Kodak Reviews

I too read reviews, searched the web,compared features, and priced the various models. I did not want to spend a small fortune on my first Digital Camera, but yet I didn't want to buy a bare bones model, then curse myself that " I should have bought..." I knew I wanted Zoom, and at least 1.3 pixels, and the one that fit all my requirements was the DC280. I know there are other cameras with better color, but no zoom, or better zoom, but costs more, or......etc. The plus factors are..... EASE OF USE, NON-COMPLICATED, GREAT CUSTOMER SUPPORT, GREAT WARRANTY, AND GREAT PRICE, GREAT ACCESSORY PRODUCTS AVAILABLE. Negative factors.....lens cover could be a better fit & quality, and LCD display seems to get smugged easily....... I DO SUGGEST THAT YOU CONSIDER PURCHASING THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS: 1. KODAK CAMERA CASE ( I got mine for $17.00 ) 2. BATTERY RE-CHARGER 3. EXTRA BATTERIES 4. AC ADAPTER ( got mine for $20.00) 5. SANDISK CARD READER ( GREATEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD)...YOU SLIP THE CARD INTO THE READER AND PRESTO..THE PHOTOS ARE DOWNLOADED INTO YOUR COMPUTER.( SOLD FOR USB,SERIAL OR PARALLEL PORT CONNECTIONS, AND FOR FLASH CARD OR SMART CARD DEPENDING ON WHAT YOUR CAMERA USES).The reader sits on you desk, so you don't have to go looking for your camera cables, or fool around with your tower all the time.......( got mine for $32.00) I get great color prints ( up to 8x10 ) and super detail, both on the computer and printed on Photo paper. I even went out and bought the Kodak/Lexmark Personal Picture Maker PM100 printer that has the flash card port built right into the printer, and the printer DOES NOT EVEN NEED TO BE CONNECTED TO THE COMPUTER TO PRINT OUT THE PHOTOS!...

This is a very solid camera that takes good pictures indoor or outdoors. It is very user friendly and consistently takes good pictures, no matter who is taking them (Unlike several Sony's I tried before settling on this one).

Their are several features on this camera that make it particularly appealing to me.
* Accepts any type of AA battery and comes with rechargeable ones
* Transfers pictures through USB (can also get a compact flash card reader, I highly reccommend).
* Has a Video patch cord that allows you to preview pictures on any TV or VCR with an RCA input.
* Accepts Flash Memory of any brand up of 196 MB+ (alot of pictures).
* Border software allows you to import different borders for your shots, such as birthdays and weddings.

Although the camera is only a 2.0 megapixel, I've learned megapixels don't tell the whole story for the quality of a picture. They only become important if you want to consistently produce picture sizes above 5x7 (8x10 takes a dip in quality).
Overall a very good camera for an enry level to average user.

If you are a more advanced user with higher resolution needs, you might checkout the Nikon coolpix 900 series, a very good camera, though it is twice the price of the Kodak 280 zoom.

I actually bought one of these at a yard sale for 80 bucks, since previously I owned and used a Kodak dc 240. I don't quite know why this series of cameras take such amazingly sharp pictures (my 240 (1.2 MP) takes sharper photos than my 3.2 MP sony!!!)but they just do. The 280 has a more limited zoom (2x as opposed to a 3x), but the picture quality is amazing. You cannot buy a 2MP camera that takes sharper and more realistic pictures than the 280. The new Kodak series with the docking ports are made differently and they are not as good about focusing or sharpness of image. The 280 is a great investment!! I've seen prints from the 280 looking better than some 4MP cameras!! And that's all I have to say about that :)

This was my first digital camera, and I'm extremely happy with it. I'm not an overly technical person -- my previous 35mm cameras were basic "point and shoot" models, with zoom capability. But I found the DC240 extremely easy to set up and use, and I especially like the near-macro capability (you can get within 6-8" of your subject and still have a crystal clear picture.).

