A Great Camera for the Money!!

Author's Rating:

Pros: easy to use - great picture quality

Cons: none

Author's Review
I bought the DC3400 when they first became available. When researching for my first digital camera I had basically settled on the Kodak DC280 because of it's features as well as the Kodak name. Then I found out that the DC3400 was about to be released and was replacing the DC280. So I waited a few weeks until I could get one.

Like I said, this was my first digital camera so my satisfaction with it is based partly on the fact that I don't know any better. But in any case, I'm VERY satisfied.

The ease of use of this camera literally makes it possible to be using it five minutes out of the box. After reviewing the comprehensive instruction manual I was up and running.

There is a dial on the back of the camera that allows you select your operating mode from four simple choices: capture, review, connect and setup. It's really quite simple... capture to take pictures; review to look at them on the COLOR LCD display; connect allows you to connect to the computer (with USB or paralell port) and download you pictures; and last but not least, the seldom used setup function that is used to, obviously, set up the camera with things like date and time.

There is also a menu button on the back, along with scrolling buttons, that makes it easy to manuever through the numerous options with ease. Everything you do is plainly displayed on the LCD display for easy viewing.

Now... how about taking pictures you ask? Taking a picture with the DC3400 is just like any other camera. Just point and shoot. the picture will automatically display on the screen for a few seconds after the shot so you will instantly know if it's a keeper or not. If not, simply delete it to free up disk space.

Speaking of disk space, the DC3400 comes with an 8MG flash card. You can buy infinate flash cards if you find you need more space, and you probably will. When taking pictures there is basically six different pixel qualities you may use. The better the quality, the more space needed. Without getting too into it, I use about the fourth best quality for all my pictures and they are just fine for up to a 5x7 picture. Anything bigger than that and you will need the best quality. It is possible to get very nice quality 8x10's with this camera. With my resolution, I get about 18 pictures on my 8MG card.

The batteries are not sucked down as quickly as I heard. I get about 100 pictures out of a set of 4 AA's. Now that will be reduced when you first get your camera because you will no doubt spend more time than "normal" looking at your pictures on the screen by looking at them over and over again. This gets less exciting with time. I also use an AC adapter ($25) when I download to save my batteries. Both downloading and reviewing will decrease battery life.

I wont go into all the features too much, or the digital and optical zooms. I have found the kodak web site list every feature of this camera in great detail and you may find it there or other sites. What I offer is a true users "epinion". that is that this is a very nice entry level camera. There are cheaper camera out there but nothing compares to these features and picture quality. If you can afford it - buy it. I believe it's the best camera for the money.