Will Ewker go digital?

“Hello Ewker,

I have the Kodak DX6490, the 4 megapixel model similar to the 5 mp DX7590 That you are looking at. They appear to have the same optics and features at a quick glance. I’ll begin by saying that I wanted two features when I started to look for a digital replacement for my Rebel G SLR – I wanted an optical power range similar to what I have with the Rebel G (28-300 mm) and I also wanted a camera dock that would keep the batteries charged and give me easy picture download features. The Kodak Easyshare system seems to fit these two criteria. I have played with the optical zoom, but I can tell you if you really want to zoom in on something and get a decent pic, you’d better have a tripod and a lot of bright light, I seem to be able to hold telephoto shots at low shutter speed by hand easier with the Rebel than I can with the Kodak. This past January when I was seriously looking to go digital, there were only a couple cameras out there that had the 8-10X optics, and the Kodak docking station is what eventually sold me, cause I was thinking $500 “Kodak” camera? hmmmm! (Nikon, it ain’t!)

The lithium ion battery in the Kodak works remarkably well, however I have not had the chance to test it out in really cold weather yet. I can go out for a weekend trip, take over a hundred pics and the battery level on the cradle shows the charge to be about one-third depleted (that is with using the flash too). I did buy a backup battery for long trips when I can’t be around a charger. There is no battery indicator on the camera to tell you what percent charge you are at and in Maine, the low battery level indicator came on just as the camera shut down, a true idiot light (and I left the spare battery back at camp – Duh!).

Speaking of flash, this is probably the weakest aspect of the camera – it sucks. If you’re more than 5 feet away from your subject, forget it!, you need to use a tripod and a slow shutter speed. Second biggest gripe - initially there was no way to attach a 1A filter to protect the expensive lens in case of a drop. A few months ago, Kodak finally began selling a lens adaptor that will accept 55mm filters, so that is good. I did give the camera a good drop and got a slight scratch on the body, but everything seemed OK otherwise. Eventually, all my gear undergoes the Samsonite-gorilla test and so far the Kodak has been working well in the field. My current gripe is that the more familiar I got with the camera, the more I realized I’m not getting the pics to look the way I wanted them to and had to play in aperture or shutter modes to make things right. When I noticed the camera was trying to take landscape shots at F 2.8 (not!), I consulted Mr. Pennsy who told me to work in aperture mode. The green “point and shoot” mode chooses strange exposure settings so I only use green mode if settings appear to look normal. This leads me to my next gripe, the Kodak is an electronic TTL (thru the lens) viewfinder and I’m really starting to miss a real TTL. Pennsy and I were taking telephoto shots of a Moose across the lake, I was looking at a pixilated image and clicking off shots hoping they came out good, but then I got a look thru Pennsy’s SLR TTL and WOW! It was a real moose as clear as a hair in a microscope. The pics still came out, but you have to have faith in the electronic TTL, because the images are very pixilated compared to the same image at a similar focal length using an SLR. Lastly, the Easyshare software sucks as well, well it's not the greatest!

Those are pretty much the cons I’ve experienced with the camera. But there are numerous pros. Besides the points I mentioned above, I love the fact that I went digital and have 256 mb SD cards and shoot pics at will. I love the fact that I can see the pics right away (instantaneous gratification) and edit on the fly. I love being able to look at pics at night and pass the camera to others around the campfire to look at kooky pictures, and of course no more waiting for a week for my prints to come. There’s also another great feature that I was surprised by, you can connect the camera directly to a TV and show slide shows directly from the camera. Oh yeah, movie mode is alot of fun too! These features are all pretty evident with digital photography.

SLR or Digital? It all depends. I am starting to miss that chemical emulsion process I was so used to and digital photography seems very sterile, I just can’t get the vibrant colors that I could get with some good old Fuji Velvia, but for me going digital still made sense, because on any given trip I can blow off hundreds of pics (in Buck-like fashion!). I don’t pay for film or processing and I can upload pics to my computer and Webshots as fast as my dial-up will allow. If on the other hand, you’re just looking for a point and shoot and maybe it takes you a couple trips to get what would amount to a roll or two of film, I think I’d stick with an SLR or a cheaper digital camera.
last edited: 10/19/04 8:52:18 PM”

“I thought this was about how he does his procto self exam.”

“Snake Eyes,

Welllll, first you start with a big bag of warm saline and a hose attachment (don't get this mixed up with your platypus water bottle!) and then......

Hey Wait, do I need to take this to the fuego thread ?!?”

“Funny isn't it, something like this could actually end up as fuego.”

“Hey Bobo,

I had a Kodak DX4900 camera that I really liked. Problem is some SOB stole it this past weekend.

I knew that cameras had changed since I got mine. Heck I probably paid as much for my old camera than what this new one sells for.
I also like the docking system, it makes for easy charging and transfering of pics.

Thats for all the info on the camera I am looking at.

I guess I will take my old point & shoot 35mm camera this weekend.”

“Hey Ewker,

Sorry to hear about your stolen camera. Yeah, I realized I went way overboard on digital cameras 101, I was assuming you were just going digital. I do like the DX6490. I'd like to take a look at how many pics I took since owning that camera and how much money I saved on film and processing compared to the 500 clams I dropped down for that expensive eyepiece! Give me a shout if you have any other questions.”

“



Well.. Ok you already did once...sorry to hear that someone lifted your camera Ewker.
last edited: 10/19/04 11:31:01 PM”

“{sigh}

i just need to find someone to subsidize my hobbies....

i can cook and clean? (within limits) anyone interested?
last edited: 10/20/04 8:13:53 AM”

“My wife handed me a rather lengthy "honey dew" list. How much you asking? lol”

“depends on the chore - email me the list and i'll give you a quote!

LMAO!!!”

“roam, quite selling yourself on my thread..start your own will work for gear thread...you ho”