The on-camera menu is superb -- colorful, very easy to understand -- and I found myself taking good quality shots immediately. I also purchased an extra 8MB compact flash memory "card" which came in handy during my first extended use (a weekend get-away to a scenic area with lots of attractions). I found it very easy to review my shots and eliminate any that weren't quite what I wanted, instead of wasting the shot and having to wait until I got the film developed to discover that the shot was less than optimal. I managed to get a total of 49 color pictures of PRINT quality (as opposed to email quality -- you have a choice on a picture-by-picture basis) on the two memory cards (total of 16MB) in this first extended use. I also managed to take the pix, review them several times, connect to my home computer, and upload the entire contents of both chips to my hard drive before the first batteries (AA -- easy and inexpensive to puchase) ran out. Not bad! My last 35mm camera used to go through expensive N batteries every two rolls of film.

All in all, I'm really thrilled with this camera, and may never go back to 35mm film cameras again!

Bought the camera mid-June, and by late June was covering a national convention requiring daily uploads to webpages. Got rave reviews of the images shared. The USB connection is easy and fast. I found it handled indoor shots without flash with outstanding resolution.

It has also produced some excellent outdoor shots, including some sky photography (sunsets) that rival film versions.

One does not need to employ the top setting to produce extremely good pictures, maximizing the number of photos on a single compact flash card.

It came complete with a set of rechargable batteries and charger - a nice feature. And the Amazon price is at least $100 less than any other source!

This would be a perfect camera for a person just starting into digital photography, who wants a camera that looks, feels, and acts like a familiar 35 mm point and shoot and who has elementary knowledge and sense of computers.

The main aspect of this camera is it's user friendlieness. It has a basic design, and easy for capture & review. This was my second, and i couldn't stand it. You had to go through file after file to get them onto the computer. With this camera, it iss hard at first, but after you do it once, you can't froget, like riding a bike! Although it isn't the most technological and it doesn't have super excellent quality, it is perfect for the everyday user. I hope you enjoy it like i did!

I have had my camera for a couple of years and generally find it very easy to use, portable, with good features.
But I have had trouble with a small clip breaking off inside the camera body that holds the battery holder in place. I have been told it is not worth repairing. So now I have to use heavy duty tape on the camera to have it function.
If anyone has any ideas about it could repaired at a reasonable cost please get in touch. I live in New Zealand

I have tried newer cameras with higher megapixel capabilities, but have yet to find one that is as satisfactory as the DC215. Most importan to me is the field of view the 215 provides, without additonal lenses. It is simple, easy to use, and produces qulaity pictures.

I purchased this camera as an entry to the digital camera arena about a year ago. Kodak was preferred over the others notably for the company's reputation. I am still delighted with the camera and use it often. To date I have taken well over 1000 pictures. This camera works beautifully, the images are crisp and clean and is an excellent value for the recreational user like myself. We are in the market to purchase a larger memory card. 8mb is sufficient for day trips but quite small for longer vacations or family events. For complaints about battery life, I strongly recommend purchasing rechargeables. Not only for this, but for all digital cameras.

I have this camera. It has been fine. However, knowing what I know now I would never buy another Kodak camera. Ever. I dropped this camera, and a little plastic piece broke off which keeps the battery pack in the camera. Not a big deal. But NOONE repairs Kodak cameras. Instead you HAVE to send it into their corporate repair center and they instead sell you on trading it in for a refurbished camera. So, I can send this one in and for $250 get a new refurbished camera. But it only sells for $50 more on amazon.com - and thats a new, non-refurbished one! Its a total crock. Just be forwarned. I'd never buy a camera which I cant get repaired locally.

