Customer Reviews

Kodak DX3215 EasyShare 1.3MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This was my first digital camera, and I'm sending it back. I was searching for a digital camera that would take good close up pictures. This isn't it. They get blurry and the pictures are not sharp and clean. It feels like a cheap toy. The buttons wouldn't work half the time and I would have to turn the power off and on again to make them work. The docking system was nice because it recharged the batteries, but it's not any more convienient than a plain USB connection. The one time I used the transfer button on the dock it completely restarted my computer. In every indoor picture I took, the flash made this huge, blinding white spot, no matter what mode it was in. Another thing that bothered me was that there is no lens cover. If you're looking for quality sharp, clear photos, this isn't the way to go.

Alltogether this camera is good.

Here the good things:

1. It makes clear pictures and it is very very very very easy to use. (After five minutes I could operate all menus etc on that camera)

2. It even has a macro function although the description at amazon.com says it doesn't. So, you can go 25 centimeters close to your object. (that's good if you want to photograph flowers, pictures and other close motives)

3. The lenses are all made of glass (which is important, never buy a camera with a plastic lens!!).

4. The battery lives long (300 pictures with one battery)

5. For only $30.- additional you can buy a 16mb card and so you can hold 60 pictures at highest resolution.

6. You can connect it to TV and watch your pictures there. It also has a slide show function, that means as you watch, the camera switches automatically from one picture to another showing all pictures that you selected.

7. You can add or turn off each of the three optional flashes (red eye, bright background, regular).

Here is the bad:

1. No autofocus. For that reason I would probably buy a different one today.

2. The highly celebrated special feature, the camera dock to recharge the batteries is NOT included.

3. Here is something for people who don't know much about computers:
A lot of computers (three years and older) DON'T have USB.
You need to double check if your computer has USB input, if it doesn't, forget buying this camera. I have a 266MHZ Pentium and I thought it must be new enough to use this camera however it doesn't have USB. Also you NEED to have Windows 98 or newer to use this camera, otherwise you can send it back....

4. Finally I want to say that nowadays cameras have so many features and are so sophisticated however THE basic thing, a simple plastic top on the lens for protection is not there anymore. Be careful not to get scratches on the lens with this camera. Even in my grand-greatfathers time this was a basic feature for all cameras, today it is considered as something special, isn't that sad?

This camera was not what my wife and I expected when we bought it. After looking at several different "entry-level" digital cameras, we decided this one had the most bang for the buck, and it came with a free memory card and a rebate.

This camera is a sore disappointment from Kodak, and the overall performance was poor.

* Battery life is terrible, even with lithium photo batteries, and especially if you use the LCD screen instead of the viewfinder. Always have a few changes of batteries handy for this power hog. We ended up buying rechargable batteries and a charger because of it.

* The flash is terrible. Forget about taking any pictures in low light levels. This camera is suited to bright sunny days. We did get a few good shots from this camera at the beach.

* We had several problems with the camera recognizing the memory card. It would often display an error message saying that the (usually partially full) memory card was not formatted correctly and needed to be re-formatted. After trying unsuccesfully to reformat the card several times, we ejected and re-inserted the card and batteries and the camera a few time and the camera recognized the card (existing pictures intact). This happens a LOT and is very annoying!

* You have to hold down the power button for a long time to turn the camera on, and it takes forever for camera to boot up. The auto power off is pretty quick.

* No timer function.

* Transferring more than a few photos at once via the included USB cable, either with the included software or directly from the folder on the camera to the computer, caused the camera/transfer to lock-up. If it locks up mid-photo the picture file is lost and unrecoverable on either the camera or hard-drive. This occurs when using a memory card or the camera's internal memory. I have been told by other people that they don't have problems transferring with the optioning docking station, however.

* The Kodak picture transfer software is fairly basic and does not give you much control over how or where on hard-drive your pictures are transferred. It also automatically opens a poor quality image editor once it completes transferring photos. The menu bar "X" for closing the program is not availabe, and the program has closing splash screen that stays up for several seconds after telling the program to close. If I want the program closed then close it, don't show me a useless splash screen!

If you are considering buying this camera, don't! Save your money for a better quality camera that actually works.

What an annoying camera this is. Granted, it's not expensive, but still, you would expect a better cam than this one. First of all, the operating buttons are irritatingly small. You need long nails or childrens hands to operate them. Then it's extremely slow. Don't expect to make a quick snapshots if the camera is turned off - it will take up to 20 seconds to switch on. You can't leave it on all the time - there's an auto swith off.... It uses massive amounts of energy, so you're forced to buy (and carry) lots of spare batteries. It has no timer function. On top of that, it quite often does not perform the tasks you want to, resulting in having to switch the thing off as a reset. And yes, having to wait that long time again for it to 'heat up'. The zoom is good enough for most situations, and the macro function works fine, although with soms distortion. The camera dock (optional) is a very good thing though, and the software worked without a glitch and is very, very easy to use - hence the two stars. So, if you have a choice, buy a better camera than this one.

