Kodak DCS 620

If you're reading this review at this point in time, you're probably either reading for historical interest or just saw one on Ebay and wondering if it's worth it. My advice is unless you know what you're getting, don't.

On to the review, the version I have is the 620X. This differs from the 620 in being only 2 megapixel, but with an ISO rating up to 6400, with it calibrated to 4000.

The 620/620X are both built as digital backs to the Nikon F5, so essentially they are Nikon cameras with Kodak electronics. They take F mount lenses and will meter with older AI lenses.

Cameras like these, which were adaptations of a film body to digital, really represent an early bridge to modern DLSR's and are a dead end. High end film bodies aren't being made anymore, and digital SLR's have advanced to completely digital bodies.

Today (2008) there are only a few strengths, namely focusing around the F5 body. It's built like a tank, and many are still operating.

The F5 has one feature I wish modern DSLR's had, a removable pentaprism (viewfinder). Different finders can be attached for wait level and action shooting. These used to be very expensive, but are fairly reasonable now. The viewfinder screen can also be easily cleaned or changed out in this camera.

The 620X has the advantage of being able to shoot at high ISO's with usable images, although nowhere near as clean as a D700.

The burst rate is about 4 per second, which in 1999 was phenomenal but today is pedestrian.

The 620/620X has removable IR and anti-aliasing filters that are mounted in front of the mirror. This means they can be replaced by taking out two screws, and without either the camera can take very sharp photos and is highly sensitive to infrared, both useful for special effects. The filters are hard to find, but compared to modern DSLR's where they are both sandwiched together and it takes a complete disassembly to get at them. This is another feature I wish modern DSLR's had.

Essentially the camera is obsolete, being more than a generation behind in every technology. It's big, heavy. and bulky, and carrying it all day will wear you out.

The batteries are NIMH technology, and while they are easy to find, the chargers are not. One solution it to use a Quantum external battery and power the camera that way. The internal batteries are just six AA size NIMH's attached together; I have thought it would be possible insert a battery shell and run some wires to an external six cell pack lifted from a modern battery grip, but have found the external battery solution better.

It uses Firewire to connect to the computer, and further records images in a proprietary raw format. If you take the memory card out of the camera and connect it to your PC you won't see anything, you have to use the Kodak conversion software to connect to the camera and output tif format images.

The memory card slots are for PC cards. Genuine PC cads are small in capacity and are getting hard to find. PC card slots are compatible with the pcmcia slots that used to be standard on all laptops. A pcmcia to compact flash adapter will allow you to use standard compact flash cards in it.

D50, D90, D200, D700

Have not used

The paper I work for uses these cameras exclusively for our day-to-day shooting, and the entire staff loves them. The color on these cameras, especially at lower ISO settings is absolutely fantastic...in my opinion, the color rendering and saturation on this camera at 200 well exceeds that of color negative film. It''s truly a shame that Kodak no longer makes these, because I honestly think it''s the best general-purpose pro digital camera ever made...all my experiences with the Nikon D1 make me feel like it''s a step down from the 620.

Beautiful color, LCD screen and menus easy to use once you get the hang of them, good tolerance for poor exposure (particularly underexposed images) and poor white-balancing

Hinges for the battery door wear out after regular use, heavy compared to newer ditcams

Nikon D1, AP NC2000/DCS 420, DCS 720x

now that the 6 million pixel wonders are here you can buy a used one cheap - and be done with it. you will never look back

i bought this camera used at ebay - its near mint. what can i say: i stop short to take this camera to bed with me. i have been shooting with nikons since i bought a F2 new in the 70s - but this by far the best camera i ever owned. i handles like a ferrari - and the thrill is to view the pictures seconds after you pressed the shutter. unbelievable color and shadow-details - something i could never achieve with film so easy. i make 40x50 cm prints with ease, using genuine fractals. i think this will be the last camera i will ever own.

big, heavy, accus last only for 100-200 pictures, depending on how much you use the lcd-screen

nikon coolpix 950 and 990 - the shutter lag is a joke, you can only take pictures of landscapes

not needed

This is an honest review and I'm not a Kodak rep, because I'm just about to write Kodak 330 review and that camera has a lot more holes in it. But I tell you, this camera is good.

I use this camera for weddings, portrait and commercial work. I can go into a wedding with confidence. If they say no flash, no problem. Jam it to ISO 1250 and use available light.

Also used it for a commercial job. I took pictures at an aquarium for a client. Tried to take pictures of coral through glass. Experimented and experimented and couldn't get what I wanted. Then I finally experimented with the right combo. I needed to shoot it available light with TUNGSTEEN film. I changed the setting and got it.

Visit my website: www.geneho.com

Amazing skin tones and shadow detail. Regularly make 16x20 Canvas prints for bridal portraits with it. Definitely top of the line.

Would be perfect with slightly bigger file size. Not asking for much, but would like to be able to make a pristine 20x24. Right now, there's no way possible with this, but I can do real good 16x20's with it but have to be careful.

Kodak 330

Kodak has great customer service.