Kodak Cameo Motor EX

call me crazy, but the people that made this camera (probably not kodak) added some funky features like it has a negative mask with a little triangle (not isoceles), just like a konica hexar! although simple, the lens is very sharp- some vignetting, but otherwise sharp and somewhat contrasty. controls are surprisingly well thought out (kodak ke 60). i have never used any other kodak camera- thanks for reviewer below for pointing me to this camera. sharp and stealthy camera! i've printed some 8x10 and they look great-as good as my slr camera on the most part i can't tell

sharp optic
funky 3 zone focus

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I have a Kodak KE60. No one expects Kodak cameras to be any good since they are usually low priced and don't look great. For sure I didn't. The market is cluttered with expensive compacts relative to what their ultimate purpose will be- for shooting 4X6 prints with negative color films. Lens quality doesn't matter much there.

What first got me interested in this camera was the review in Popular Photography, August 2000. Interestingly, they gave it a full review and it was very indepth, which is unusual for an inexpensive compact, let alone a Kodak camera!

Pop. Photo gave the lens an excellent rating, with an outstanding rating for both center and corners. Hey, I had to find out why. The magazine comes pretty close when they review SLR lenses, like my 24-120 and high end compacts like the original Hexar, but THIS one is what caught my eye.

Usually price is correlated with quality. That's where this camera bucks the trend a bit. THe lens is SHARP! I had a Ricoh GR-1 which they called near outstanding in lens quality. I can attest that the center is very sharp for the Kodak camera. The corners are a bit softer in some shots.

Even though it has only 3 focus zones, the 29mm lens takes care of DOF okay. I find that most shots with medium distance are not sharp at infinity. For comparison, my ex-GR1 had a flatter lens with more contrast. It has similar picture qualities, when accurate and in bright light as my Olympus Epic. Fallof is surprisingly low, but visible in wide sky shots. It is a d*** good snapper for the $$$. Of course, aperature cannot be controlled.

Drawbacks are only a few. For 1.5-3 feet you must select the focus zone yourself-the camera does not seem to want to focus any closer than the midzone at about 5-15 feet. I have not yet tried the flash nor the super night mode. There is no indication of locking exposrure or focus when shutter release is half way. Actually, there is no noticeable shutter detent. Funny.

Some interesting tidbits:When you press the shutter and leave it down- you can delay the film advance, thus noise, until later for sneaky street shooting or discrete situations. The film door locks to prevent accidental openings. Kodak icon is all over the camera, even in the film door-I only use Kodak film. The camera looks cheap even though there are plenty of good design cues- blame the chief deisgner. The back LCD can be lit when necessary-very good! No flash is only one button away and most features are only 1-2 presses away-very nice.

I found one ultra cheap, but it would be safe to say that it is the most quality for the $50 retail if you can find it. An Epic is not twice as good if you don't use the spot metering mode.

I notice that there are a lot of wider angle cameras out there. There is a pretty big difference between 35 and 28. I would carry both if necessary. People look very small with the 28mm lenses. At 35 you get environment with some facial features at street snapping range.

All in all, this is definetely a keeper for the car or backpack for no worries shooting. A little background, I think that this is the best version of the KE cameras. I wish it came in all supersteath black. Note to Kodak, make one, only one, super good aperature priority 35mm camera with super high quality lens-I would buy it and stick Kodak film into it.

cheap
sharp lens
backlit LCD
'lots' of features
simple and functional

you choose the close zone
otherwise its a medium to infinity shooter

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This is my sisters camera, she took it along with her on a trip, she followed me, took basically the same shots I did with my Canon Rebel. Her photos turned out surprisingly well. I didn't expect that out of a point and shoot. I think this camera is a great value for your buck.

Easy film loading, good quality photo, reliable, easy to use, durable.

not an SLR...

Nikon Fun Touch

not yet used

its ok but there are better choices

takes good bright pictures out doors and has good red eye reduction

can not take close ups, have to stay at least 5' feet, needs lotssss of light

canon AE-1, sure shot and a german camera -Bruan

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I'm astounded at the sharpness that comes from this $50 camera. Although I mostly use a Yashica T4 super, I've found that this camera, loaded with 400-speed print film, really does a great job for the money. The flip-up flash compensates nicely for red-eye. When I want the "expendability" of a single-use camera with a bit more control and a bit faster lens (f/5.6 vs the slow f/11 of the single-use models), this one travels where I won't take the Yashica (water parks, sailing, etc--but it is not a true waterproof camera). I also let my 8-year-old son use it, and he shot some really super photos of some old, rusting automobiles. I prefer 35 mm negatives to APS, so the Cameo gets my vote as a low-cost, grab -n- go camera. Also, the batteries seem to last forever. Kodak got it right with this one, I hope they keep selling them. (The only nits are that tiny fold-down viewfinder, which you practically have to poke in your eye to see through, and a tiny mode-selector button.)

Focus-free lens makes for "WYSIWYG" pictures, especially beyond 5 feet from suvjects. Flip-up flash is better for defeating red-eye than pre-flash. If you don't need more, this is a great camera.

Tiny focus window and exposed magnifier for viewfinder are subject to dust. THe mode button by the LCD is a little too small to press without a pencil or pen tip.

Advantix 3200

You can buy them darn near anywhere.