Kodak Digital Quality!
Written: Apr 20 '01 (Updated Jan 19 '03)
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Pros: Great quality photos!
Cons: Memory card is not large enough and no rechargeable batteries.
The Bottom Line: For the price it is a bargain!
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| surferdude7's Full Review: Kodak DC3400 Zoom Digital Camera |
Nice looking, easy to handle and easy to use. This is another quality digital camera from Kodak. It’s design and looks come mainly from their DC280 digital camera. As most will know using a digital camera usually gives you a shutter lag time from when you click on the button to when it is ready for use again. The DC3400's shutter lag is about 1 second or less, most other digital cameras have several seconds of shutter lag. There are digital cameras out there without the shutter lag but, they will cost you a whole lot more. When using this camera the shutter lag isn’t too noticeable.
The camera comes with a 2x optical zoom lens built-in that is equivalent to 38mm - 76mm lens with a f/8.1 - f/15.3 aperture. In the normal mode you can take pictures as close as 1.6 feet to infinity. In the macro mode (for close-up shots) you can get as close as 9.8 inches to 1.6 feet. The lens can use attachments with 37mm threads. (Different filters and things) There is also a 3X digital zoom with this camera for even closer shots.
This camera can be connected with a USB cable or serial cable. These connections are on the left side of the camera clearly marked. There is also a video output that is selectable between NTSC or PAL format.
This camera has a viewfinder and 1.8" color LCD display. I enjoy taking pictures with the viewfinder and then looking at the LCD display to see how they came out. The LCD display has the camera’s menu system and makes it easy to preview what your photos look like. You can if you wish take your photos using the LCD display instead of the viewfinder.
On top of the camera is another monochrome LCD to give you more information like your photos taken, flash modes and several other settings.
The built-in flash has settings for Automatic, fill, and red-eye reduction. You can also turn it off, though I like leaving it in the automatic mode because it will only flash if it needs to.
This is a 2.3 megapixel digital camera that takes photos as large as 1760 x 1168 and saves them in the JPEG format.
It is 5.2 inches wide by 2.1 inches deep and 3 inches high and weighs 12 ounces without the batteries. So you see it is fairly small and light in weight.
What you get in the retail box
You get the Kodak DC3400 Zoom Digital camera.
A 8MB COMPACTFLASH Card (About 12 pictures in the best resolution)
Four AA alkaline batteries come with it and you can use NiMH, NiCd or lithium type batteries.
They provide a USB and Serial cable plus a video cable. (There is also a Macintosh Serial Adapter)
The software needed on a CD.
A lens cap and wrist strap is also included.
Requirements
The PC – Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, 2000 and I think it will work on ME.
A Pentium 90MHz or greater processor.
16MB of RAM or more
The Macintosh - POWERMAC, iMac, or newer
Macintosh OS 7.6.1 or newer for the serial hookup.
Macintosh OS 8.5.1 or newer for the USB hookup.
The PC and Macintosh – 120Mb of hard disk space for the software.
A color monitor with at least 256 colors.
Overall The Kodak DC3400 Zoom lists for around $499 and can be found for several prices from under $400 to as low as $302. A camera with the features and quality it takes on photos makes this a bargain digital camera for the price.
It is a little bigger than a pocket size camera but not by much. It looks and feels like your 35mm film cameras with about the same size as most. You can just point and shoot if you wish, it is fully automatic and will take a great looking photo. You can also use it with some manual setting if you wish.
The thing I would do when getting one is to get a bigger COMPACTFLASH Card and NiMH or NiCd rechargeable batteries. The 8MB card that comes with it just doesn’t hold many photos in the high-resolution mode and the alkaline batteries are used up quickly. I recommend a 64 MB card or larger and two sets of batteries so you will always have one set charged up and ready to go.
The images it takes are beautiful and can be printed up to an 8 x 10 inch photo. The software is easy to use and understand. With a little practice you will be taking some great photo shots.
I really like this camera for price, quality and it is easy to use, I highly recommend the Kodak DC3400.
Here are some of my other camera reviews!
Canon PowerShot G1 Digital Camera
Casio QV3000EX Digital Camera
Casio QV-2300UX Digital Camera
Fuji FinePix 2800 Digital Camera
Kodak DC215 Zoom Digital Camera
Kodak DC280 Zoom Digital Camera
Kodak DX4900 Digital Camera
Minolta Dimage E-201 Digital Camera
Minolta Maxxum HTsi 35mm SLR camera
Minolta Maxxum 7
Minolta Maxxum 800si 35mm SLR camera
Olympus Camedia C-3000 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus C-3020 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus C-4040 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus Camedia D-40 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus Camedia D-380 Digital Camera
Pentax Optio 430 Digital Camera
Nikon Coolpix 900-s Digital Camera
Nikon Coolpix 3500 Digital Camera
Sony MVC-FD87 Digital Camera
Sony Mavica MVC-FD95 Digital Camera
Sony DSC-F717 Cyber-shot Digital Camera
Sony DSC-P2 Digital Camera
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 329
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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surferdude7
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