Kodak EasyShare DX7440 4MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom

Rating:
Summary: A Great Product
Review: Going into digital photography, I had no idea what the factors were to look at, so I read a lot of materials about a lot of cameras. The ones that seemed to be the best were Nikon (which has an attachment for photographing slides), Canon, and (surprising to me) Kodak. The factors that turned me towards this camera were:

1. 4.0 megapixels. 3.2 megapixels is the minimum to get decent pictures that print up well at sizes up to 8x12 inches. Different settings provide different formats in terms of relative dimensions, which may result in some cropping of your pictures (a 3x5 picture will be cropped compared to a 4x6 because of the different dimensions). You can set this camera to shoot at different resolutions, including 3.2 megapixels, which is ideal for shooting 4x6 inch photos. You can select sizes down to 1.2 megapixels, with corresponding losses in resolution and gains in the number of photos that can be stored on a memory card.

2. Quality of the pictures. The resolution and color are excellent. I used it in Florence this last week without flash in the museums, and found that this camera is far better than film cameras with 400 speed film in picking up images.

3. 4x optical zoom, which is significantly better than the 3x offered on most cameras in this price range. Anything more than that, and you'll get blurred pictures, unless you use a tripod.

4. The camera is about the right size (many Asian manufacturers miniaturize their cameras to the point they are hard to use), and is comfortable to hold.

5. Ease of use. The automatic setting will handle most situations, but the camera also has a large number of pre-settings and allows a limited amount of manual control.

Like all digital cameras, you will have to buy several accessories to use this one properly, including:

1. A large memory card. 512MB will store in excess of 350 pictures at fine resolution. Larger cards are now available, but the manual doesn't discuss them, which may mean they're incompatible with the camera.

2. A charging dock, which will allow you to recharge the camera without removing the battery by just plugging it into the dock. The DX 6000 charging dock will take voltage inputs between 110 and 240, which means you can use it overseas, provided you have the appropriate adapter.

3. A larger battery (1750 mAh) to replace the 1050 mAh battery the camera comes with;

4. A carrying case. Get the cheap small one [ASIN: B00006HXMQ]

5. Hold off on buying a printer dock until you know whether you will actually use it. You may want to e-mail your photos to a printing service or use a drugstore kiosk.

The camera comes with Kodak software, which I found useless. If you use Windows XP, your computer will recognize the camera as a memory device, allowing you to transfer pictures easily.


Rating:
Summary: great pictures, terrible mechanical & service
Review: Had a DX4900 for about a year when its internal shutter quit working. Bought the DX7740 so that I could keep using the same extra lenses purchased for the older camera (hated having to buy new batteries, memory cards, card reader). Bought 1st one on 11/11/04 - the shutter button autofocus quit working on 11/21. Exchanged for SECOND new DX7440 on 11/22 and its battery latch (little CHEAPLY DESIGNED orange plastic part) broke on 12/14. Exchanged for THIRD DX7440 on 12/15. Its battery latch broke on 1/12/05. The battery door does a decent job of holding in the battery so I guess I'll keep using it (it's pictures are really good) until it breaks further then I'll buy ANY OTHER BRAND. I'm not even buying any more Kodak film for the Nikon FG I've had for 15 years with NO PROBLEMS. Just try working with Kodak customer service - it's a real joke, nothing of theirs is ever bad. I'll never buy another product of any type that carries the Kodak name, EVER.

Rating:
Summary: I love this camera
Review: I bought this camera for myself right before christmas and am very happy with it. I've taken over 1000 pictures and find the quality at all the different settings to be exceptional. Battery life is excellent (about 2 hours to charge and last well over 200 pics at high res) and I carry it everywhere I go. Movie mode is awesome and with sound makes for great memories when "filming" holiday events. It's connectivity to your TV is simple and straight forward for family veiwing. I bought the 256mg card and that's good for almost 15 minutes of video. With just a few minutes of video the card will still hold a few hundred pictures. I can't imagine this camera not being more then what most point and shot photographers will ever need. And even those who really into photography should find this camera pretty useful. It's goes from full auto to full manual and anything inbetween and I had fun learning what all the different settings would do. It's 4x optical zoom works really well and even going to full digital zoom renders some pretty good shots (you must be very steady or have a tripod or sit it on something that doesn't move however to keep from blurring the image). I only hope that 4 or 5 years down the line when I want to get a new one that the DX 7440 is still available so I can buy it again. I really like this camera!

Rating:
Summary: Great camera even for digital newbies
Review: I bought this camera in August 2004 and have never regretted it. The Kodak DX7440 is my first digital camera. It takes excellent pictures and is very easy to use. The auto function fullfills the majority of my needs, but I had fun using the more advanced features as well. I posted a couple of pictures to the Amazon online gallery to show the quality when used by a beginner. It made me feel like a pro.

