Kodak EasyShare DX6490
Pricing not available
CNET Editors' Review
The good: 10X optical zoom; manual exposure controls; easy to use; large LCD.
The bad: No separate resolution and compression settings; only three scene modes; battery dies without sufficient warning; image artifacts in red hues.
The bottom line: If you're willing to sacrifice image quality, this dSLR-style cam's good price, 10X zoom, and manual controls will probably appeal to you.
The camera's proprietary 1,700mAh lithium-ion battery lasted for nearly 430 photos, which is more than most people shoot in a day. Sadly, when you've drained the cell, it just dies; it won't even have enough juice to let you retract the lens. We were up and running again after a 10-minute charge, but that speed won't do you much good if you're away from your charger. Obviously, one of the DX6490's chief attractions is its Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 10X zoom lens. It travels relatively smoothly and swiftly, but as with all telephoto lenses, you'll need a steady hand or a tripod to capture long shots without any blur. The pop-up flash provides generally even coverage out to about 16 feet and conveniently decreases output for macro shots. However, when you angle the camera downward, the lens blocks the flash, so the light can't reach the image's lowest portion. The DX6490 pairs a large 2.2-inch LCD with an electronic viewfinder (EVF); either will give you all the information you need. Both are clear and bright; even in low light, the camera can boost the gain without introducing the usual visual noise. The EVF provides almost 100 percent coverage, and its dioptric adjustment compensates for variations in eyesight.Overall, our test exposures were nicely balanced, especially in the midtones. The DX6490 tended to blow out highlights, as most digital cameras do, so shadows came out a bit clipped and dense, but manual tinkering helped. Colors were generally accurate, even though the default color setting is Saturated. White balance performed well, but shots leaned slightly toward either warm or cool, and in the absence of manual white balance, you can't tweak your way around the problem.
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