Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly good digicam from an American company
Review: I won't rehash what everybody has said about this camera, especially the fact that it takes excellent pictures on automatic settings. I'll just point out a few things that others haven't mentioned much and maybe help you decide if this camera is for you.The Kodak DX6440 is for you if...
- you want an easy-to-use, point-and-shoot digital camera, or
- you want more than the standard 3x optical zoom offered on most compact digital cameras (this one is 4x), or
- you want the easiest way to transfer pictures to your PC, or
- you want to buy an American brand. For me the selling point was #2. I'm a big fan of Japanese digital cameras -- Canon, Fuji, Konica/Minolta, Nikon, Pentax, Sony... But when I decided to get a new camera, I was looking for the following two important features: 1. Must take AA NiMH batteries since I have a dozen of these;
2. Must take SD (secure digital) memory card since I have half a dozen of these. Canon, Fuji, and Sony were ruled out due to memory card issue, and I didn't need another ultra-compact camera with too little optical zoom or a prop LiIon battery. In the end I found the DX6440, and was fascinated by its 4x optical zoom offering. The Kodak definitely surprised me with its excellent picture quality and ease of use. BTW, it's "designed in Japan for Kodak and made in China" (says that right on the camera bottom). This may explain the paradox we observe here: 1) it takes excellent pictures and sports an interface that could be better (Japan-ness), and 2) it feels a bit cheap and non-durable, esp. with the mode dial (China-ness). Ultimately this is a point-and-shoot digital camera. You turn the dial to Auto mode and just snap away. There is a semi-manual mode called PAS ("program, aperture priority, shutter priority") that offers limited manual controls. You cannot, for example, set both aperture and shutter, so pro photographers shouldn't buy this camera. Also, you'll have to turn the (flimsy) mode dial all the way around to get to the PAS mode, thus discouraging even a semi-serious photographer like myself who enjoys setting manual settings. Overall, as long as you enjoy mindless picture-taking -- and which of us doesn't at least some of the time? -- this is a good camera. It turns on quickly and gets ready quickly, too. The zoom lens is fast. And it's from a German optics company, so presumably it's high-quality. Well, since pictures do seem excellent, that may be the attestment to the lens quality. Some cons/quirks are: - No case is included. This is the most disappointing aspect of the package. They give you a dock and two special batteries (one chargable included with the dock, the other non-chargeable included with the camera itself), but no case. Not even a cheap one. Kodak, why??? - No independent playback mode. By this I mean you have to turn on the entire camera in order to play back pictures. It's plain silly to let the lens mechanism go to work if the user just wants to review a picture or two. This is part of what I meant earlier by the smart engineer/dumb interface designer thing. Kodak: take a look at Canon's products. - As mentioned before, the mode dial is just a stupid interface idea. - You operate the camera with your right hand, but the interface controller (a joystick) is operated with your left hand. Kinda awkward. Make that very awkward. - You cannot set compression level. You can only set the resolution (4, 3.5, 2 and 1). It would have been nice to be able to set compression level. (Of course, I'd have set it to the lowest compression anyway.) - Internal memory (16MB) and flash memory card are not treated as one integrated unit. Get this: when you are using the memory card, you cannot even review pictures in internal memory, unless you manually set storage mode to internal memory. But then, you won't be able to review pictures on the memory card. Again, very dumb. Ok, summary time. Despite the quirks I listed above, I think this deserves five stars. (Would have been 4.5 stars, but since it's an American brand and I'm a proud American, I thought five stars was what it deserved.) The picture quality is really good. The ease of use is top-notch (save for the few quirks I noted). The camera is easy to hold. It can use 2 AA NiMH batteries. It uses the ubiquitious SD flash format. It has a low-light auto-focus sensor. It does a fine job focusing on subjects. In other words, while it has weird aspects, it succeeds as a compact camera. And taking good pictures is ultimately what every photographer really wants.
Rating:
Summary: Love this camera!