I had one small problem. While the camera LCD screen framed the subject accurately, the viewfinder did not. It was slightly off, so I chopped off the top of most pictures. This problem may be a flaw in my particular camera, but check it out if you want to save your battery life by using the viewfinder instead of the LCD.


Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Camera, Great features!
Review: I did a lot of research before buying this camera. The fact that it had the option of connecting lenses and filters via an adapter, and that is had basically full manual override sold it to me.

The camera is fantastic. The picture and color quality is amazing. I have used several brands of digital cameras and this camera and kodak have been the best. The 4mp let's you crop a lot out of a picture and still maintain picture quality and focus.

For those not interested in the complex features it is very simple to use for the average person. The preset modes are more than I have ever seen in a camera. Plus, you can have unlimited video with sound until the memory card fills. Not only that, there is a setting for higher quality video than what your standard digital camera will do. Almost like having a older digital video camera as well!

The lens attachments are fantastic (and not as expensive as another reviewer stated - about $50 each). I was very leary about them, but the telephoto lens doubles the zoon, and the wide angle is definitely wide angle doubling that as well.

A fantastic camera!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I got this camera for Christmas 2004. I immediately began snapping pictures with it. It takes excellent pictures. I had an earlier Kodak model that doesn't even compare to this. The pictures are crisp and clear. It is not a problem if people are moving around like it was with my old Kodak digital camera. I would highly recommend this to anyone. It is very easy to use also.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic camera!!!
Review: I had been looking for a digital camera to carry around for special events instead of lugging around my 35mm. I researched all kinds of cameras. Sure there are more expensive cameras that probably do more, but for the average picture taker this is a winner!!!! I used it right out of the box; without using instructions. This is my first digital camera too! I took pictures of fireworks with the special night mode for fireworks and they turned out great. Also the video part is great too! It will go as long as your memory card holds out. I purchased an additional 256 mb memory card. It comes with a charger so you don't have to buy a camera dock unless you want to. The batteries really hold up. I went a week and took numerous pictures and decided to charge it just in case. I love this little camera. The color in the pictures are great and I even put it on night mode and took a picture in the dark and the flash lit up the whole room and I got my picture. Kodak you definitely have a winner in my book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: nice but. where is Kodak's customer support?
Review: I just bought the camera and am returning it. No I haven't even openned the box. I bought the camera because it looked to have all that I wanted. I wanted a camera dock to go with it. I wanted to use it to charge the batteries in the camera and to up load pictures to the computer. After reading the technical data on the camera dock, I wrote to Kodak to ask whether the camera dock had a windows version since it wasn't clear. I got back what looked to be computer generator responses which saying in effect don't ask me, go back to the vendor or look it up on our web site. I did look it up on their website and sure enough it does, but that is really not the point, I was looking for a little customer support. Also this camera only works with a special battery that costs $30 and takes a special charger. Since this battery only works for 4 of its cameras will Kodak be supporting this setup five years from now or will you be stuck with a camera that you can't use? And when you truly need customer support where will it be?

Rating:
Summary: wow man wow
Review: I spent a week reviewing all cameras and it came down to two the ones with good price and quality.So i had to pick i got this camera for a gift i opened it up to see if it's<br />as good as people say and to charge the battery.wow man wow<br />this was easy to use with out a manual this is one awsome camera the pic is a little fuz at first but in time camera got better knock on wood i got a good camera this gift amazed and impressed Everyone with the pictures and the video yah video like a camcorder the rec time is not as long but the camera that can do both great pics and vids is wow and for the price wow again.You can find cameras like this but be ready to pay big bucks yah 300 is not cheap but the camera is not little cheap piece of junk ether and you get what you pay so make count and thats the bottom line.

Rating:
Summary: Not That Impressed
Review: Not a bad camera for $299 but it could use some tuning up.

Pros:
- 16 situation presets (portrait, party, sports, landscape, close-up ect.)
- 7 Camera modes (auto, scene, program, aperture priority, manual and custom)
- 2.5 inch screen
- Kodak software makes for easy sharing for beginners
- 4x optical, 3x digital
- You can tag photos as "Favorite" so you don't mistakenly delete them
- You can place photos in an "Album" for sorting

Cons:
- Short battery life, especially when you use the screen as the viewfinder
- Bad auto-focusing
- Poor automatic compensation (f-stop/shutter speed) when the flash is disabled. This makes for very dark pictures
- No manual focusing
- No lense cap. It has a thin plastic shutter that automatically covers the lense when the camera is turned off.
- 32MB internal memory
- Camera menu functions are limited
- Optional 2x telephoto lense pack is $70