Customer Reviews

Kodak EasyShare DX6490 4MP Digital Camera w/ 10x Optical Zoom and Camera Dock

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is my second Kodak camera, my old camera had only 3x Optical Zoom, but I was looking for bigger zoom, therefore, (...)

The Kodak DX6490 really surprised me on many fronts, with a 4-megapixel CCD, a high-quality Schneider-Kreuznach 10x optical zoom lens with much lower than average distortion, a capable autofocus system that works down to very low light levels, and an electronic viewfinder system that likewise works very well in dim lighting. Its exposure system spans a range of control from fully automatic to fully manual, and an external flash sync connector permits use with external flash units.

According to me with the four-megapixel, 10x-zoom DX6490 though, Kodak takes a large step toward bringing their excellent color technology to the "enthusiast" market. Even in light of the large lens this is a compact camera, the DX6490 has an overall body design similar to a number of other long-zoom digicams on the market, with a generous handgrip on the right-hand side, balancing the large lens on the left. It definitely won't fit into your shirt pocket, but the DX6490 is small enough for larger coat pockets, purses, backpacks, etc., and comes with a neck strap and rechargeable batter and dock.


Pro's:--
Great photo quality and excellent colors
10X optical zoom lens
Large, high resolution LCD
Electronic viewfinder actually useable in low light
Many manual controls
Flash sync port for external flash
Hybrid AF system for low light focusing
Very easy to use
EasyShare system makes it very easy to share and print photos
Nice playback and movie modes

This is a great camera and my second digital/Kodak camera. I orginally owned the Kodak DC4800 3.1 megapixel with 3x zoom, it was and is still a good camera. But I found I needed something to get those close-up shots I was missing, well I found it. The setup is really easy. Load the software (remember load it first before you do anything else) onto your computer (I still run Windows with ME) just let the camera charge for while and your ready to take pictures. The manual and software guide you through everything. The camera is very intuitive and extremely easy to operate. Everything is conveniently located. The extra megapixels and zoom make taking nature shots a real joy. There are a few cons, such as I agree the picture quality is not quite as sharp as it could be, but it's still great for a 4.23 megapixel (of course the higher the megapixels the sharper the image)

Pros

Fantastic zoom and close-up lens
Great Auto-Focus and shoot
Easy setup on computer
Camera controls very easy to use and intuitive
Light, small size makes it very easy to hold and take pictures

Cons

Picture not quite as sharp
internal memory not enough (that's ok you have to buy memory cards for all digital cameras)

I gave the camera 4 stars because of pictures not quite so sharp as maybe it could be. There is always room for improvement but I will be hard press to find fault with this great little camera and I recommend it to anyone

Pluses:

Fantastic OS X support (the EasyShare software is very iPhoto like in execution).

Huge LCD and a wonderful Electronic Viewfinder (with excellent low-light capabilities for framing shots that would otherwise be impossible with other cameras).

The easiest learning curve I've ever seen for a digital camera in this price range.

A thorugh and easy to follow instruction manual.

A top-notch german lens and 10x optical zoom.

Acceptable video recording.

Hot shoe for an outboard flash.

Minuses:

Lack of manual focus control.

Lack of TIFF support (camera is JPG only, but this probably won't matter to 99% of the users who buy this product).

A little small for my hands (o.k., though I'm a big guy, I might be reaching on this one).

Conclusion:

I was prepared to buy an Olympus 740/750 Camedia, but, after looking over the DX6490, I was sold on the Kodak's simple design and thoughtful control layout.

This model is for the person looking for the easiest digital camera to use in its price range. A great camera for my wife, who doesn't know enough about photography to miss the manual focus, but still a great camera for me- as it offers enough control over shutter speeds and aperture for tough shots.

If power + ease of use is the right combination for you, you owe it to yourself to check this camera out. That said, shy away from the Canon A60/A70 series- they are hard to figure out, comparatively, plus their manuals might as well be written in Greek.

-Steve(n) Marra

Now that I've had some time to use this camera more, I thought I'd throw out some observations =)

I really do love this camera, and I use it often. I've taken a lot of pictures with it (about a 1,000 so far). I've printed beautiful photos taken with it on Ink Jet and Color Laser printers. I've even used it as a preview device while setting up for a lighted indoor photo shoot- thank you hot shoe. My conclusion? Money well spent.

I've read some reviews that complain about the Easyshare software and the use of SD memory as the recording media, plus one reviewer says he had to return two of these cameras as defective. I'd like to address these issues based on my experience the past couple of months.

I use a Mac. I'm used to a free Apple application called iPhoto. iPhoto is easy to use for both archiving, and the basic manipulation of, digital photographs. I can't speak for the PC implementation of Kodak's Easyshare software, but I've found it as easy to use as iPhoto. That's not too shabby.

As to the issue of SD memory for image storage- it's really no big deal. Other manufacturers use this form factor for digital cameras and MP3 players. It's just a consumer grade storage medium. It can be a little pricier than other formats. I've seen around a 25% price difference in favor of other formats where I shop. For me, a $10-$15 price difference on a 128Megabyte chip isn't a big deal compared to a $500 outlay for the device it goes in.

