- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 66 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Overall great, but has its problems"
Pros: Excellent color, low purple fringing and great detail in standard-size prints; very low shutter lag at wide-angle; compression settings; great LCD display; excellent value; great battery life
Cons: Lens cap is seperate; poor auto-exposure for distant subjects; artifacts and noise visible at 100%; weak battery cover; low-quality movie mode; small optical viewfinder
Summary: After being frustrated with long shot-to-shot times and annoying shutter lag, I decided to get this camera for its performance--not the quality of the photos it takes.
Thanks to the camera's hybrid autofocus system, focusing is usually very quick, resulting in almost undetectable shutter lag in many conditions. Unfortunately, focus times are significantly longer at telephoto, contributing to a few seconds' shutter delay.
A second negative for this camera is its poor auto-focus for subjects that are distant, or for photos which are taken at full telephoto. Distant subjects appear dark when not outdoors in daylight, and the same goes for shots at telephoto. Full exposure compensation (+2) can compensate for this, but the fact that the camera doesn't do this automatically is a disappointment. On other cameras with similarly sized flashes, this is not a problem.
Thirdly, the battery latch is quite weak; mine broke after a few uses, and while it still holds the battery in place fine, I would have preferred a stronger latch.
I don't understand why Kodak made the lens cap seperate; while it hasn't ever fallen off for me, it doesn't seem to stay securely.
Lastly, the photos this camera takes are superb when viewed scaled-down, but reveal digital artifacts at 100%. While fringing is low, quite a lot of areas in photos exhibit fringing, and there is a lack of fine detail.
However, these problems are not at all noticeable in everyday prints and should only be minor problems when printing posters.
Aside from these problems, the camera is great. It's very easy to hold, and compact and light enough to take with you everywhere (though too bulky for your pocket).
The movie mode produces movies with smooth motion, but the sound quality is abysmal and there is too much noise to be seen. Additionally, at 320x240 resolution, it displays pixelated on TVs. All in all, this camera's fine for taking short clips, but won't replace a dedicated digital camcorder.
Anyone looking for a camera with very fast operation overall and excellent prints to share over the Web or print crisp photos up to 8x10 (and the once-in-a-blue-moon 20x30) should consider this camera.
Where to buy
EasyShare DX7630 Zoom Digital Camera:
$170.00
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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Mercantila.com
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$170.00 | No |
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