Review: After 11 years of owning our Konica 35 mm camera, it finally died and I had a great excuse to go buy a digital camera. I spent hours reviewing and researching online for a good camera, and decided on the Kodak DX6440. I'm the type of person who needs instant gratification and the printer dock that comes with this camera satisfies that need! Although I won't print out all my pictures on there (for 40 pics it costs $25 for the paper and ink) pretty expensive. But just having the option of printing out now is great! So far I have no disappointments with the picture quality, from the dock. I still have yet to get prints made. This camera is easy to use and love the fact I can use AA batteries if need be. Some people complained that the camera wasn't small enough -
doesn't bother me. Love the video feature of this camera! Great camera - go buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Very Nice Camera! Get the printer dock too.
Review: I love this camera. I was reluctant to get this because I am used to my Nikon 35mm SLR which takes super sharp photos. But I was not disappointed with my Kodak digital 6440 at all. It came bundled with the printer dock for a great price. It is so easy to use and the purchase price for the cartridge refill and 4x6 paper on Amazon is cheap so I could not go wrong. I have a pretty good all-in-one printer, but opted to get the printer dock 6000 since the price was so good (after much debate!). My photos are so nice - actually professional. My deal also included the large Kodak camera bag for free which has a detachable smaller bag just for the camera. Overall, no buyers remorse here from the "buyers remorse queen". haha
Rating: 
Summary: Good point-n-shoot with 4x zoom, but pic quality falls short
Review: At first I liked this camera and was wowed by its ease of use and 1.8" LCD viewfinder. But after about two weeks of heavy use, I've come to regret my purchase, because the picture quality is just not as good as I first thought. While the pictures have good color balance, they are overly sharpened. In everyday language this means you'll see jagged lines in your pictures, and main subjects (such as people) look as if they stand out from the background in a faux 3D effect. Pictures taken with the DX6440 also tend to be very noisy, even on a sunny day, resulting in lots of video-capture-like artifacts. This is especially true when you look at people's faces on screen. This is quite disappointing. Please note that I'm not saying the pictures taken with this camera are bad. If you get an offbrand product like Argus or Samsung you'll get truly bad pictures. Compared to those the Kodak gives good results. The pictures are acceptable and make nice prints here, but when compared to cameras in teh same price and megapixel class from Canon, Casio, Fuji, Konica Minolta, Nikon, and Sony, the DX6400 cannot hold a candle in terms of picture quality, period. Ultimately this is a point-and-shoot digital camera. You turn the dial to Auto mode and just snap away. There is a semi-manual mode called PAS ("program, aperture priority, shutter priority") that offers limited manual controls. You cannot, for example, set both aperture and shutter, so pro photographers shouldn't buy this camera. Also, you'll have to turn the (flimsy) mode dial all the way around to get to the PAS mode, thus discouraging even a semi-serious photographer like myself who enjoys setting manual settings. The best feature on this camera is probably its 4x optical zoom, and zooming in and out is pretty fast. The lens is supposedly designed by a top German optical company, so it's too bad that the digital signal processing circuitry inside the camera does not retain images in top-notch quality. Some annoying cons/quirks are: - No case is included. This is the most disappointing aspect of the package. They give you a dock and two special batteries (one chargable included with the dock, the other non-chargeable included with the camera itself), but no case. Not even a cheap one. Kodak, why??? - No independent playback mode. By this I mean you have to turn on the entire camera in order to play back pictures. It's plain silly to let the lens mechanism go to work if the user just wants to review a picture or two. This is part of what I meant earlier by the smart engineer/dumb interface designer thing. Kodak: take a look at Canon's products. - As mentioned before, the mode dial is just a stupid interface idea. - You operate the camera with your right hand, but the interface controller (a joystick) is operated with your left hand. Kinda awkward. Make that very awkward. - You cannot set compression level. You can only set the resolution (4, 3.5, 2 and 1). It would have been nice to be able to set compression level. (Of course, I'd have set it to the lowest compression anyway.) - Internal memory (16MB) and flash memory card are not treated as one integrated unit. Get this: when you are using the memory card, you cannot even review pictures in internal memory, unless you manually set storage mode to internal memory. But then, you won't be able to review pictures on the memory card. Again, very dumb. Ok, summary time. The quirks I listed above mean I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this camera. This comes as an ultimate disappointment to me because I always wanted to buy (and keep) an American-brand digicam. (HP digital cameras suck, period.) The Kodak's picture quality is disappointing with video-capture-like artifacts. The camera is very easy to use, but in the end, you'll be better served by excellent offerings from Canon, Casio, Fujifilm, Nikon, and Sony. Take a look at Canon S410 (4MP) or the Casio QV-R51 (5MP); both have top-notch picture quality.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Camera, Great Pictures come easy!