On defective items, I can only say it happens to the best of products. I really hate to hear that someone had an experience so opposite to mine. All you can do as a prospecive buyer is to consider the positive and negative reviews, then make a decision based on your own research. Personally, I think the odds are stacked in favor of this camera being a good product.

There are always going to be people who like this camera or that camera. You might like the interface on the Kodak, but I might prefer the controls on a Nikon. I might think the blues on an Olympus are muted, and you might swear they're just right. So much lies in personal preference. I know I agonized over which camera my wife and I were going to buy for a week.

I haven't had one person out of the 10 or 11 I've let use this camera complain about the interface, ergonomics, or image quality. It's not God's gift to digital photography, and it doesn't pretend to be. It is what it is- easy to use and rewarding to own.

-Steve(n) Marra

First, for all of you non technical folks this camera is very intuitive. You will most likely still want to read the manual, but this is one digital camera that won't tax your patience when you take a picture.

I purchased this camera on the 9th of Nov. It's my 4th digital camera and my 2nd digital Kodak camera. I really love it. Having used digital cameras in my work and personal life for about four years I knew it would be best to purchase a large memory card (256 MB) for it. Using it for movies and pictures I knew I would need it and I was glad I bought it.

The day after purchasing the camera my wife and I went to Arizona for a week. I had a lot of fun with this camera. I took short movies and lots of pictures. We love to hike in the mountains and watch sunsets and sunrises. We have some great pictures and short movies to look at now as well.

It performs well in low light and the 10X zoom is outstanding. The movies came out pretty well, but the sound is not real great. With experience and by reading the manual I believe I'll do some things to improve the sound quality.

If you are more experienced camera buff You will appreciate that you can switch to manual mode and the control it affords you. In the reviews I read I didn't see anything mentioned about the burst mode which will take up to 6 images in 2 seconds, very cool.

I found the lithion battery to have very substantial life. Knowing digital cameras can be energy hogs I made sure to use the power saving features and turned the camera off when I wasn't using it. I set the camera on the docking station at night to recharge and never ran out of power the during the day. I wasn't sure I would, but I really like the docking station. The software loaded easily and is easy to use, although very basic. When I registered it online it also found the most recent update and asked me if I wanted it. I download it with a click and it completed the upgrade without any problems.

So far this has been a great experience and I feel the DX6490 is a very good value at the price I paid of $499.99. I rate it 5 stars.

I wanted to wait a couple of years before buying a digital camera where I would get the benefits of price reduction, features, value, and better than average (over 3.2mp) MP quality.

I found the Kodak DX6490 very easy to use, and packed with features I would use, such as the MPG recording (limited to the size of your external SD card), which allows you to email clips (very cool!!).

Things I like about it are the internal memory capacity of 16MB, which I haven't found on any other digital cameras in the 4.1MP range. Good battery life, excellent picture quality outdoors, compact and fun to use, cool design, large 2.2" LCD display (can't find that on most digital cameras), good software, 10x optical zoom, and as I mentioned before it records video clips.

Battery life has been excellent and I would take quite a bit of pictures (75-120 pics at times) between docking the camera again. However, there is no recharger aside the base (docking station) the camera comes with. So, if you plan on going on vacation, you'll need to take it with you (power cord, base, and the USB if you're going to want to transfer your pictures to a computer).

Manually controllable "EasyShare" is kind of an oxymoron. Generally, its feature set is useful, but it has some annoying gaps.

My old PC is running on Win98, and for the most part transferring pictures via the docking station works seamlessly, however there are a few glitches such as the wait period for the card to be read and the freeze-up of your PC while the camera's i-share is being used to read the pictures on the memory card.

If you have a 256mb card for instance, and you've packed the card with 300 pictures, each time you want to update the new pictures to your PC, it will read all the pictures on the card, which does take a few minutes. This is the one thing I don't like about the Kodak DX6490 and the docking station. I just think it is very annoying to have to wait for all 300 pictures so that you can get the most recent pictures you took to come up and be transferred to your folder.

If you have a PC or a card reader then you should be ok, and again you'll be limited to the transfer/read rate of that reader.

Convenient external controls provide quick and easy access to frequently used functions, such as the self-timer and the continuous-shooting mode. When you enter a mode, the camera briefly explains it on the LCD.

Overall it is a good 1st time camera, and I give it an 8.5 out of 10 rating. It could be a 10, but I think that would push it into the $699 price range. You can buy this unit for about $420 at most retailers. Costco wholesale warehouse sells it for $419.99 now, and 3 months ago it was selling for $469.99. So, there is hope that the prices will drop as the technology improves. If you're sick of it after a couple of years and you want to upgrade, you can always get rid of it here on Amazon.com, or eBay.

Having previously bought a Kodak digital camera several years ago, I was a little reluctant to purchase another Kodak. But we needed a new camera that was easy to use, high resolution, USB compatible, with large storage capability, and with the ability to take extreme close-ups. The 6490's 10X optical zoom was a convincing factor, as was the price. Prepared for disappointment, we charged it up and started taking pictures.

