Kodak EasyShare DX3900 3MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom

by Kodak

Product Details

Product Manual [7.33mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 1.7 x 4.6 x 2.6 inches ; 7.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005NVPW
• Batteries: 4 AA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,402 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 15, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The 3.1-megapixel Kodak DX3900 offers excellent images, the ease of use of a point-and-click digital camera, and a number of interesting features that help it stand out from the crowd.

The camera's 3.1-megapixel resolution captures images at 2,160 x 1,440 pixels, while lower-resolution modes are offered at 1,800 x 1,200; 1,536 x 1,024; and 1,008 x 720. Picture quality is excellent as the camera picks out the most detail possible, while color reproduction is spot on. The automatic white balance is also very good, helping correct picture color no matter what the lighting conditions.

The camera will happily work automatically; however, a range of manual controls lets you specify exposure, white balance, focusing, ISO speed, and shutter speed. The LCD menu system is well designed, clear, and very easy to use, even though the display itself is a bit on the small side. A 2x optical zoom--with additional 3x digital zoom--is provided and works quickly with a snappy auto focus.

Part of the EasyShare lineup, the camera is compatible with the separately available docking station, which not only provides a permanent USB connection with your PC, but also charges the camera's batteries that are supplied with the pack. The software ties in with the docking tray, letting you transfer images with the press of a button. When connected, the camera also appears in the My Computer window as a new drive, giving you direct access to the memory card. The dock isn't an essential purchase, as you can sync the camera with your PC without it, but it does come in handy and is well worth considering.

The only annoyance with the camera is the tiny 8 MB memory card supplied, which simply isn't big enough for this camera's megapixel capacity. This size of card only allows you to store 7 images at top quality or 15 with a higher compression mode. Fortunately, buying additional memory is not going to set you back too much more. Otherwise, the only missing feature is video-capture, which is offered by many competing cameras. However, there's no doubt about the excellent image quality and the DX3900's ease of use. --Nick Baxter

Amazon.com Product Description

The sharp-looking Kodak DX3900 is the first 3-megapixel digital camera to be introduced into the EasyShare System lineup. It is compatible with the Kodak EasyShare dock (sold separately), which allows for fast and simple image downloading, in addition to recharging your camera's batteries. The standout features of the DX3900 are its 3.1-megapixel CCD sensor, all-glass lens with 2x optical zoom, 3x digital zoom, autofocus, USB connectivity, and a 1.5-inch LCD screen.

It also includes a built-in flash, real-image optical viewfinder, four image resolution settings, maximum image resolution of 2,160 x 1,440 pixels, and a weight of only 7.9 ounces without batteries. The DX3900 even has white balancing with four settings: automatic, daylight, tungsten, and fluorescent. Included in the box are the following: camera, wrist strap, lithium battery, CompactFlash card, USB cable, video cable, dock insert, user's guide, Quick Start Guide, and software CD.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kodak DX3900, November 29, 2001

By 

J. Arnold "jim18170" (Akron, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kodak EasyShare DX3900 3MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

This is my first digital camera, although I have been taking photos (many years professionally) for more than 15 years with 35mm film cameras.

I have to say that this camera, after just two weeks, has exceeded my expectations. I wanted a camera that could replace my beloved Olympus Stylus as a point and shoot camera. It easily does that. In fact I find that I can use it much like I did my beloved Leica M rangefinder camera. Any digital consumer camera today still does not rival even the cheapest p/s film camera. But the advantages of a digital camera more than overshadow any image quality gap between film and digital cameras.

Here are the strengths of this camera (in no particular order):

1. Takes non-proprietary batteries. DO get rechargable NiMH
batteries. Camera uses 2. (...))

2. Flash can be turned off. I rarely use the flash for a natural look when in "lecia-type" shooting situations. Good fill flash.
Flash is far enough off axis so that red eye doesn't seem to exist.

3. Can set EV +- 2 stops for exposure control.

4. Can set shutter speeds down to 16 seconds. Great for low-light shooting.

5. Metering system is very, very good in general. can also do spot metering.

6. camera is not too small or too big. it makes it easy to take anywhere and not be a burden.

7. Cover protects lens when camera is turned off.

8. Very good image quality

9. Good software on camera and loaded onto computer. camera is
intuitive to use.

10. Macro mode

Misses:

1. some might need more than 2x zoom.

2. Software does not work under Windows95

3. No neck strap. Just wrist strap supplied.

4. Only 8mb card supplied with camera.

5. shutter is responsive with no big lag from the time the shutter is pressed to when the image is taken, but it takes about 6 seconds to write the image to disk before you can take the next picture. (unless you use the .8mb burst mode)

More Advice:

Don't bother buying the dock. USB cable alone is fine for
transferring images. Save the dock money and buy a bigger compactflash card and rechargable batteries.