I think this camera would rate higher if the price were more in line with the cheap 1.3 Megapixel competition. I bought this item for half the listed price, or my rating might be somewhat different. This camera takes excellent photos that will print at near-photo quality up to 5x7 inches. It's not a truly high-resolution camera, but for snapshots, photos for Web use, and even spot photos for press it will do the job nicely. The overall photo quality and color balance is excellent, although images are little grainy indoors by artificial light w/o flash. The impressive thing is that it actaully takes photos indoors by artificial light w/o flash. So far the auto focus has resulted in perfectly focused images every time, with fast exposures that help prevent blurriness from unsteady hands. The macro-focus also results in excellent, sharp images from less than a foot away. The interface is easy to grasp, and not too difficult to set up. I've been very impressed so far with the quality of the images.

Its major drawback, in my opinion, is the lack of features which far cheaper digital cameras include. I own a Concord Eye Q Duo 1300, which takes acceptable photos at the same resolution, but also has a self-timer and video clip capability ... at 1/3 the list price for the Kodak. For the price, I would expect the Kodak to include a few more more bells and whistles.

Like all digital cameras I've had to deal with, the Kodak eats batteries like candy. Be sure to buy lots of batteries, or have a couple of sets of rechargeable batteries to rotate through.

After fighting with the camera and software for three hours, I gave up. I was displeased immensely with the software it came with, as it had a mind of its own. The camera itself looks nice and the photos look great on the LCD, but I guess what you see is NOT what you get. After trying to "transfer" the photos to my computer, if they even showed up, the pixels were jumbled up and the colors weren't even right. After starting over three times, I realized this battle was not going to be won by fighting with it, but by returning it because it just doesn't work. And, Kodak's website support section was as unhelpful as possible. I sent them an e-mail for help, and got an automatic reply that it would take 7-10 days for them to get back to me. I find that wholly unacceptable...and no phone number to boot!

Do yourself a favor and buy a different camera.

I love this camera, it's easy to use, that pictures are amazingly clear, and unlike most digital cameras, it takes great motion pictures instead of blurring the motions, it keeps them clear. I love how I can preview pictures on my Television, and upload the pictures quickly. The battery it comes with has lasted me four days of almost non-stop use.
The one default of this camera is that it doesn't seem to have an self timer on it for taking pictures of yourself.

I've owned a Kodak DC280 for a few years and was always happy with it. When it was time to purchase a new digital camera for work, I thought this would be the perfect one. I'm a real estate appraiser, and I don't really need a high megapixel camera, just one that gives good, clear images, and can hold alot in the memory. When the DX3215 arrived the first thing I couldn't get used to was how light it was. It just felt kind of cheap. Well I didn't have any problems with it the first couple of days, but then a couple of things happened and have continued to consistently happen. You have to make sure that the picture you take actually gets saved to the memory card. The image shows up in the LCD screen, but then it doesn't get saved. The green status light just keeps blinking and the only way to reset the camera is to open the battery cover. I thought maybe it was just this camera and I'd return it, until my partner told me she has the same problem with hers. This is really a big problem in my line of work, because I'm driving all over, taking pictures of houses. I don't have time to just jump back in the car and reshoot photos. The other day the camera acted like it had saved the images, but when I returned to the office, I was missing two critical pictures. Then it will sometimes tell you that there is a problem with the memory card and it has to be formatted. This has never been the case, and all you have to do is turn off the camera and turn it back on. Good thing too when you've already taken 20 pictures.
Whatever you do, don't get this camera.

Simply put this camera is the most annoying camera I have ever used. I expected so much more from Kodak. The buttons are too tiny to press, it is extremely slow and 95% of the time it does not do what you want to do. The preview feature rarely works even after you press the "select" button. Try deleting photos from the memory takes about five mintues because it will not respond and you have to turn it off, wait to reset and turn it back on again. The worst part is the camera will take one photo and then shut off. I have used several batteries and charged the PROPERLY, but the camera drains them all after one or two photos. I contacted Kodak Customer Service and they would not even help me. I was shocked. You would think a big company like Kodak would have great customer service. Well, you would be wrong. They basically told me that I don't know how to use the camera. Trust me, this is the most frustrating camera.

If you have a great deal of patience then maybe this would be good for you because it is extremely easy to use -- when it actually works -- and the price is reasonable. Just be prepared for a lot of headaches.

I just received my camera on 12/30/01 and within minutes of opening the package we were taking pictures. Because it came with an instruction manual for a Kodak DX3500 and I have a DX3215 we spent a little extra time trying to figure out what all the buttons were for. It would have been much more helpful to have a manual that actually showed the details of the camera which was purchased but once the software was installed in my computer I could retrieve the information I needed which is okay but would be better to have an actual black and white copy rather then having to go online each time I have a question. I do think the pictures we took came out rather good except for those taken in a low light situation. I would recommend this one for any beginner in digital photography. It's a good learning camera before investing in a more expensive and better quality camera.