Kodak EasyShare DX6440

I have began to use digital cameras as a "polaroid" for my film cameras and have been experimenting with a few from a local camera store. A few weeks ago I borrowed a kodak 6440 to do this with. I knew it was just a consumer level digital point nd shoot so I won't compare it to prosumer models ( like my olympus 5060 ). The camera was light and not that comfortable to hold and what first turned me off was the poor optical finder, very bad for eye glasses wearers forcing you to use the LCD screen, something I don't changing my shooting style for. The camera thankfully had a fill flash mode that didn't pre flash allowing the use of studio lights and slaves so fitting a quick release mount I was easily able to swap from film to digital preview and back on the tripod setting both to similar focal lengths ( max optical on digital, 135mm on film, close enough ). Now trying to use the digital as a preview did create a problem with aperture since F8 is the max on the digital, I needed to load up 50 iso film to compensate for the lighting. During the shoot I did run across a few problems especially with the histograms on the 6440, you can not accurately preview the histogram before shooting, only after ( changing exposure via EV etc didn't change the histogram ) minor but annoying but I will let this pass since it is a consumer cam. AF speed was poor as was the AF accuracy and mettering was not to good, white balance settings were also limiting to me. After a 3 hr shoot I turned around and transfered the images shot in highest quality mode to the laptop via the easyshare 6000 dock. I found the dock a bit gimiky, most users could just plug the usb cord to the camera directly and achieve the same functionality. Now here is where the camera really disapointed me, the images are always highly compressed jpegs! A 4 mp image compressed to 5-700k at hihest quality shows alot of artifacts and detail loss. I was hoping I could give the models a CD on the spot but after seeing the images I thought twice since they all needed editing to be web usable, forget printing anything larger than 5x7" from these images except for family snap shots. As a point and shoot camera for a beginner it will do ok, but once you try and get more advanced it's limitations will show. I found images from a 3mp Nikon 880 or 3100 more acceptable since their compresssion was much less = better quality.

it's looks nice, the lens is rather sharp, very easy to use and transfer files without drivers or special software.

Poor AF, poor metering, Not so great manual control, poor finder, no non compressed jpg options, highest quality jpgs are to highly compressed and show artifacts loosing detail.

Olympus 5050, 5060, Nikon 880, 3100, Kodak 6490

not used

Excellent camera capable of very sharp results throughout the zoom range. Both automatic and semi-manual modes allow for enough creativity for someone used to having some input in the process or can be used a complete beginner and will give consitently good results.

Very easy to use menus and controls. lens is super sharp and pretty fast at the wide end (f2.2). If you like shooting with a fixed 35mm f2 lens on your SLR or rangefinder this lens is perfect. Just zoom out when you really have a need to. Small and pocketable with a built-in retractable lens barrier, so no cap to lose. Software loads on to PC effortlessly and the dock makes downloading images and charging the batteries a no-brainer. Speaking of batteries, this camera also accepts lithium AA cells, so you do not have to be stuck with some expensive proprietary dead battery if it should drain out on you in the middle of a shoot. Images really are sharp. With these smaller digi-cams you really need to aquire good hand-holding technique to get sharp shots at all focal lengths. For sharpest results, especially at tele end, USE THE EYE LEVEL FINDER. Holding the camera out and viewing through the LCD at 133mm is just asking for unsharp pics. Cost to performance ratio is up there with the best of the breed.

ISO 100 is very sharp, ISO 200 is OK, but ISO 400 is simply too noisy for most any type shooting. You just have to try it out to see when and where it works for you. Low light introduces some hesitation in focusing, but it's not as bad as I have heard some people complain about in many cases. I wish a total manual mode was available to set an exposure and leave it there for situations like shooting images to be stitched together. It only offers aperture and shutter priority modes in addition to full manual and the other auto modes (sport, landscape, close-up, etc).

None- first digi-cam to actually own.

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