extremely steady or decrease the exposure time, otherwise the picture will be blurred.

If all you want to do is have a digital camera for basic use, i.e., simple family photos, sightseeing, etc., buy this camera. And if you happen to sell a few things online every now and then as I do, this camera is more than adequate for close-up product-photos, unless you need photos at a range of less than 6 inches. If you're looking for a camera for amatuer photography or anything more sophisticated, you might want a 3MP with a zoom at least.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: very nice camera, but...
Review: ...the batteries don't last at all!!
Ni-MH batts are a little hard to find here, and it says on the user's guide "do not use alkaline batteries". and so i did, only i had to replace them 3 times before i could get the camera to take one single picture - and then that was it.

i tried using alkaline batteries instead, and funnily enough, they lasted way longer. the Ni-MH batts really do last even longer than regular alkalines, but still not long enough. so i HAD to buy a set of rechargeable batts, and a recharger.

on a brighter note, the camera takes great quality pics and is very easy to use.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: What's with the Racism?
Review: Quote:

'VERY cheap looking and feeling. Every time I flip a switch I'm afraid I'm going to break something. Typical "Made in China" quality.'
-A customer from USA, June 28

I don't think that these reviews are meant for discriminatory comments such as that. I consider that reviewer a racist bigot and hope that his review doesn't influence your purchase.

I received this camera for Christmas last year and have been very satisfied with it. It satisfactorily fills the needs of most casual users. The camera is very well made considering it isn't a high end model. The picture quality is excellent.

The only problem is the battery life. I can't seem to take very many pictures before the battery indicator turns on. There is a very simple solution to this, however. You only need to purchase some rechargeable NiMH batteries. Overall, it's a great purchase.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great first time digital camera
Review: I was floored by the number of great reviews for this product, so on a whim, I bought it. I am so glad that I did. The camera takes excellent pictures and it's so easy to use - even my 7 year old can do it. I would highly recommend! Thanks to everyone who wrote the great reviews that helped me make my decision to buy the camera!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great product
Review: Easy to use, easy to carry, great picture quality.

I bought mine with a 64 MB expansion. A must... Take as many pictures a you like and later choose what you want to keep.
I print my pictures on an EPSON Stylus Photo 870. Can't tell the difference from regular "developed" photos at 4 x 6".

I don't give it 5 stars just because of the lack of optical zoom.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good basica camera
Review: I was looking for a very inexpensive camera to take pictures to use online. This seems to fit the bill. I don't have the docking station; it's not needed to get pictures from the camera to your PC. Considering it's 50% of the price of the camera, it doesn't seem to make sense.

The downside is that there are a lot of annoying little things about the camera:

- VERY cheap looking and feeling. Every time I flip a switch I'm afraid I'm going to break something. Typical "Made in China" quality.
- Batteries don't last at all. Don't even consider using disposable batteries in this camera. Get some NiMH rechargeables when you buy the camera.
- Battery status meter only has three levels: 0, 10, and 100%. And there's no way to actually check your current battery status. When you hit 10%, the indicator comes on, and you have only a couple of pictures left till the batteries die.
- LCD is practially unusable outdoors, even on overcast days. When you're reviewing the picture you just took, you get a basic idea of what's in the picture, but you can't tell if it's properly focused or exposed.
- If you turn the flash off, it stays off only for the next picture, then turns itself back on.
- The camera can't automatically use both its internal memory and the memory card at the same time. The "Auto" setting means to save pictures in the memory card if present; when you have a memory card installed and are using Auto mode, when the card fills up, you must manually switch to Internal mode to use the internal memory.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great So Far
Review: I knew nothing about digital cameras before I bought this. I really just wanted something to take quickie pictures that I can use online. This is perfect for that. It's simple, easy to use, and the pictures turn out well for the price you pay. I am extremely satisfied. This camera is not for the serious photographer. You'll need a mre expensive, flashier model for that. But but if you are looking to make good pics for web pages and e-mails quickly, I don't think you can do any better than this.


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