For a 1.3megapixel camera, I've been very pleased with the picture quality of this camera. At 4x6 the pictures are very good (detail & color). At 5x7 some pixelization begins to become apparent. At 8x10 pixelization is very apparent on most pics. If you're taking pics with little detail (portraits and flowers and such) 8x10s are acceptable when viewed from a few feet away. The built in flash does a real nice job. NiMH batteries are a must. I also find that the brand and capacity of the batteries varies greatly and will give you from minutes to a few hours of serious use. I find that Rayovac 1600mah batteries give me the best service. Of course using the built in LCD screen greatly reduces battery life. I recommend carrying a spare set (4). An upgraded compact flash card is also a must. At the best resolution I get 56 images on my 16M card. I find the JPEG format easy do deal with in most photo application programs. The only drawback is the serial interface cable. It takes a long time to transfer a large number of images to the Computer. While I haven't yet purchased one, a USB compactflash reader would probably be a good idea. The camera is very easy to use and the menu options are very intuitive. (I've never read the manual past a brief lookover.) I recommend this camera to beginners and intermediate users who want pretty good results at a low price.

I purchased this camera as an upgrade from my DC50 and have been in impressed with it every since I've opened the package. The camera was ready to go within minutes of opening the box and the software was simple to install and had me downloading pictures to my web site within ten minutes.

I purchased the DC215 millennium gold due to the larger compact flash (8mg) and the inclusion of the USB compact flash reader. Both additions have made this an excellent camera. I recently toured Harpers Ferry National Battlefield and took several pictures of the surrounding scenery as well as group photos, and amazed the group by displaying the pictures on the T.V. via the direct camera link as soon as we returned home. They turned out crisp, detailed and in perfect focus!

The camera is a little hard on AA batteries so I went out and bought lithium batteries and have not had to replace them in over three weeks of constant use. Rechargeable might be the next step but right now I'm having way too much fun with this camera and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a megapixel on a modest budget. It's both IBM and MAC compatible, with loads of great software!

I bought this camera when it first came out in 1998 for $700 + TAX!!!!

This is what i got: Unnatural blurry pictures, 4 AA batteries run out after 10 shots, no options, slow shutter speed, zoom sucks, have to wait forever between pictures, uses old compact flash, slow transfer rate (serial port, 1 min per pic!), software sucks (wont install on newer versions of windows), no lens cap, nowhere to hold on while taking pictures.

Please, go and get yourself a real camera. You can get one 10 times better for the same price. Try Cannon, Nikon, HP ...... Kodak is not the anwser!!!!!!

I bought one of these camera's for my office about 2 years ago after reading reviews of various digital cameras in a computer magazine. It turned out to be a great buy. It is a very easy to use and takes pretty good photos. I liked it so much, that I ended up buying one for myself.

There are a couple of problems with this camera:

If you use the LCD panel(for previewing pictures you have taken), your batteries (4 AAs) will be drained - FAST.

The 4 mg memory card that comes with this camera is really not enough. I would recommend that anyone buying this camera buy the 32mg chip. With 32mg, (and the 4mg card) you can take more about 130-140 photos at the highest resolution (the recommended resolution if you want to print your photos). This makes the camera great to take on vacations - you don't have to worry about running out of memory.

It takes a long time to transfer photos to a computer. I recommend getting the Parallel Picture Card Reader (from Kodak) which will make the photo transfer lots faster.

Buying these various accessories does add to the cost of the camera, but it is well worth it.

The print quality of these pictures is pretty good (although NOT regular photo quality). You can upload your photos to Kodak and they will print them and send them to you through the mail. Also, they will set up a URL where your friends and family can see and order your uploaded photos.

As much as I love this camera, I think that I will eventually buy a higher end version (maybe the Kodak 260) so that I can have better print quality for my photos.

As digital cameras with better resolution appear, the Kodak DC-210 seems perhaps outdated. But it is not. For pictures to insert into web pages, it is perfect. The DC-210 has a large LCD for viewing photos, and a two to one optical zoom lens. Using CF memory, getting pictures from the camera to your computer is very easy. It even works on my Amiga 3000. If there is any problem with the camera, it is the short battery life. You will go through a lot of AA alkalines if you use the LCD much, but that is not a serious problem. Just don't pay a whole lot for the DC-210, as new cameras in the 1.1 megapixel class are now under $100.