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Sorry this took me so long Ken. I’ve been very busy! Oh well here goes my take on the Kodak DX6490 < http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=9/19/13 1/1336&pq-locale=en_US>.
Whats in the box: Easy Share Dock, AC cord, USB cord, TV/video cord, Lens cap, Neck Strap, Battery.
The main two reasons I wanted a new camera were: I wanted to be able to take decent macro shots, I was getting tired of the slow processing of images on my old DC290. So far this camera hasnt disappointed me. The controls are pretty self explanatory and easy to use. The only thing I had to open the manual for was the jog dial. This control is located just beneath the shutter button on the front of the camera grip. Its used for changing settings in PASM mode(s). If you just leave the camera on auto you probably wont ever use it, although you can set exposure settings with the dial even while in auto.
The zoom is awesome: 10x optical baby! The control is variable speed so that you can go slow or fast depending on the situation. When you get to the top limit the zoom stops until you let off and then press the zoom lever more. Now youre in digital zoom. With 10x optical its unlikely youll ever need the digital and besides, who uses it anyway.
The LCD is undoubtedly the brightest Ive seen as well as probably the biggest. Kodak claims its bright even in direct sunlight. I Im not sure Id go that far but I will say that its very usable in direct sunlight. Way better than any other camera Ive used.
Im not quite sure what I think about the Electronic View Finder (EVF). Im used to my other Kodaks regular glass view finder. Basically the EVF is a really small LCD built into the view finder. So, when you look into the view finder youre seeing an electronic representation of what the camera sees, not the real thing. The good thing about the EVF is that its what-you-see-is-what-you-get and eliminates parallax. On my old DC290, it was very easy to cut off parts of subjects heads. The optical glass view finder on that one definitely wasnt WYSIWYG.
One gripe I have about the EVF is actually more of a gripe about the Kodak software. With my DC290 when you took a picture you could set the camera to give you a quick look at the shot on the LCD. With this camera if you have the camera set to use the EVF for taking pictures, the QuickView shows the shot in the view finder. So after you shoot the shot you have to keep your eye plastered to the EVF in order to see the image. To get the quick review to show up on the LCD you have to be using the LCD as your view finder. Well we all know how much juice it takes to run an LCD for extended periods of time. You dont want to be doing this forever. There should be an option to set the quick review to the LCD even though youre using the view finder to compose shots, but there doesnt seem to be one.
Speaking of battery power, having just said what I did about using the LCD as a view finder, I have yet to run the Kodak proprietary li-Ion battery down very far and for the most part, Ive been using the LCD as my view finder. Ive been playing with the Macro settings and PASM modes and it would be a real pain to use the EVF for this. Anyway, battery life seems very good. Ill have to really test it one of these days.
One of the things I like best about Kodak cameras is the onboard software. In my opinion Kodak has the easiest to use and navigate onboard software out there. There are basically two levels of options. The first <http://homepage.mac.com/josephhenry/dx6490/firstlevel.jpg> is used for basic settings that you need to have quick access to such as Picture Quality, Color Mode, Albums, etc. The second, which is accessed from the last option on the first level menu, is for other settings that probably wont need to be changed or utilized very often after the cameras initial set up. These include Default print quantity (for use with printer dock), QuickVi
Whats in the box: Easy Share Dock, AC cord, USB cord, TV/video cord, Lens cap, Neck Strap, Battery.
The main two reasons I wanted a new camera were: I wanted to be able to take decent macro shots, I was getting tired of the slow processing of images on my old DC290. So far this camera hasnt disappointed me. The controls are pretty self explanatory and easy to use. The only thing I had to open the manual for was the jog dial. This control is located just beneath the shutter button on the front of the camera grip. Its used for changing settings in PASM mode(s). If you just leave the camera on auto you probably wont ever use it, although you can set exposure settings with the dial even while in auto.
The zoom is awesome: 10x optical baby! The control is variable speed so that you can go slow or fast depending on the situation. When you get to the top limit the zoom stops until you let off and then press the zoom lever more. Now youre in digital zoom. With 10x optical its unlikely youll ever need the digital and besides, who uses it anyway.
The LCD is undoubtedly the brightest Ive seen as well as probably the biggest. Kodak claims its bright even in direct sunlight. I Im not sure Id go that far but I will say that its very usable in direct sunlight. Way better than any other camera Ive used.
Im not quite sure what I think about the Electronic View Finder (EVF). Im used to my other Kodaks regular glass view finder. Basically the EVF is a really small LCD built into the view finder. So, when you look into the view finder youre seeing an electronic representation of what the camera sees, not the real thing. The good thing about the EVF is that its what-you-see-is-what-you-get and eliminates parallax. On my old DC290, it was very easy to cut off parts of subjects heads. The optical glass view finder on that one definitely wasnt WYSIWYG.
One gripe I have about the EVF is actually more of a gripe about the Kodak software. With my DC290 when you took a picture you could set the camera to give you a quick look at the shot on the LCD. With this camera if you have the camera set to use the EVF for taking pictures, the QuickView shows the shot in the view finder. So after you shoot the shot you have to keep your eye plastered to the EVF in order to see the image. To get the quick review to show up on the LCD you have to be using the LCD as your view finder. Well we all know how much juice it takes to run an LCD for extended periods of time. You dont want to be doing this forever. There should be an option to set the quick review to the LCD even though youre using the view finder to compose shots, but there doesnt seem to be one.
Speaking of battery power, having just said what I did about using the LCD as a view finder, I have yet to run the Kodak proprietary li-Ion battery down very far and for the most part, Ive been using the LCD as my view finder. Ive been playing with the Macro settings and PASM modes and it would be a real pain to use the EVF for this. Anyway, battery life seems very good. Ill have to really test it one of these days.
One of the things I like best about Kodak cameras is the onboard software. In my opinion Kodak has the easiest to use and navigate onboard software out there. There are basically two levels of options. The first <http://homepage.mac.com/josephhenry/dx6490/firstlevel.jpg> is used for basic settings that you need to have quick access to such as Picture Quality, Color Mode, Albums, etc. The second, which is accessed from the last option on the first level menu, is for other settings that probably wont need to be changed or utilized very often after the cameras initial set up. These include Default print quantity (for use with printer dock), QuickVi
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