Customer Reviews

Kodak EasyShare DX4900 4MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I've had this camera for two weeks now and I feel very justified in saying...stop looking and buy this one. What an amazing deal! This camera is easy to use, has tons of great features (the dock that keeps your battery charged is a must, as is a 128mb card) and takes beautiful pictures. I waited to write my review until I got some hard copies back from the kodak print center and they look even better than my 35mm. I can honestly say that I will never need more camera than this. I use it for the kids sporting events and have tried it indoors and out. There simply isn't a reason not to go with this camera. Some of the 2 megapixel cameras are going for the same price. Definitely won't disappoint.

After shopping around for a digital camera. I decided to buy the DX4900. This is a great camera that takes excellent pictures. When the pictures are printed by a photo lab, it looks like a picture from a film camera. Most people will not be able to distinguish between the digital print and the film one. The camera is made of plastic and is very light. For some, it may feel a little cheap but the pictures definitely makes up for it.
I would also recommend a 128 mb card that will take about 100 photos at 4MP. The included 16 mb card will only hold about 12 photos.
This is my second digital camera and I am very pleased with it. I highly recommend this camera. Oh yeah, did I mention this camera was rated #1 in picture quality...etc ($300-$499 range of cameras) at the 2002 PMA convention.

Kodak has stormed the digital camera market with it's EasyShare system. EasyShare makes digital pics as easy as traditional photography. With online printing services it is now possible to get the same quality from a digital camera as from traditional photography.

Kodak 4900 broke the megapixel/price barrier by bringing out a jaw-droppingly extraordinary 4 Megapixel camera at less than [amount]. Kodak's unequaled color capture capabilities in its digital cameras is evident in the 4900 as well as enough features to keep all but professional photographers happy for years.

With the 4900 it will be possible to crop pictures and still get beautiful 5x7 and 8x10s! Uncropped 16x20s and larger are possible from Ofoto (the best online print solution).

The only way to get a camera nearly as good as this is to spend 2-3 times as much money. Even at triple the money camera is as easy to use for great prints as the 4900.

Darn, this is a REALLY good buy for a REALLY great camera.

Overall, if you're looking for a flexible, easy-to-use, easy-to-learn digi-cam, the DX4900 from Kodak is a nice place to start. It's basically a point and shoot camera that makes digital photography accessible even to non-techies.

FEATURES:

Digital Camera: At it's highest resolution of 2272 X 1704 it can hold about 20 pictures or so. The easy to review LCD screen gives you instant feedback on your pictures and helps you decide on the spot whether or not they are worth keeping. You can add on another memory card to give you even more flexibility with the number of shots you can take. Plus, at a whopping 4.0 megapixels, this camera is at the high-end of printing and picture resolution in the digi-cam market. For quality pictures you'll want to stick to cameras at 3.0 megapixels or up, definitely no less than 2.0 megapixels.

Easily Works With Your PC:

The DX4900 connects easily with your PC and comes with transfer software so you can easily download, edit and e-mail your pictures and videos, thus allowing you to share your pictures easier with family and friends.

NOTE:

One of the most frustrating aspects about digi-cams are the "short-lives" of the batteries that come with them. Batteries tend to die out quickly, especially if you use the LCD monitor on the camera (which is one of the best things about digi-cams). Based on other reviews it seems that a lot of users have complained about the "power issues" with the DX series of cams (and other digi-cams as well). You'll definitely want to invest in the Kodak EasyShare Camera Dock II which comes with rechargeable batteries and helps make the picture transfer process easier.

My investment in the camera dock has helped keep my cameras (I own two) in tip-top working condition. Trust me, if you plan to get good use of out your camera, invest in the camera dock and NI-MH rechargeable batteries. It will save you a lot of frustration when your camera does not die out on you at an inopportune moment.

THE VERDICT:

Overall, if you need a nice, easy to use camera to record your everday (and not so everyday) moments, the DX4900 is a great camera to start with. At 4.0 megapixels, the quality of your pictures will be the envy of your family and friends. For everyday/normal/touristy use, this is just perfect.

Highly Recommended

Kodak's under [money] for a real 4 mega-pixel, multi-funtion digital camera that is comfortable,easy to use & comes with a 16MB CF card & lithium battery. The software is well designed & easy to use. A must is the docking station for another ..., but well worth it - besides the 1 button load to your PC, you get a rechargeable NiMh. Finally, complete it by buying either a Viking or Sandisk 256MP card - I bought the Viking 256MB.

I spent many hours researching digital cameras.
My guidline was "the very best picture possible for the money".
This camera takes pictures in breathtaking clairity along with bright vivid color.
I have printed some of my pictures on photo paper on a HP Deskjet 895Cse. Every person that views these printed pictures can not believe that the photos were not devloped from negatives, also everyone asked "what digital camera do you have and how much does it cost". My 895Cse is just an average ... printer. The camera is very easy and fun to use. This Camera exceeded all my expectations especilly in photo quality.
Following are a few insights.
1. I purchased a Sandisk 256mb ultra memory card ... This is more card than you need. I can take 206 4MP pictures before the card is full. I recomend Sandisk ultra card but only the 128mb. (the ultra card is very fast, I can snap off pictures within 2-3 seconds one after the other).
2.The camera includes a usb cable,with the Sandisk card and XP os my pictures transfer from my camera to my computer fast,(less than one min. for 250 4mp pictures). I opted to not purchase the "camera dock" instead I purchased a "monster" battery charger that came with 2 sets of NiMH batteries plus an additional 2 sets of batteries,... These digital cameras use up batteries fast. The camera comes with batteries that can only be charged using the kodak camera dock,(the batteries only work with the kodak camera).
Even if you do not think you will use all these batteries, using the regular NiMH batteries and charger is the way to go, your batteries can be used in other devices and the charger is compact and easy to carry with you, the Kodak camera dock is larger and can only charge kodak batteries.... Each set of fully charged batteries will take apprx 40 pictures using the cameras digital view.
3. The Camera does not come with a case. I purchased a perfect case at Compusa for [money].
4. You Should Buy this Camera, Everytime I use mine I know I made the right choice !!

