Kodak Easyshare LS443 4 MP Digital Camera w/3x Optical Zoom (Includes Dock)

by Kodak

Product Details

Product Manual [14.13mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 1.8 x 2.4 inches ; 8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006TWL6
• Item model number: LS443
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,622 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 3, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Kodak's 4-megapixel LS443 is so feature-rich and easy to use that it has the potential to appeal to nearly anyone. Kodak also includes a docking station that serves as a battery recharger and as an easy connection to the PC that lets beginners upload shots to the computer. Working in conjunction with the docking station, the EasyShare software enables you to easily print, e-mail, organize, and edit pictures.

In testing, we were able to adjust everything from the white balance and ISO settings to focus zones and exposure controls. Beginners can simply set everything to automatic and snap away. Either way, the camera takes clear pictures with true colors, and close-ups look particularly good.

However, taking quick action shots is virtually impossible because of the camera's relatively slow reaction time. The delay between pressing the button and the shutter release is long enough that we had to carefully anticipate every shot, and the recovery time as the picture is processed makes taking a quick follow-up shot impossible.

Unfortunately, the camera's aggressive compression scheme robs large images of their quality. The LS443's highest-resolution setting yields pictures with enormous dimensions that are squashed into 1 MB JPEG files, resulting in a multitude of compression artifacts when images are viewed at full size. The good news is that the large pictures look fine when scaled down to smaller sizes. Unfortunately, Kodak doesn't include a low- or no-compression option.

This compression does benefit this camera's target audience, though, as it enables users to stuff more large pictures into a smaller amount of storage space while also making it easier to e-mail the large pictures. But there is a lot to like about the LS443, a great choice for those looking for a 4-megapixel point-and-shoot camera. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Enough settings to satisfy power users, yet very easy to configure
• Internal memory doesn't take up a memory expansion slot
• Also expandable using Secure Digital and MultiMediaCard memory cards
• Included software and docking system make sharing pictures easy

Cons:

• Extreme compression degrades picture quality
• Relatively slow response and recovery times

Product Description

Kodak EASYSHARE LS443 DIGITAL CAMERA-USB-16 MB-1.8 IN.-4.2 MEGAPIXEL -24 IN. TO

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

122 of 124 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great point-and-shoot pocket camera, November 10, 2002

By 

Frank Fan (Madison, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kodak Easyshare LS443 4 MP Digital Camera w/3x Optical Zoom (Includes Dock) (Electronics)

I use to take pictures with two other Kodak digital cameras, an early 2.2 MP model (very heavy), and the 4.0 MP DX4900. One of the most impressive features of both of these cameras is the great picture quality. I developed my prints from the Kodak ofoto website with superb quality. They are all very easy to set up and use. However,comparing with other similar cameras, I was a bit dispointed about a couple of things for DX4900: 1, it only has a 2x optical zoom instead of 3x., 2, the LCD is too small and can not see clearly at all in sunlight and 3, it did not have the feature to make short video. I was very excited when I saw the new Kodak LS443 and found that this model has all the features I wanted. Plus, it has a very sleek design and is light-weighted. So I purchased it, used it and developed prints from Ofoto. Overall, it is a great point and shoot pocket camera.
One thing I noticed with this camera is that it needs a few seconds to record image onto the memory card after each shot so it is difficult to take quick shots in succession. Also, I wished this camera uses the same compact flash memory card like other Kodak digital cameras. This one uses the smaller SD card to save space, I suppose.

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EasyShare Software and WinXP Work Great, December 26, 2002

By 

John A. Steidl (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kodak Easyshare LS443 4 MP Digital Camera w/3x Optical Zoom (Includes Dock) (Electronics)

This was a surprise gift from the wife and kids, so I've only had one day to play with it. But relative to the reviewer who had trouble with the EasyShare software and Win XP, I will offer a different (very positive) experience. Kodak indicates that you must install the software before connecting the docking base to your computer or EasyShare will not install properly. They even put a paper cover on the end of the USB connector with this warning on it. (Bravo!)

I was able to take my first pictures after spending about 2 minutes with the Quick Start manual (and charging the battery a bit.) It only took another 5 minutes to get the software installed. A+ for clear, simple instructions and ease of use for the novice. And the same thing for transferring pictures to my computer. Plug the base into a USB port, put the camera in the base, push the button on the base, and the software launches. Then you click on the transfer button, and in a few seconds your pictures are on your computer.

I can't compare optical quality or other attributes with other digital cameras, but I will say that my pictures came out great, even some I took outdoors in fairly low light early this morning. Haven't tried the video capability yet.

The one thing I would recommend is getting a memory upgrade. It comes with 16MB internal, which is enough for 11 pictures at the highest resolution--more at lower resolutions. But then you don't buy a 4 megapixel camera to take pictures at lower resolutions... (16MB is also about 1 minute of video according to the manual.) The 128MB memory card should provide enough memory for over 100 hi-res pictures or 10 minutes of video (again, according to the manual.)

