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Old 03-03-2006, 09:08 PM   #1
slang
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New Kodak DX749 digital camera

I bought this new camera the other day and for the first day wanted to throw it out a closed window. On the second day fell in love with it.

The proprietary Kodak EasyShare software is such a PIMA that it was close to going back to the store for another choice. It seems that a USB card reader bypasses the need for that terrible program and now I can use and enjoy the camera.

The choices in front of me were the Nikon D50 which makes me drool but is much more than needed or understood at this point, and the Kodak.

Both use the SD cards and since there are a few kicking around here that are 1 Gig, that was the focus....the use of the SD cards.

This camera replaces a very cheap Vivitar 3710 that was a great camera for the money ( $55 ) but took less than great photos.

The last cameras were intentionally left in Makati so it's been very different here without some type of cam.

There are only a few people at work that are into digital photos so this is my chance at show and tell here on the Cellar.

Has anyone else had one? Has anyone else had a Kodak? What did you like about it? What didnt you like about it.

This one is new but after a few thousand pics ( one good trip abroad ) I should be an expert on this like I was with the Vivitar.
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Old 03-04-2006, 08:45 AM   #2
SteveDallas
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I don't know anything about that camera specifically, but I've never seen any proprietary camera interface software that was worth a damn. The card reader is almost always the best way to go. My only (lame, obvious) advice is, take lots of pictures experimenting with the controls in a casual situation where you don't care about what's going on. Then when you have the opportunity to take the shot of your life you'll have a better sense of how everything works.
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Old 03-04-2006, 11:29 AM   #3
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I have a Kodak 7590. It is a fairly fully featured cam for the money, although they sort of copped out on things that would be cool to have, like higher ISO settings in Manual mode. Although its low-light performance is better than what it replaced by far, it is still not as versatile as my Pentax K1000 with 800 film in it.

I agree on the software interface, although I have learned to manage it. It really isn't much use unless you are posting pics online constantly or emailing them to Grandma right out of the camera. I do use it to unload the thing, but then I drop to other software for everything else.

The most useful single piece of software that I have is Multiren , which allows me to easily give distinctive names to those long strings of pics with common dates, locations, etc.
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Old 03-05-2006, 10:27 PM   #4
slang
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Elspode
...... Although its low-light performance is better than what it replaced by far, it is still not as versatile as my Pentax K1000 with 800 film in it..........

Thanks for the moral support/info guys.

The low light capabilities are important but I've not had a suitable opportunity to test it out thoroughly.

When the better weather comes, I'm sure Grandma will be getting a ton of photos through the net.
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Old 03-07-2006, 12:15 PM   #5
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I don't really know how directly comparable our two models are, so you may well have better manual ISO range than I do. To be honest, until I bought the damn thing, it didn't even occur to me that it might not be good enough to suit me in low light.
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Old 03-07-2006, 04:43 PM   #6
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For Christmas Keryx got me an HP Photosmart M415, 5.2 Mp. I never thought I would even use a digital camera, much less like it more than my Minolta X-700. I am now shopping for a 8 Mp SLR. About the only thing I use the Minolta for any more is when I need extreemly high resolution and creative control.
One of my friends has a Kodak digital camera, and he loves it. He says that camera, and related software has allowed him to take pictures that he can be proud of.
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Old 03-07-2006, 05:09 PM   #7
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Absolutely. Before I got my digital camera, I only took a couple rolls when I happened to go on a big vacation. Now I've got 286 on Flickr, and tons more on my hard drive. And some of them are actually good.
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Old 03-07-2006, 07:13 PM   #8
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Quote:
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And some of them are actually good.
MOST of them are actually good.
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Old 03-07-2006, 08:05 PM   #9
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Don't speak too quickly - I've got over 3000 photos on my hard drive.
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Old 03-07-2006, 08:17 PM   #10
slang
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Fargon

My preference would actually be a Canon or a Nikon dig cam but there is a strong family connection to Rochester NY, the home of Kodak.

That's basically the only reason to have one IMO. It's about the same as the others in that class and model configuration.

It seems that there are no huge differences between the models except for the features available and those are essentially the same anyway.

HM

It sounds like we take and collect photos the same way. The top 10% of the photos are generally shared. Many people really like those top ten but dont realize that there is another 90% deleted or on my hard drive.

If you take enough photos....everyone gets lucky.

Nice link with the fucker too.
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Old 03-08-2006, 12:47 PM   #11
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In the "affordable" range, I lust for a Canon Digital Rebel SLR. In the sky's the limit range, well...I haven't even bothered looking, truth be known.
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Old 03-08-2006, 05:56 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Elspode
In the "affordable" range, I lust for a Canon Digital Rebel SLR. In the sky's the limit range, well...I haven't even bothered looking, truth be known.
Same here, afraid to look. Might spend my house insurance rebuild money on one.
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Old 03-08-2006, 06:26 PM   #13
slang
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Elspode
In the "affordable" range, I lust for a Canon Digital Rebel SLR. In the sky's the limit range, well...I haven't even bothered looking, truth be known.
Yes, that Rebel is very nice. A friend's wife has one and does pro-photography as her primary income.

At 8 MP with all those nice features, even the $1000 price tag doesnt seem unreasonable.

This is the big daddy that I'd hope to take to Iraq, with a lesser quality backup.

This one runs between $7-8000 and the memory cards required for something like this would reasonably run half that for a trip to Iraq.

The expectation that the images could be downloaded into any type of mobile computer would be silly IMO.

Something like that would require a currior to hand off the memory cards for a quick trip to Baghdad, and then "overnight" shipping back to the US, most likely to Toad or someone with high end computery equipment and the expertise to use them.

How would that work out really? Who knows? If I took a trip to that sort of dangerous/remote location...the cards would be sent back here, not CDs or even DVDs. Between the harsh climate, dust and sand, all with a place that might not even have western style electrical outlets this method seems most reasonable.

Would another lesser quality camera suffice? Sure, but as these cameras make advances this high end Canon would be surely be useful for a few years anyway.

Most of the images that one captures in life dont need a spectacular camera. If I was to go somewhere like Iraq it would seem that more of those images than normal here would be great.

The whole idea of taking a pro-camera somewhere that they dont normally have pictures taken does seem more than appealing though.
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Old 03-08-2006, 06:31 PM   #14
slang
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Quote:
Originally Posted by busterb
Same here, afraid to look. Might spend my house insurance rebuild money on one.
You didnt ask but take a look at what's available now. The prices are coming down and even those cheap $55 dig cams created some decent photos.

The key seems to be in the practice. Knowing the limitiations of the camera and what photos will come out as your expect before you even set the scene up.

Hopefully you will find one that you would like in a price range that you are comfortable with. Not everyone will be a huge shutterbug after getting their first or second camera but it's cheap entertainment since the developing aspect has past away.
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Old 03-08-2006, 06:42 PM   #15
Undertoad
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I would accept that duty man.

Hell though, get something that can do video, and decent sound.

We do so need to take advantage of this other server I have and this enormous amount of bandwidth.
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