This is a lot of camera for the money. Hopefully it will hold up
over the next few years until it's time to buy the next generation
of digital camera. Good luck! Hope this helps.

138 of 140 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Bought 4 of these Cameras, October 21, 2001

By 

Lori Bonicelli (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kodak EasyShare DX3900 3MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I am in charge of purchasing all new technology for my office, and one month ago, I bought 4 of the Kodak DX3900s for my office. What a great camera! The photos are great. This is the 3rd set of digital cameras I have purchased for my office in the past 5 years, and digital cameras have come a long way. 6 months ago I purchased an olympus for [a high price] and that camera had too many bells and whistles that nobody in the office could figure out. This camera is simple. All I do is just leave it on the highest picture quality setting, insert the 128MB card that I purchased seperately and I can take up to 129 pictures using the flash on one battery charge! I "borrowed" the office camera that I purchased for the last 2 weekends when my family and I visited the Shenendoa National forest. Wow!! The pictures could not be any better. My husband and I are planning on purchasing one of our own!! I strongly suggest this camera to anyone who is purchasing a new digital camera.

107 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great features for the price -- near-pro quality, super easy, February 19, 2002

By 

kate (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kodak EasyShare DX3900 3MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

Digital cameras in general are getting better, but you can't beat quality like this. Though I was initially looking at the more talked-about Olympuses and Canons, this camera gives excellent color fidelity, great resolution, and point-and-click ease of use coupled with advanced features.

I use Mac OS X, and no software installation is required to use the camera -- it works seamlessly with ImageCapture and the new iPhoto, including being able to control the camera (erase pics from the card, etc) from the iPhoto app.

The direct USB connectivity is great. I was able to quickly and seamlessly download the photos without having to use a compactflash adapter, which I suspect will result in longer media life due to the lack of the physical stresses of jamming the card in and out.

It looks like a film camera (as opposed to some of the Nikons which twist), and feels comfortable, with a nice weight to it. The body is plastic, but feels fairly solid, though it doesn't feel quite like the most expensve cameras. It feels like the most expensive camera you could buy at a drugstore -- well-put-together, but not top-of-the-line.

The ergonomics are very well-designed and easy to understand -- the buttons are well placed for easy operation without any accidental activations. The camera has a built-in battery save feature you can enable which turns it off after a minute of inactivity, and has easy-to-navigate hierarchal menus to control many aspects, like date/time stamp, image quality, and sounds.

The image quality is really excellent, better than I expected. Though the 3.1 megapixels is certainly impressive, what's more important is that the quality in those few million pixels is right on, with good range in lights and shadows, good detail (the camera includes macro and distance modes for customizing focus), and very good color fidelity. There are white-balance controls for different lighting (flourescent, tungsten, flash etc) which enhance the color fidelity in usually-tough lighting situations. There is a hint of jaggedness in high-contrast areas, but it's not too distracting. Overall, there is none of the graininess that I've seen with other digital cameras.

The camera can take pictures in only 3 modes -- color, sepia, or black and white (some cameras have lots of built-in effects.) For cropping and sharing, it's nice anyway to have a program like Adobe Photoshop Elements, which will let you use all the filters you might want.

One of the best parts of this camera is the lens -- you can buy accessories like a telephoto attatchment or a wide-angle, for even more flexibility.

I am thrilled with this camera. As an art student, it suits my needs perfectly -- optical zoom and enough pixels to play with were very important to me. However, there are a few cons, which can be expected for all these features at the price. Unlike the top-of-the-line digicams, there's a separate viewfinder (as opposed to true through-the-lens -- parallax problems are slight, but there.) And maybe it's just me, but you can't seem to frame your picture on the LCD screen -- it seems to work only for reviewing photos. I wish there were a power adapter included for seamless recharging. The 8mb included memory is pretty skimpy considering historically-low memory prices -- it holds only 8 hi-res photos. The construction feels solid, but not tops. We'll see how it holds up.

All in all, this is a wonderful camera for the price, and Kodak didn't sacrifice image quality to cram in more effective pixels -- the images that come off the camera are ready to go. The additional lenses, ISO and white-balance adjustments mean you can take it further, but it functions as a point-and-shoot easy camera, and with Mac OS X anyway, there's no software you need to install at all. I highly recommend it for everyone from the first-timer who needs room to grow to the advanced amateur without unlimited funds.