Kodak DC280

Having been a photography buff for over thirty years, I''ve used some of the best professional cameras in the world. I still own a top of the line 35mm SLR with a collection on high quality lens and filters. I have always like to have a simple point and shoot camera for family use, when I don''t want my SLR damaged. My wife and children like the PnS cameras for there ease of use. A digital PnS camera seemed to be a good way to get our feet wet in digital photography without spending a great deal of cash. We found a Olympus D450 for a good price at the local Sam''s Club. We purchase it and started using it right away. I was soon surprised at how quickly the batteries wore down. Also, the D450 had only an 8MB memory card and a slow computer uplink cable. I was so dissatisfied with the D450 that I returned it two days after I purchased it. While at the store, I began to look at the Kodak DC280 and notice all of the extras that came with this camera. It included a larger than normal, 20MB memory card, a fast USB interface for the computer, and a collection of software programs. But best of all, it included 4 high capacity Ni-Mh batteries with a charger. Every digital camera should come standard with these extras. Needless to say, I took the Kodak DC280 home and haven''t regretted it''s purchase once. The picture quality is surprisingly good for a PnS digital camera in this price range. Sharpness and focus is good while the color is excellent. As a side note, I found that the quality from my home printer is better than any print service I''ve tried to date. The print services usually blur the picture and I found strange marks on the print that aren''t on the original picture. I''ve taken the DC280 along when camping, hiking and climbing. I''ve found myself grabbing this camera first, because for everyday use, it''s convenient and picture quality is hard to beat. I purchased an extra 64MB memory card and an extra set of Ni-Mh batteries, so now I can take pictures all day long. I taken thousands of pictures already with this camera and I''ve had no problems at all. I like the ability to see every picture right after taking it and being able to delete a bad picture if I want. I''m completely sold now on digital photography. In fact, I''ve had such a good experience with the DC280 that I''m looking at a higher end digital camera as a possible 35mm S

20MB Memory card. Ni-Mh batteries w/charger. Great picture color and quality. Fast USB computer interface. Software.

Only 3x optical lens. No marco settings. Digital zoom, as on most cameras, is a bad joke.

Olympus D450 Canon PowerShot G2 Sony MVC FD 87 Mavica

Never needed it.

I own 35mm cameras - Nikon, Cannon, Pentax and Leica. Have multiple lenses, etc. A low price digital camera is not going to duplicate a $2,500 Leica. That said, I have taken 14,000 pictures with my kodak280. It provides excellent quality and less that 1% bad pictures. Image quality is up there with the Nikon. I have had NO problem with batteries. I keep an extra set like I would for a flashlight. No big deal.

Image quality. Simple to operate. Excellent pictures day in and day out.

Yes, it isn't a Nikon 35mm camera. I Would love a 250 mm lens - or - a 35mm wide angle lens. I would like a +1 close up lens on a standard 50, BUT, you cant have it all (as they say). The lens cover could be better - but - I can still take pictures. At this price, I don't worry about the lens.

I have not used other digital cameras. If I want to take a SERIOUS PICTURE - I.E. wedding or portrait,,, I'm going back to 35mm Nikon or Leica or even Pentax. BUT I have 14,000 pictures that I love to see and all I do is point the camera and push the button.

No experience. I did have some problem with windows ME. I use another computer and haven't fixed the ME problem yet.

this camera is easy to use, and always takes great pictures, it doesn't have too many manual adjustments, but automatically adjusts better than most point and shoots. the best quality you will ever need.

interface, quality

memory card (upgradable)

None

Well the DC280 has a great software package and the pictures turn out real nice. I take my camera with me everywhere and it takes great pictures everywhere. It is a really nice camera and I get nice comments on it where ever I take it. The size of the camera is a perfect size to fit in your hand and it is easy to carry.

The camera is really easy to use. Even people that don't normally know how to use a camera have been able to figure out mine.

The big weakness to this camera is that its battery life sucks. The batteries don't last very long and unless you have an extra set of batteries then you can't use your camera until the batteries are charged.

I bought a DC280 because of the reportedly excellent color reproduction and software interface, eventually sold it because the camera just didn't perform at the level I expected. The color reproduction was indeed excellent, but the camera suffered from an exceptionally poor LCD screen, voracious battery consumption, and an unacceptably long shutter lag time. Flash performance was also spotty and only made the battery life worse. Moreover the camera is simply cheaply constructed and clunky in an era of elegantly designed and highly functional cameras in the same price range (I paid $599 in April 2000). I eventually sold the Kodak and bought a Fuji finepix 4700 which is a far superior camera.

Easy USB downloads and good software package, supplied with 20MB card. Excellent color reproduction.Camera control screens are easy to use but very slow due to need to scrool through screens to make changes.

Very poor LCD screen, small, low resolution compared with HP. Nikon, Canon, Olympus and Fuji. Poorly designed and constructed out of plastic. Very long autofofus lag and shutter delay makes this camera unacceptable for action shots.

Olympus DL360, DL490, Fuji Finepix 4700, Canon S10.

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