In summary, the performance is excellent. While the camera is a little too big to serve as a "pocket camera", this is the only drawback I can find. The pop-up flash works well, the settings are easy to understand and manipulate, the macro lens selection does a great job bringing objects into focus, and the resolution is truly incredible.

The only thing we haven't really tested is the ability to capture moving objects. But for all of our detail digital imaging needs, this camera has exceeded our expectations.

There is no question that when I get around to buying a digital camera for home use, this will be the one.

I've had this camera for almost two months, purchasing it the week it was introduced. The two things that really sold me were the 10x optical zoom and the 2.2 inch lcd viewfinder. I took it to Paris in late October and was very impressed with the quality of the pics and the manual controls. It's smaller than you imagine, and the quality of the pics is better than the lcd shows. The flash is strong for a digicam and the battery life is very good. I appreciate the built in 16 mb as I use that as a backup to my 256 mb sd card. The weight of the camera was not an issue, I had it around my neck all week in Paris. Some of my pics are at a public website ... www.pbase.com/ejcpa.

I do find that it does take awhile to focus in low light, probably not any slower than other digicams. Also the lcd and evf are great in low light unlike other digicams where it is utterly useless. This is a very intuitive camera and at the same time with the manual features you will continue to improve your picture taking skills. For those that I want to print out, I take it to Costco and they charge $.19 per copy.If you set the quality at 3.2 mp, it is perfect for 4 x 6 prints with no cropping.

Cons? I'd say improve the cycle time b/w pictures. That's all I can think of. There are online reviews of this camera at dcresource.com and imaging-resource.com. It's worth read these reviews, which are extremely thorough and informative.Purchase this camera and you will not regret it.

And that is size. It is small but goofy shaped. It will fit in a large pocket but certainly not a shirt pocket....
That being said, wow, what a camera. Outstanding lens combined with a really visible digital viewfinder and display and ohhh man this is worth the $$. This is what I love : Integrates with XP no drivers necessary (I don't know what the complaints about driver loading are about) Really nice video mode, better than anticipated quality. Great lens, not much noise. Some trouble with bright white / dark backround image bruising (purple edges). Easy to use, really easy. TELLS ME THE F/STOP AND SHUTTER SPEED IN THE VIEWFINDER! WHOOHOO! Lets me know when the digital zoom kicks in....Fast display & review - much faster than others. Great colors. Sharp pictures. ROTATES THE PICTURE IF TAKEN IN PORTRAIT MODE...maybe all dcams have this now but thank God for it. Fast recycle times between snaps. Jeez, what more do I want? Maybe I'll crack the instructions and really get to know it becuase right now I LOVE IT!

PROS:
4 megapixel Camera
Outstanding Image Quality, thanks to the
Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 10X zoom lens
Electronic Viewfinder shows full frame of actual picture (SLR-Type Viewfinder, or "what you see is what you get")
Viewfinder automatically shifts from color to black & white to enhance ability to see the subject in low light
Secure feel with large grip allowing one handed shots
Surprisingly small, easily fits in one hand
Allows full left hand support under the lens for steady, clear telephoto shots.
User Friendly, Intuitive controls
Excellent Pop-up flash gives outstanding coverage to 16 feet
Extra large 2.2 inch LCD (Giant size)
LCD is easy to see even in bright sunlight (Indoor/Outdoor LCD Display)
Dioptric adjustment for variations in eyesight
Full Automatic Program, or choice of Aperture and/or Shutter priority modes
Fast and precise Auto-focus system
Choice of automatic Portrait, Sports, Night and Video modes
Macro mode to 4.7 inches in wide angle
16 MB Internal memory storage, plus MMC or SD storage card capacities
Simply and easily shares photos by email, printing, or archiving
Battery good for about 430 photos before recharging.
Software compatible with Windows 2000 and later, and Mac

CONS
Average shutter delay speed
Proprietary battery
Software not compatible with Windows 98

As for the CONS, the shutter delay is common to all digital cameras and takes some getting use to. With time, you can better anticipate shots, so your active 3-year old is still in the frame when the camera writes the photo to the memory.
As for the battery, I would prefer 4-AA batteries as they are easier to find/replace.
I have Windows 98 and simply hooked up a card reader to my PC and gave up trying to use the software that came with the camera. I understand folks with Macs and Windows XP have no trouble with the software.
CONCLUSION:
This is my 3rd Digital Camera and the closest yet to my SLR cameras. This is certainly the best digital camera I have used, with the best overall performance of any of them. The photo quality makes you look a terrific photographer :)
If you are a "shutterbug" who prefers to take manually controlled photos, then keep looking for a camera. This camera is designed for people who are more interested in taking photos than learning all the technical stuff about their camera. If you shoot a lot in auto mode, this is an excellent camera, that will also allow you to maybe later learn a little about manual adjustment through aperture versus shutter priority settings.