Kodak Reviews

I purchased the mc3 as a Christmas present for my 12 year old daughter. It didn't take her long to get the hang of taking pictures or video and she had a lot of fun doing so. Downloading them to our PC (uses Windows XP) was pretty easy. But I do have a few complaints so far. The first is that the mc3 is now shutting itself off even though it says the batteries are OK. A change of batteries may remedy this. The biggest complaint is that we cannot download mp3 files to the mc3. The users guide is really poor with regard to this. And the fact that it is on CD makes it hard to flip back & forth. Kodak's website says to look at the users guide (big help!) The guide says to use Real Jukebox(included) to download but Real Jukebox doesn't offer the mc3 as a storage device. Very frustrating!! Somebody more familiar with mp3's may know what to do but the mc3 is supposed to be a toy, not a job. My last complaint makes me wonder how much thought went into the design and did Kodak even try it out. You cannot close the flash card door - it causes the card to pop out of the connector!! 9/25/02 Just found out from a friend that you need to push the lever up to get it out of the way so you can close the door. He found out by accident. How hard would it have been for Kodak to let me know? BTW, anyone else notice how badly AMC has gone downhill lately?

I bought the MC3 because I wasn't quite ready to buy a real digital camcorder, and because I currently work overseas and didn't want to worry about power conversion, etc. Overall, I can't complain. As an MP3 player, it's solid. 64MB is a good amount of memory and the earphones are better than most (maybe it's just mine, but the wire for the left earphone is MUCH shorter than the one for the right. strange.).

As a camera, yes, the lack of a flash can be annoying, but if you want quality still-photos, you should NOT be considering this product. Even expensive camcorders take lousy photos. Outdoor, particularly long-range cityscapes/naturescapes, shoot pretty well. Anything up close, especially in low light, will come out blurry.

I've been pleasantly surprised by the video features of the MC3. There are two settings: high and low resolution. The high setting can capture very clear video, but results in HUGE files. Low-resolution picture quality is ok, but the files are still pretty big - not a very good trade-off. E-mailing videos of either size to friends (a big reason I wanted the MC3) can be a hassle.

There is sort of a contradiction when shooting video. Outdoor shots can come out great, but even a small amount of glare can make it hard to see exactly what you're shooting. Conversely, when indoors, the viewfinder might display a clear image, but the final video will usually appear much darker.

Software is included to add titles, effects, etc. to your video, but the program is awful. Adding even the most basic title screen, etc. can triple the file size. Functionality is minimal and online support (from the software manufacturer, not Kodak) is a joke. I haven't tried the program for still-photos.

The MC3 seems pretty durable, too. I dropped it on a concrete sidewalk from a height of about four feet with no problems, although the batteries did pop out.

Bottom-line: this is something you can have fun with, as long as you don't take it too seriously.

I have had this for over 2 years now and I still love it. The camera part is great fun, though low resolution is noticable in prints, prints look good. I upgraded to a 128 mb card which holds about 1.5 hours of music or 900 photos or 45 minutes of video. The best thing about this is it's TOUGH. I have dropped it numerous times, it has gone flying off of my desk. Sometimes the card pops out and the batteries always scatter, but it is always fine. It works just like the day I got it. Although there is one thing that I did not like. When Realplayer updated Jukebox, they did not upgrade the drivers for MC3. I eventually was not able to transfer files to the unit, so I bought a CF card reader. It works amazingly fast and lets me transfer my files through Windows Media Player. It now works like a charm, I would recommend this for anyone who uses Windows XP. If you can get a card reader, don't install the included software!

Kodak advertises 800sp. film as being their most versatile film, but I do not agree. I have used this speed and I have worked in a photo lab and developed it. You should not use 800sp. film on bright sunny days!! It over-exposes your negatives and makes your pictures washed out. I would only used 800sp. film if I was photographing something that was very fast motion, like a car race. I think the reason Kodak tries to push this speed of film is because it is their most expensive, not because it's the best. 800sp. film is also very "grainy." If you get a photo that you really like you cannot enlarge it and have it look good because the film grain is so noticable. Generally, I tend to use 200sp. film most of the time, and I never have any problems. It works well outside on sunny days and with a flash in low-light situations. However, this is just my opinion. I am not an expert, just a consumer.

The price was great, but the film was short dated; 09/2001.
I would not have bought 10 rolls had I known.

I used two boxes of these at our wedding reception. The guests loved them. It made the reception feel more personal, like more of a family dinner than a fancy reception.

The pictures we got back from the tables are fun and unique. Everyone has a variety of shots they got, and captured different situations.

