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Review
Created: July, 2000
In the increasingly wired small office,
the digital camera is a very useful but often-overlooked tool.
Digital output can be used instantly for brochures, Web sites,
insurance records and graphic e-mail, among other things, eliminating
the expense of film processing.
The DC280 and DC290 Zoom Digital Cameras are two new consumer
models introduced by Kodak. Both are small and as lightweight
as any standard 35mm camera but provide a variety of features
available only for digital format.
The DC290 offers resolution settings as large as 2240 X 1500
pixels while the DC280 offers 1760 x 1168. Both cameras allow
white balance settings, automatic or manual exposure settings,
auto or manual flash, and a variety of effects such as black
and white, sepia tone, or frame borders. Each has burst and
time-lapse settings, and the DC290 also has advanced focus and
exposure mode settings.
Both cameras allow photographs to be organized on the camera
into albums and use either serial or USB cables for a hardwire
connection to a computer for transfer of photographs. The cameras
are well-built and durable, with rubber covers for all ports
to protect the electronic innards. They use four AA rechargeable
batteries and a 20-megabyte (MB) memory card to store images.
Many operations are intuitive but full study of the manual is
needed to get the most out of either camera.
Methods for transferring photos from the two cameras differ
slightly. The DC290 acts as a hard drive on the computer desktop
and the DC280 requires the use of Kodak Picture Transfer software
to move the files to the computer desktop. The DC290 gives more
control, allowing the user to organize, transfer and delete
files from the computer. With the DC280, the user must delete
files from the camera itself.
The DC290 also has more advanced features than the DC280, such
as the ability to record sound to accompany a photograph and
more extensive zoom ability.
There are a number of problems with both cameras. The viewfinders,
which are also used for reviewing pictures and accessing menus,
are awkwardly placed and very small: it is often hard to see
the screen in bright light. Otherwise, the LCD image is good.
The menus use very "cute" fonts and symbols, as if
designed for children, which seem out of context with the cameras'
complexity, exterior design and cost.
Also, what you see with the DC280 is not what you get. There
are frame lines inside the viewfinder but the resulting photograph
is considerably larger than what was seen, requiring a lot of
cropping.
The DC290 seemed incapable of taking a photograph in bright
sunlight -- no matter how many times settings were adjusted.
With both cameras, an inordinate amount of time had to be spent
reading the manual, without achieving a better result.
With both cameras, as much as a full second passes before the
picture is taken after the shutter is depressed, often resulting
in missing the moment you tried to capture and making these
cameras susceptible to shakiness. In addition, even with fresh
batteries, the DC280 sometimes required as many as 15 seconds
between high-resolution shots before it was ready to take another
one.
The burst setting allows you to take as many photographs as
the memory allows by keeping the shutter button depressed. This
is useful in action photography. Unfortunately, even with 20
MB of available memory and setting images to the lowest quality
(and smallest file size) possible, both cameras could take only
four pictures at a time. The time-lapse function worked well
on both cameras, taking photographs at pre-set intervals and
reverting to stand-by mode in between to save power.
There are drawbacks inherent in digital camera technology. Many
of these faults -- such as the awkward placing of the viewfinder
and the unreliability of its LCD screen in bright light -- are
common in consumer-level digital cameras in general.
But the advantages of digital photography, such as being able
to use the images almost instantly, may outweigh the disadvantages
for many business users. And of course, without film and processing
costs, digital photography allows endless experimentation.
Reviewer's rating:
Kodak DC280: 3 / 5
Kodak DC290: 2.5 / 5
Comments: The size and shape of Kodak's DC290 digital
zoom camera is more comfortable than the DC280, but the limited
appeal of the DC290's sound recording ability does not really
warrant its higher price. Overall both cameras work as well
as any consumer-level digital camera. The images produced by
each camera are excellent, but the value of digital photography
has to be weighed against the high price of the cameras.
Platform: Mac, PC
Maximum resolution: DC280: 1760 x 1168 (pixels), DC290: 2240
x 1500 (pixels).
Interface: USB, Serial port
More info: http://www.kodak.com
Price:
Kodak DC280: $596.99 US, $899.99 Canadian
Kodak DC290: $785.99 US, $1,249.99 Canadian
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