BuildOrBuy News - Kodak DC-4800 (USB) Digital Camera

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December 2000

Kodak DC-4800 (USB) Digital Camera

A Quality Camera, fun to Operate

Specs

24-bit, 3.1 Mega pixel (uncompressed 2160x1440 JPEG),
8 Meg ATA Compact Flash (Digital Film) card included, Fast USB D/L, Auto Focus, 3X Optical / 2X Digital Zoom, Lens: Glass Optics, Viewer Finder: Optical & LCD; Battery: Lithium-ion rechargeable; includes Windows / Mac software CD.

Likes

Camera comes ready to shoot right out of the box. Pop in the battery and memory. Turn it on and go! DC-4800 camera was easy to use and configure. Preferred using software to configure camera settings to physical buttons. Physical size is acceptable. Excellent on-line help too. USB mounting of storage device and included software to configure camera is intuitive and easy to use. Battery life seems fair considering capability. Also does NTSC output to TV with supplied cable.

Dislikes

None major. Took a while to get camera settings right for our testing purposes. Like most digital cameras, trying to decipher those physical camera button controls requires reading the manual. Although camera shoulder strap was inclusive, no lens cap lanyard! Bummer! SP: $799.00

Camera Software Requirements

Computer with available USB connection capable of running flavors of Windows 98 / Win 2000 or Mac O/S.

Comments

In the beginning due to operator error, pictures were not consistent in quality. Seemed grainy, out of focus and off color. We were finally able to get great indoor close-up shots after our 14th set, picture #234! Persistence counts, excellent pictures, camera just needed tweaking! OK, so we tweaked the operator too. Crucial close-up indoor settings: Flash: On & Color Mode: Neutral Color.

Camera tested connected to Windows 98, Win 98 SE and Win 98 Millennium (WinMe). Mounting of camera drive storage was OK on Win98. Had blue screen error on Win98 SE when camera was connected through M/S Internet Keyboard Pro USB Hub. Onboard USB Hub port 2 alternately was connected to Compaq A1000 USB Fax machine. When DC-4800 digital camera was disconnected, blue screen error stated: “The volume that was removed had open files on it. Next time please be sure to check before removing. Press any key to continue.” To the novice, ‘any key’ does not mean a 3 key salute! This was our only problem encountered. To correct, we had to reboot PC to regain access to Compaq A1000 Fax. Otherwise, computer and DC-4800 camera operational status were OK. Individual results may vary.

The value lies in does a product do what you need or want, no matter what the specs? All in all, the Kodak DC-4800 USB Digital Zoom Camera is a quality camera, fun to operate.