Customer Reviews

Kodak Easyshare C643 6.1 MP Digital Camera with 3xOptical Zoom

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

The Kodak C643 is a "small" point and shoot. It's size will let you fit it in your shirt pocket, but it can be a little too heavy to carry there, so get a small case.

Battery life is "EXCELLENT" with 2300ma (KODAK Brand)rechargeables. I have taken 20 mins of video and 30 pictures with the screen on, and the battery light is still green. I took 41 flash photos in a row on a fresh charge and the battery light was still green! That is pretty darn good for a camera with only two batteries! I haven't yet had to put in fresh batteries during a day of shooting family photos and movies.

The movie mode is superb ( I no longer use my old camcorder) and has good sound capture. Outdoor movies look great, but your inside movies will need some good lighting to obtain adequate quality (remember, it has no camera light like your camcorder.) Movies are recorded in Quicktime (mov) format. If you want to transfer them to dvd for tv viewing, you will need to convert them since most dvd players don't support that format. Kodak software does an avi conversion, but it turned out very poor. Upgrading to Quicktime Pro seems to be the easiest way to make the conversion to other formats. (about $29). Kodak software needs more work. The mov to avi conversion is ridiculous. Very basic control over photo editing. More focused on printing than digital storage.

The photos, however, are stunning. Great Kodak picture color.

The viewfinder is slightly offset,and doesn't fully represent what you will get in your photo.

The C643 has some problems with autofocus when doing macro shots.
I had extreme difficulty locking in doing closeups (less than 2ft).

The camera has a "handshake" logo that pops up when the camera isn't steady enough. Steady photography seems to be an issue with all small point and shoot cameras that use 3x plus zoom. You have to make sure to either use a tripod or rest the camera or your hand against something to obtain good shots in high zoom. All cameras with zoom have that issue unless there is some fancy image stabilization circuity ( which can add another hundred or so bucks to the price.)

The camera build is a little cheap. I do not like the quality of the card door or battery compartment door. The usb cable is a little difficult to plug in.

The menu is easy, the screen is very big and useful unless the summer sun is shinning directly into it. The zoom is fluid, and with 6.1mp, even the digital zoom is sharp.

I like the shutter Long Term Exposure mode. It will allow you to open the shutter for up to 4 secs. That can get you some real fun shots at night!

If you get this camera, I recommend getting the Kodak camera dock. It not only comes with two rechargeable batteries, but will make transfers and recharging simpler, and save wear and tear on the cheap doors. Also get a 1GB card, because you will end up taking a lot of video with this camera.

NOTE TO THOSE HAVING CAMERA PROBLEMS......USE THE KODAK RECHARGEABLE BATTERY RECOMMENDED FOR THIS UNIT. You will only meet with grief if you try to use a standard alkaline battery. They do not provide the correct amount of current capacity needed and will cause lockups, unexpectant shutdowns, etc. Even other brand name rechargeables may cause issues. Before you take the camera back to the store, purchase the Kodak battery pack with the recharger kit.

All I can say is WOW!

We're going to Alaska in July. We have a 2 year old Fujifilm S3000 3.2 mega pixel already, but after much deliberation we decided to indulge ourselves and purchase the Kodak C643 in addition to a new digital camcorder to tape our four boys during our excursions.
I've played around with it for 2 weeks and feel I'm qualified now to review it.
PROS:
The LCD screen is HUGE! I've saved so much time being able to preview photos in detail and delete off the bad ones immediately instead of downloading them onto my laptop to review and delete. Great time saver! The built in memory is large enough that we can use it now while we're still pricing out 1g or 2g SD cards.
It took about 5 minutes to get the hang of the menu, which is incredibly easy to use. The controls buttons are large enough for my hands, and are far enough apart as to not hit another accidentally.
Camera cropping is something I was unfamiliar with, but I've already come to love it. You can easily adjust the white balance and ISO speed manually.
The burst feature takes four shots in 2 seconds which is impressive. (Very important when trying to capture birthday candle blowing!)
The sepia and B/W effects are realistic and by far my favorites.
I've played around with the long time exposure feature and gotten some REALLY neat effects.
It's lightweight and small enough to fit in my purse or pocket but large enough that even my slightly shaky hands are able to take sharp photos. The photo clarity is amazing. Colors are vibrant and rich. The zoom moves rapidly. Flash is bright, with multiple flash options to chose from.
The slide show feature lets me show the kids the photos I've taken automatically without worrying about them accidentally deleting every photo on the memory card. (Been there, cried about that!) It also has an UNDO DELETE feature. I guess I don't need to say anything more about that, do I?
I've taken a few movies and they've come out surprisingly well, although I confess haven't used that feature much since I've also been playing around with my new digital camcorder.