63 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for anyone except the TOTAL amateur, June 2, 2003

By 

"mhauden" (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kodak Easyshare LS443 4 MP Digital Camera w/3x Optical Zoom (Includes Dock) (Electronics)

I bought the Kodak EasyShare LS443 to take on my honeymoon. For those of you considering buying, I am an educational technology specialist, so while I am tech-savvy, I wasnt concerned about getting SUPER professional results. Im an amateur photographer and I was looking for a camera with enough oomph to create quality 8x10 prints. This camera claims to be able to generate photos well beyond that size (as any 4MP camera would), so I thought Id be fine.

Wrong. The camera compresses the images to the point where you see SIGNIFICANT artifacts (blurry areas around objects where the camera has averaged some of the data to conserve storage space). The unfortunate fact is that you need to make the image measurements smaller on your computer to mask the effects of the file compression. RESULT: Youre not really getting the full power of the 4MP that youre paying for. We could only hope for decent 4x6 prints from this camera, and even then the compression artifacts are visible.

While the camera does have an image quality feature, it really only changes the physical size (i.e. measurements) of the image; that is, you can force this camera to take photos at a lower resolution (e.g. 2 megapixels), but you cant do anything to make the camera use a higher-quality FILE to STORE the image in. The point here is that it wouldnt matter if this were a 6MP camera, the file storage reduces the quality of the photo to make the FILE SIZE smaller. Theres no option to increase to a higher-quality JPEG, let alone something genuinely useful like a TIFF. By the way, theres no need to lower the image quality setting on this camera: The pictures it takes at 4MP are already small enough that you wont run out of space on your memory card.

The camera itself is pretty easy to use. Point and shoot. On-screen directions are great to let you know what mode youre in and what you should use that mode for. On-screen menus are a little awkward at first, but are otherwise obvious. For anyone used to a standard 35MM camera with any features to speak of, you wont need to read the instruction manual for the LS443.

A note about zooming: The 3x optical zoom on this camera is good for normal family point-and-shoot. Digital zooming is a bad idea on ANY camera, especially if you want to print those photos. The LS443, for example, claims to have over 10x total zoom, which is true in one sense: The combined optical (like a normal film camera would use) and digital do make 10x. However, what the cameras really doing is taking the picture as it appears at 3x zoom (the maximum optical zoom) and guessing to create a zoomed image. The result is a very blurry picture, even at minimal digital zoom. Suggestion: Turn off the digital zoom on any camera you buy, or at least use it sparingly. The 3x optical zoom on the Kodak wasnt enough for us, and were nowhere near professionals.

The auto-focus isnt altogether that great in slightly-less-than-optimal conditions. The shutter speed issue is only a problem if youre interested in taking REALLY high-speed photoslike at a sporting eventin which case Id suggest a plain vanilla 35MM camera (the digital cameras that can do this are prohibitively expensive for most of us normal folk). Even the sport mode on the LS443 yields some blurry pictures.

One of the reasons I bought this camera was the dock and rechargeable battery. Battery life was great for us. I put it on the charger at night, and it went all day without any problems, even with LCD use. I liked the convenience of the dock because I didnt have to deal with any cablesI just left them plugged into the computer. This is a feature that I didnt find with any other camera that I was looking for (it is an ADD-ON for other Kodak cameras). Im going to miss the ease of recharging this camera.

The software to transfer the images to the computer (on PC) stinksdont load it. Its unnecessary and, by default, FURTHER reduces the quality of your images when it transfers them to the computer. No thanks. My suggestion: Load the drivers for the camera and use Windows built-in functionality. The My Pictures function of Windows (including a cool slide show and preview function) beats Kodaks software any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

At the end of the day, the quality is good enough for day-to-day point-and-shoot, ESPECIALLY if you dont plan on printing. The fact that the images are already quite small (in file size) means that theyre readily posted to a website or sent via e-mail. I ended up with an Olympus 3.2MP. Yes, fewer megapixelsbut it uses higher-quality JPEG files. The results are across-the-board better than the Kodak: no more compression artifacts, and my 8x10s look great. Professionals will undoubtedly want a camera that can create TIFF files.

This is a good camera to keep in the car or to have handy to take pictures of your kids being cute. If youre a first-timer and youre looking for something very quick, very easy, and very convenient, you should consider this camera. Its also a good camera to send with your kid to college. The media is also pretty cheap (and relatively fast), and the camera has some built-in memory (16MB, I believe), so you dont even *really* need a memory card to get started. If you do buy, you probably wont need anything more than a 128MB memory card because the camera compresses the image files so much.

For anything more, including pictures that youd like to eventually print, get another camera. Were just a step above amateurs, and the Kodak LS443 didnt make the cut. Youre not getting the 4 megapixel quality youre paying for.