The auto-flash feature is convnenient for those low light conditions and the picture quality is as with everything else Kodak, good.

I would recommend this product for weddings, graduations, parties of any kind. =)

I didn't get this product at Amazon but I did use it for my wedding. The guests really enjoyed them. It made them all feel as if they played a roll in the wedding. The pictures turned out great! It was fun to see the differn't things people thought were picture worthy. I got pictures form ceiling to floor and everything in between.With so many cameras in the room we didn't miss a moment.This is a terrific price also I paid much more!

We used these at our wedding and found them to be terrific. The film quality is excellent. They are very easy to use so any of the guests felt comfortable shooting pictures. I would strongly recommend them to catch those candids at your wedding.

On a recent trip to Tahiti I believe I have tried about every kind of one-time use underwater camera on the market (i.e., Kodak Max Sport; Kodak Max Wet, and Konica Waterproof Camera and the Fuji). All of the cameras worked fine snorkeling, although I found the Konica and the Kodak Max Wet to be more difficult to use. [The Konica was a little difficult to see through the view finder with a mask on, and the Kodak Max Wet, most annoyingly had the strap and the photo button on opposite sides of the camera! A real disadvantage to a right handed person. As a result you essentially had to use two hands to take a photo, one to hold the camera and the other to depress the button. Any of these cameras will work fine for snorkeling, however the best were the Fuji and Kodak Sport. Keep in mind that all underwater photos will look a bit blue, however, snorkeling in the lagoon in Tahiti the blue was not really noticeable.

Here's the part I really like, now I admit, contrary to manufacturer recommendations, I did take both the Fuji camera and the Kodak Max Wet camera with me Scuba Diving. Unfortunately, I did not have an opportunity to try the Kodak Sport camera diving. On my dives we never went deeper than about 22 feet. The problem with diving with these cameras is the pressure - you can take a photo just fine, but due to the pressure you will be unable to wind the film. However, I used the Fuji camera without any problems -- I was always able to wind the film and the photos came out wonderfully -- although they were blue. The Kodak Max Wet camera continually would freeze up, thus in order to take a photo you would have to snap the picture, go up several feet, wind the film then go back down -- not very convenient and as a result I took very few photos. Although the photos I did take with this camera came out well, although they too were blue.

The other benefit to the Fuji and the Kodak Max Sport cameras is that they are easier to use in the water. The Fuji has the better button for taking photos, and both cameras have a large knob for winding the film, which is especially handy if you are wearing dive gloves.

The knob is a real drawback for both the Kodak Max Wet and the Konica cameras -- I found those two cameras to be much more difficult to wind and may be near impossible if you are wearing dive gloves. Also with the Fuji and the Kodak Max Sport, the strap, the button and winder are all on the right side, which makes this camera very easy to use for a right-handed person.

In summary, if you go snorkeling I would recommend the Fuji camera or the Kodak Max Sport. Skip the Konica and the Kodak Max Wet -- they are just too difficult to use. And, if you do plan to go Scuba diving, give the Fuji a try. Also, a word to the wise, be sure to buy your cameras before you leave on vacation. I brought 3 underwater cameras with me to Tahiti and still ended up buying the Konica Waterproof on the cruise ship.

I recently brought this camera with me on my vacation to florida. It was an excellent camera to use in the water parks, because you didn't have to worry about it getting wet! it came on all the rides. And it took some excellent underwater shots. The colors of the prints were vivid and bright! the rubber strap is a great idea to keep it secure as well!

The Kodak Max Sport camera makes good business sense. As director of corporate communications for a nationwide environmental contracting firm, I'm constantly asking project mangers to document the various stages of construction projects with photos.

A construction site is no place for an expensive digital or 35mm camera, and disposables aren't waterproof [anything can happen on a job site!]. Kodak solves the problem perfectly with its waterproof Max Sport camera. It even has a rubberized grip and wristband.

The 27-exposure Max Sport would probably be great to use for kids' field trips, around the pool, or just about anywhere an inexpensive, yet sturdy camera is needed.

While the camera costs more than twice as much as regular disposables, it's certainly worth the price. Photo quality is suitable for many print publications and for digital conversion for Web sites.

I know this one is $3.00 less than the flash version, but I think you'll like the quality of the pictures with the flash disposable better. You can use the flash for outdoor pictures as well as for indoor ones, and they tend to come out better. Plus you have the option of using it indoors at the end of the day. Reasonable picture quality *for the price* - if you wanna take photos for National Geographic, you'll need to pay a bit more than $6.00 for your camera! :)