Review: I was really supprise by the quality of the picture, the reaction speed, and the easy operation of this camera. First, It is solidly built, doesn't look cheap at all. Second, it is very easy to operate, I didn't even bother to read manual. Third, it has very quick response, not only swift in startup, but also quick in focus and fire. Most important, after I shot around, the pictures came out all very good, sharply focused with vivid colors. Very very few bad shot. It sometimes give me more good shots than my $1500 canon 10D, especially in low light. At its price range, this one is definitely a better overall choice than Canon, and Fuji models (I have no experience with Sony and others).
Some minor problem, like all Kodak camera, the image is a bit over processed. it make picture looks better, and also losing some fine details. sometime, the grey over white background is not very well separated. Still I highly recommend it, I think it is a better choice than equivalent model from Canon and others.
Rating:
Summary: Solid performer, but too bulky for casual use.
Review: This is my 4th Kodak digital camera. I have been pleased with the previous versions and bought this because I knew the interface world be familiar. While it has been a good camera, it seems Kodak has eliminated a couple advanced features. Additionally, there are cameras out there that do the same things with similar features, & resolution but are half the size. The lens is commendable & the use of two AA batteries is advantageous. the SD card appears to be the leading media for digital cameras, Kodak is wise to stick with this technology. Originally, It thought the dock was a great perk, but it became more "clutter" around my computer, however, when I thought I could put it in a closet, I found I could no longer charge the batteries without it. As I write this, I am awaiting a new digital camera - a Canon Digital Elph.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice camera - poor quality
Review: Purchased the camera for my wife Oct 2003 and the camera worked well for almost 1 year. Just short of 1 year the camera stopped working completely. I contacted Kodak support and was instructed to return the camera for repairs which I did and it was returned to me and it worked for about 3 days at which time it stopped again. I re-contacted Kodak support and was told to re-send the camera back for reparis again (2nd time in less than a month) but this time include the dock station and cables. Camera arrived back from repair and again it worked for a few days and stopped completely again. I am now sending the camera back to Kodak repair for the third time. At this point I have become very upset with Kodak's repair policy, but will continue to send the unit back until it comes back working.
I would NOT suggest purchasing any Kodak equipment based upon the way that they handle warranty. Instead of just replacing the camera outright they are forcing the consumer to jump through hoops by repeatedly sending the unit back to try to repair a faulty unit. This is no way to treat a customer and has turned me off on ALL Kodak products.
Rating:
Summary: Great Purchase
Review: I bought this camera for the reviews on ease of use since my wife wanted something to point and shoot but she doesn't often get to use it because I have enjoyed it so much. It is as simple to use as people say but it also has a LOT of additional and more advanced features as well. Also, the docking station and accompanying software make it a snap to download pictures so I'm never even temped to just leave them on the camera "for later". Love it and would recommend it to others.
Rating:
Summary: My photos look like they were taken by a professional!
Review: This camera and the printing dock are fantastic! A friend received a Kodak camera (different model) and dock recently for her birthday and couldn't stop telling me how wonderul it was. I bought this pair earlier this year and hoped I'd be happy and that they would be easy to use. Boy, am I and are they!
This camera is goof-proof! Every setting turns out great photos (provided I hold up my end and frame the subject properly) and even videos! I love reviewing my videos of the ocean and hearing the waves crashing on the shore. I didn't buy it for the video feature but it has come in handy a number of times since I don't own a video camera. It's fun and easy to make little videos of my kittens as they bounce and bump around the room and then to share them with my friends and family.
