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192 of 197 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
best camera ever!, July 30, 2005
This review is from: Kodak Easyshare V550 5 MP Digital Camera with 3xOptical Zoom (Black) (Electronics)
This is my third kodak camera and second digital one. I love the kodak line. The pictures have always come out great. I bought this camera to replace and upgrade my 2MP Cx7220, which I loved but scratched up quite badly while in Europe. It still worked fine but I decided to take the opportunity and upgrade.
This camera is great. The LCD screen is pretty big for a camera this size. Much bigger than the Cx model. You can also adjust the brightness of the LCD screen to your liking or for certain lighting situations. You can set the screen to go off after a certain time period or not at all and comes right back on with a touch of a button.
This camera is very easy to use (there is no need to read the manual to figure out how to use it--no frustration) and I love all the features it has. What I love the most of course is it's size. I really wanted a camera that I could take with me everywhere since I love taking pictures, but I didn't what to have to drag a big bag around with me to do so. This camera fits into my relatively small purse along with my wallet, a PDA, keys, pocket calendar, tissues, etc, everything I consider to be esstentials without making the purse hard to zip or bulky.
The camera has several settings for just about any lighting condition, situation, and activity. And the pictures come out just as good on high zoom as they do on no zoom. You can also zoom in WHILE you take videos, a feature the Cx model, as well as a lot of other brand cameras do not have. To make room for more pictures you can lower the picture quality to 4.4MP, 4.0, 3.1, and 1.8. To conserve battery power (which is very good I must say) you can use the viewfinder which takes a picture of exactly what you see in the viewfinder, nothing is cut off.
Another great thing about this camera is that it doesn't take a long time to boot up. You can take a picture a second or two after turning it on which can be very convenient.
I love that this camera comes with a dock (for recharging and/or transfering) and a very nice one at that. It also comes with a photo printer dock insert, a wrist strap, and a carrying case. It's not the kind of case that will protect your camera if you drop it, which is find for me cause I keep it in my purse, and it's thin enough that it doesn't take up any extra room, while offering some protection from anything in my purse that might scratch it. (I really could have used a bag like this in Europe.)
The only downside to this camera is that the internal memory does not hold very many pictures on the 5MP photo quality option. That is not too big of a deal since most people automatically buy memory cards for their cameras. I have a 512MB memory card and it hold 308 photos on the 5MP option, 344 on the 4.4MP option, 379 on the 4.0MP option, 469 on the 3.1MP option, and 757 on the 1.8MP option.
There is also some editing that you can do right on the camera before you transfer it to your computer. The Kodak photo editing software is okay; it's basic and fun to play aroung with. I just use HP Image Zone and transfer the pictures using the camera wizard since I have XP. I had the software installed on my old computer but don't have installed on the one I have now because I didn't need it.
In conclusion, this camera is well worth it's price and it has everything and more that a non-professional photographer could ever want or need. ^_^
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62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very nice camera, October 17, 2005
This review is from: Kodak Easyshare V550 5 MP Digital Camera with 3xOptical Zoom (Black) (Electronics)
I am a very active photographer, all digital now, had quite a few digital cameras, some good, some not so good, never thought I would see the day I would buy a Kodak digital camera.
Now that day has come. this little machine is really very impressive, beautifully made, a delight to use and constantly delivers very good photographs. I have put my other equipment aside and strictly stay with the Kodak, it is a joy to use.
Now for some technical stuff, the flash appears is much more powerful then in the Kodak Specs. on most of these small cameras with large viewing windows you can still get blinded, not with the Kodak, you have an optical window, very few have that, it really is a necessity.
I am very glad I purchased it, have no regrets at all, nice job Kodak.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good "pocket" camera with a great display, December 19, 2005
If you want a compact "point-and-shoot" camera that is one of the easiest to use and has a great 2.5" display, then you can't go wrong with this one. I've had it for couple of weeks and have shot about 200 pictures under various conditions. The display is the best I have seen so far; and in my experience with digital cameras, the display is really important because you end up sharing more of pictures right there on the camera's built-in screen than any other way. (One other Amazon customer is complaining about the display. He must have a bad unit!).
The pictures came out quite well for me too. The camera has lots of pre-programmed picture settings. I've tried most of them and they have worked quite well. Another thing that stands out on this camera is the build quality - which is excellent. Almost everyone of my friends who know cameras and who've handled this one, have commented about its high-quality touch-and-feel.
There are two things to watch out for if you go for one of these slim, compact cameras: weak flash coverage and short battery capacity. On the former, this camera does very well. Just use the "party" setting. On the latter, it does NOT do very well. With the display on all the time, many on-off cycles, and lots of flash pictures, you'd be lucky to take 100 pictures on one charge. Normally, you would want the battery to last through a short (3-4 days) trip. This one may not. So, definitely buy a spare battery and keep it charged and with the camera.
If long battery life is very important to you, then don't buy one of these slim cameras - of any brand. Go for the next bulkier class of cameras that use AA batteries. Also, if you want to shoot pictures often with manual settings (aperture, shutter speed, etc.) then go for something else - this camera is NOT intended for lot of manual control.
To close, this camera is all about: ease of use, great display, small size. If these are your top three requirements, you'll love this camera.
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