CONS:
The user guide STINKS! The book is nice and fat but that's only because it includes the information in three languages. It touches on each feature the camera offers, but so briefly that a first time user wouldn't have enough confidence in the information to utilize them properly without fearing irreparable consequences. Don't let this scare you! Play around with the camera! If you screw up, just readjust the levels back to AUTO, and start over again!
This camera is absolutely worth more than what we paid!

bought mine at target. It is great when it works.. however I am currently returning my second one.. they lock up and completely stop responding. Target said there is a problem with the camera and they have had "loads of returns". I would suggest that until this is fixed, buy a different camera!

I bought the kodak C643. and by the third day it stopped working.
I had to go through the hassle of sending it back.
Amazon was cool about sending another camera (same kind)after they recieved my return.
On the third day...the second camera went blank, nothing worked.
I had to ship that one back too.

When I asked Amazon about these cameras they wrote and told me:

(I copied and pasted their words to this review)

"As it seems that the problem with this item is more widespread than
we originally thought, we are not able to send another replacement.
We will investigate and remedy the situation with the item; however,
I cannot guarantee when the error may be fixed"

They said as soon as they recieve my return they will give me my gift certifcate back and I can pick another camera.

Amazon did all they could to help me. I was very impressed about the way they treated me.
But this camera stinks.

I bought this for my parents, and they were very pleased with how easy it was to use. Also, the large LCD screen and docking station makes it simple for those who are not too friendly with the computer to use.

Great camera! Reasonably priced, Very easy to use. With my 1gb SD card, I can take hundreds of high quality photos and not miss anything. This camera is very easy to use!

My husband bought me this camera for my birthday in May 2006. I loved this camera. Well, it stopped working on Christmas Eve. I used it that morning with no problems, put it on the charger to recharge for later that evening. When I removed the camera that evening, the screen remained black. It would not take any pictures.
After talking with the customer service folks, I sent my camera in for repair. It was under warranty, and I had not done anything to break the camera. Well, they voided my warranty stating that it was "Impact Damage" and my repair bill was $111.00. You have got to be kidding. I called to question the voided warranty since I had not dropped the camera. The technician I spoke to explained that "Impact Damage" could happen if the camera bumped up to something in your purse. So I asked to speak to a manager.
I am sorry, but if I am going to spend this much money on a camera, I expect a little better quality. I have called and email the Kodak Company several times to have someone talk to me. Nobody has bothered to return either my calls or emails.
I would SERIOUSLY think twice before spending money on a camera that can break by no fault of your own only to have the warranty voided and billed an amount comparable to a brand new camera. I have discovered that the quality of a product is only as good as the company that will stand behind it.

As a few people have stated, in-door photos and movies can be a bit dim with this camera. Movies more so than photos. When shooting in-doors try adding some additional light on the subject. The existing light may seem OK to your eyes, but will be a bit dark otherwise.

For what it costs, this is a terrific camera. Sure the body is plastic, and the USB port is tiny, and it's kind of small. Come on... if you wanted to pay $500 for a camera you wouldn't be looking at this one... right? The photo quality you get will be equal to your friends' Canons, but you'll know how much money you saved.

My husband bought this camera, with the printing dock, for me shortly before our first grandchild was born this past summer. It is very easy to use. I agree with a previous review which says the user guide is a bit confusing. I read some of it, then just played with the camera taking pictures of my dog and yard until I learned. The features are nice, and it takes great photos. And I'm able to have video of my three month old granddaughter cooing and smiling. Since we live 700 miles apart, it's very important to get my daily fix of her, and it's simple to transfer photos and videos to my laptop. Now, my disclaimer...I am NOT an old grandmother, I'm just 49 years young, so that's not why I say I like the ease of this camera. It suits all of my photographic needs. In fact, I am getting the same model for my mom for Christmas. With two new great-granddaughters this year (my sister became a GiGi 6 weeks after I did) mom needs to stop wasting money on disposable camers resulting in lousy photos, and take some good photographs of these baby girls.

I purchased this camera this summer for $150. For some reason, this camera dropped in price during the summer. I heard that it was being discontinued. This is my 2nd Kodak digital camera. My first one took great pics, so I did not hesitate to buy the 643 model. I took this camera to Ft. Walton, Florida and it took pictures with fantastic color. I tried the long exposure taking pics at the pool during the evening. Those turned out very nice also. I don't use the video much. Any vibration in your hands(s) will show up in the video. My camcorder has Steady Shot to eliminate this. I use a 1 GB memory card which will hold 4,000 pics at 1024x768 resolution. The menu system is easy to navigate through. I have not tried all of the camera functions yet. I highly recommend this camera for less than $150.