My first introduction into digital photography was with the low end Olympus camera. When I made the decision to upgrade I did alot of research and came to the conclusion that there were several good options for quality digital cameras in the $400 price range. After reading many reviews and speaking to many people who were familiar with both the Sony, Canon, and Kodak I opted for the Kodak 4900. I am extrememly pleased with my decision and love this camera and its' docking station (a must).

I just returned from a three week European vacation and had such a blast taking pictures, deleting those I did not like, retaking the picture with different settings, etc. This camera has alot of flexibility but is so very easy to use. After spending 30 minutes reading the instruction book I was good-to-go. One of the things that amazed me with this camera is what good pictures it took in low light conditions. All I had to do was make an adjustment to the light conditions on the camera; I was able to take great pictures up on the bright snowy alps as well as pictures of a lit up castle on a hill at dusk.

I agree with a previous review on the Kodak editing software that came with my camera. I do not like it and have opted to use PhotoSuite software to fine tune my pictures. I upgrated the memory to 128MB and purchased 2 sets of rechargeable double AA batteries and a charger (for $20). With the docking station the rechargeabe batteries aren't really even necessary but they came in handy during my vacation.

One last comment, I watched the sales ads. Best Buy had the camera on sale for $349.00 I took the ad to Circuit City and they matched the price-as well as threw in 2 packs of photo software.

This camera takes flawless photographs at almost any distance, and at almost any light. There are lower resolution modes and also a high-compression mode, but this does degrade the quality of the image (perhaps the reason for some of the unfavorable reviews?). Also, Kodak has some extra lenses available, one of them being a 2x zoom lense (I've ordered it, but it's still in the mail), which I am hoping will give me 1x to 4x zoom, which is actually BETTER than the 3x zoom you get on most digital cameras. They also have a close-up lense for taking pictures of things like stamps if you are interested in that sort of thing.

The downside is that you don't get a camera bag, and the 16MB memory card is too small. I think the 64MB memory card is perfect for me, but then I have a laptop that I can take with me and dump the pictures onto when the card gets full. The camera also comes with a lithium battery, so you still need to buy either a charger or a cradle (both come with one rechargable battery pack). Buy an extra battery pack so you don't get caught without juice! The lithium battery packs last only about twice as long as a charged battery pack, but they cost more ..., so definitely go rechargable!

Even without accessories, however, this is a great camera, and you can't get this kind of resolution for this price anywhere else. I've taken some absolutely breathtaking nature photographs after having the camera for only a few days. The automatic shutter speed is great for evening and low light situations, and I haven't even tried some of the cooler features of the camera yet.

One more thing - think about investing in some photo-editing software. The camera takes great base pictures, but they still need to be brightness, contrast, and color adjusted. And cropped. And retouched. I like the ULead stuff myself, because it is [reasonably priced] and powerful. But there are a number of very good tools available for less than [money], and you can really spruce up your favorite photos pretty quickly and easily with the right software. In my opinion, it is the ability to edit the photos that MAKES digital photography so powerful, and the higher resolution you go in with, the better the end result. Although Kodak provides some image editing software with the camera, it was really pretty poor. I definitely recommend getting something better (though you may not need it at first depending on what you want to do, and your level of experience).

Great camera, great pictures, great price. Plan on spending at least another [money] on accessories (battery charger or cradle, memory card update, camera bag, optional add-on lenses), and maybe [money] on software if you don't already have a favorite image editing tool. Once you have it all in place though, you get to take as many high-resolution photos as you want to for almost free! And I am telling you, I was just blown away at how some of my photos came out. Breathtaking!

I just got back from vacation, and am really impressed with the quality of my photos. Even after cropping one picture to less than a 1/4 of it's original size, it still printed out a great 4x6 picture, with little to no grain. I haven't printed out a 8x5 yet, but I'm guessing I'll be limited more by my printer than by the camera.

It's a great camera - you'll need a bigger card than what given with it though.

The docking station is ok, it's easy, but if you're at all computer literate, it's just a nice-to-have.

I bought this camera because my uncle had one, and I saw the quality of the pictures it took. After I got it for myself, I found out the picture quality wasn't the only great thing about it. The LCD display on the camera is crystal clear, and the menus are colorful and easy to navigate.

Software installation was a little tricky, but I'm one of those people who doesn't like to read manuals.

But the coolest thing about this camera that many people don't mention is the video out jack. It comes with a cable that plugs into the camera, and the other end plugs into a TV or VCR. Then, you just turn the camera on, and the output from the LCD shows up on the TV - the camera will even do a slide show for you! Forget printing pictures, when I want to show people the shots I took, I just plug the camera into their TV, and everyone in the room can see!...