I can use four or five different brands of photo software on my computer and the software that comes with this bundle is adequate for basic storing and editing. For more advanced projects I prefer to use one of the others. At times I wish there were fewer steps required to retrieve the photos from the camera, edit them and get them into the proper albums but that's a minor concern compared to the major convenience and pleasure I get using the dock for instant printing.
I chose this camera after researching just about every digital camera available at the time in the 4.0 mp and under $300.00 range. I was especially attracted to the camera's multiple options -- night, landscape, portrait, closeup, sport and auto as well as PAS for manual settings. I found few inexpensive digital cameras that allow both automatic and manual picture-taking.
I especially like the camera's ability to focus on subjects just a few inches away from the lens and these photos print out sharp. I couldn't find another digital camera in this price range that could get closer than 18" where this one lets me get within 3 or 4 inches of my subject. Oh why did I wait so long to get a digital!!
Another feature I like is the fast shutter speed. I often take pictures of cats and if you know cats, they pose one second and are gone the next! With this little camera I get great shots I never could get before. Another great feature is that I can change the setting to not display what the lens sees on the screen in real time saving battery power.
The DX6440 is simple to figure out even if you don't read the manual or if you've lost it. The on-screen instructions make it really easy to operate the camera. However, without the instructions the little buttons on the dock can be confusing, especially when they start flashing on and off all by themselves! What are those little guys trying to tell me?
The dock really works great and it's super-easy to download the photos to my computer. With the push of one button -- woosh, the photos are transferred and the memory card is empty (you can choose to set it this way or keep the photos on the memory card). The printer dock is very compact and about the same size as the charging dock alone. It takes up about the same amount of space a phone does so my desk stays clutter-free. I'd recommend getting the camera with the printing dock together and skip the other dock altogether.
The Kodak film/paper is more expensive than having the photos developed at the drugstore, but the convenience is terrific. Fourty 4 x 6 pictures from one package for about $25.00.
About a month before getting this bundle I bought a pretty basic multi-function inkjet printer mostly for faxing and B/W printing that's not suitable for printing quality photos. By purchasing the reasonably-priced Kodak dock I didn't have to spend a bundle to replace my printer or invest in a much larger (and much more expensive) photo printer.
Not only do my photos look professionally-taken and developed, the Kodak developing/printing process makes the photos last way longer than anything printed with inkjet -- even on photo paper. The pictures don't fade and when wet, the colors don't run or smear. They look just like the ones developed at the drugstore!
Another great thing about this bundle is now I always know where my camera is -- on the dock, ready to go!I love the convenience of the dock being able to recharge my batteries and print photos. I never have to remove the memory card so there's no chance of losing it. Also I never have to wonder if the battery is charged and ready to go. It always is!
The camera is compact and easily slips into my purse or jacket pocket. The travel bag and electric plug adapters (sold separately) come in handy as I often travel outside of the U.S. They make it easy to recharge my batteries where ever I am.
Unless you already have a superb photo printer, buying this bundle is a great idea. It's one of the best investments I ever made!
Rating:
Summary: I love this camera!
Review: For years I have resisted going digital due to price of a new camera and what I preceived as a difference in quality. I am now a convert! I love this camera! I kind of bought it by accident because of where I live I only had a few models to choose from and this was one of them. It takes awesome pictures! It is so fun to use and easy too, I didn't even read the instructions until I had used it for a couple days, and then only to see if I had missed anything.
I have uploaded my photos (highest resolution) to several different websites such as ofoto, shutterfly and photoworks and they have all come back looking as good or better than regular print film. I never realized how much fun it would be to take tons of pictures and then quickly delete the ones you don't want. The battery seems to be lasting quite well also, I bought it in June and haven't changed it yet. As with most of these cameras you need to buy a memory card so you can take lots of pics at once.
The only drawback it has is that it doesn't have much of a "grip" so I always make sure I have the cord wrapped around my wrist in case I drop it. It does feel a bit "plasticy" on the controls but that is normal for most things these days.
The dock works great and if you don't have the extra power outlet to plug it in you can plug the camera directly into your computer and it downloads just as easily.
This has been an incredibly positive experience for my first digital camera and I highly recommend this one to anyone who is looking for one in this price/performance range.
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