Kodak CX7430: Good features and user friendly!
Written: Aug 21 '05 (Updated Aug 21 '05)
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Pros: User friendly, good features and inexpensive.
Cons: Power and LCD in low light conditions.
The Bottom Line: The Kodak CX7430 is user friendly with some good features!
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| GOkinaka's Full Review: Kodak EasyShare CX7430 Digital Camera |
Well, having sold my last digital camera, the Kodak DX4330, I needed to get a new one and went on a little trip to the local Best Buy to see what they had. Since I was pleased with the performance of the Kodak brand, I thought that I would stick with them, but get a higher mega-pixel camera this time. And thus, I chose to buy the Kodak CX7430 for a little over $200.
Here are my thoughts so far.....
FEATURES
I expected nothing less than the features that the DX4330 had plus more with the CX7430. The features of the CX7430 include the following:
4.0 Megapixel (2304 x 1728 pixels)
As one of the most important features of a digital camera, 4.0 Megapixels is a high enough resolution for amateur picture taking. You are supposed to be able to print "Vibrant Prints" up to 20" x 30" without too much degradation. Not that I'll be printing photos of that size any time soon, but it's nice to now that you have that ability.
12X Zoom (3x Optical, 4x Digital)
I need to have at least 3x optical zoom which is the equivalent to a 34-102mm lens (35mm camera). I was hoping to have something more than 3x since that was the same optical zoom as the DX4330. They did increase the digital zoom to 4x from 3.3x (on the DX4330), but as you may or may not know the digital zoom is a zoom that crops photos to make it seem as if you're zooming in closer.
1.6" Review/Preview Color LCD
Now, this is one area where Kodak has downsized as little bit from the DX4330 to the CX7430. The DX4330 had an LCD of about 1.8" while the newer CX7430 only has an LCD of 1.6". However, the .2" decrease in size of the LCD is still very manageable and useable as compared with looking through the viewfinder.
Continuous Video/Audio Capture/Playback
Similar to the DX4330, the CX7430 has digital video/audio capture and playback capabilities. The video quality is OK, but obviously not something that you're going to want to record the official wedding video on. You can choose from two formats for the video:
1. VGA with 640x480 pixels resolution at 13 frames per second (MPEG-4).
2. QVGA with 320x240 pixels resolution at 20 frames per second (MPEG-4).
You'll want to make sure that you have a pretty good sized memory card in your camera as video obviously takes up a lot of space. For instance, I have a 128mb SD card in my camera, and I can record up to 6min 52sec of video on the 640x480 setting or 12min 51sec of video on the 320x240 setting. You also want to have the latest version of Quicktime installed on your computer in order to view the videos properly as they are in MOV format.
I do also like the fact that (like the DX4330) it has a built in speaker, so that you can replay your video without plugging it into your television. But if you want to, they've also included video cables so you can easily plug it into your TV. You can also change the format of the video from NTSC to PAL or vice versa; nice to know for our friends on the other side of the pond!
16 MB Internal Memory
I was hoping for a little additional built-in memory, but Kodak opted to keep the memory at 16mb for the CX7430 which was the same as the DX4330. Hey, I'm not complaining as it is nice that you can use the camera right out of the box without having to buy memory cards right away. Although I would opt to get the largest memory card that you can afford, however.
Also, the Kodak CX7430 does take both SD and MMC format memory cards which is very convenient. My 128mb SD memory card (besides the video capacity shown above) can take 108 photos in the "Best" setting, 174 photos in the "Better" setting and 291 photos in the "Good" setting.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Some of the other features of this camera include:
- Multiple scene modes: Auto, portrait, landscape, night, close-up, sport and movie.
- Color modes: Color, black and white and sepia.
- Flash modes: Auto, red-eye, fill and off.
- Auto focus (TTL-AF with selectable modes): Multi-zone and center-spot.
- Long time exposure: From 0.7 to 4 seconds.
- White balance: Auto, daylight, tungsten and fluorescent.
- Auto-orientation: Auto picture rotation.
- Favorites mode: Store up to 100 pictures on the camera.
- Dedicated buttons: Delete, share, review, menu, flash/info and burst/self-timer.
- Review mode: 2X or 4X magnification, slide show, multi-up, fast scroll, protect and album.
CONTENTS
Once you get the Kodak CX7430, you'll get the following in the box:
1. Kodak CX7430 Digital Camera
2. Kodak Max Digital Camera Batteries AA
3. Kodak Easyshare Software
4. Getting Started Kit
5. Custom camera insert for the optional camera and printer docks
6. USB Cable
7. Video-out Cable
8. Wrist Strap
DRAWBACKS
Nothing is perfect, and I do want to mention some drawbacks about the Kodak CX7430.
1. Power: Sure, Kodak includes a long lasting battery with your camera, but once that is dead, you'll be buying lots of batteries to keep it running. Even the rechargeable batteries that I've bought don't last too long on this camera (maybe, I should switch to another brand, eh?) I just wish that Kodak would just include the optional AC power cord with the camera itself.....you get power cords with almost every other electronic gizmo that you buy nowadays, so why not with the digital cameras?
2. LCD: Yes, I love using the LCD, but if you are taking photos at night, even if you are inside with the lights on, you may have a little trouble seeing the images on the LCD. This is no different than what I experienced with the DX4330; you would've thought that Kodak would've done something about this.
3. Video Light?: Sure you have a flash for taking pictures, but you don't have any light available for taking your videos. So, you need to make sure that you have ample light when you are shooting video.
THE COST
As I mentioned earlier, I had purchased this camera for a little over $200 at Best Buy. However, that was over a year ago when I made that purchase. A recent search comparison showed prices from $129.99 to $167.85, so it pays to shop around!
OVERALL
Even with the drawbacks shown above, I still am very pleased with this Kodak camera. It has some minor improvements over the DX4330 and as with most Easyshare cameras, it is very easy to use.
You can find out more about this camera at:
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=9/19/32/1833&pq-locale=en_US
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
GOkinaka
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Member: George Okinaka
Location: Las Vegas, NV (USA)
Reviews written: 130
Trusted by: 196 members
About Me:
George is a native Las Vegan in commercial real estate who loves to travel.
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