Kodak Easyshare DX6490 Review
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Review
Date: Feb 20, 2004 |
Image Quality
The
Kodak Easyshare DX6490 has 4 megapixels
resolution and its image quality is comparable
to other 4 MP digital cameras.
Two very pleasant surprises:
- No
noise at ISO 80. At higher ISOs, noise is quite
acceptable for display purposes at 1024x768
pixels.
- Auto
White Balance outdoors seems to work very well.
I was expecting to have to fiddle around to
get my snow, well, snow white, but the DX6490
takes care of it without any adjustment on my
part.
Since most of you are interested in the Kodak
DX6490 because of the long zoom, I have taken
a number of the picture samples at that focal
length. Of course, I have also included pictures
at other focal lengths and in different lighting
situations. The long zoom opens up picture possibilities
once reserved only to those who could afford expensive
long zoom lenses for the professional SLR or dSLR
category.
For this review, I used the following settings
as my preferred settings:
-
Shooting Mode: Programmed Auto
-
Metering Mode: Spot
- ISO:
80
- Image
Size: 2304x1728 (4M)
- Image
Quality: Can't be set (the DX6490 firmware unfortunately
compresses the output)
- White
Balance: Auto
All the pictures on this and the other pages (including
the navigation pictures at the top of each page)
have been taken by the Kodak Easyshare DX6490
for this review. The pictures on this page provide
a good sample of what the DX6490 is capable of
and I have provided the 800x600 version. Remember
that this version is of slightly lesser quality
than the original 2304x1728 version. Please open
and download only once to your hard drive -- and
save me some precious bandwidth. Thanks!
| Clicking
on a picture will display the 800x600 image
in a separate window. Leave that separate
window up for all the other images will also
display in that same separate window. |
Note
that Kodak Easyshare software reports focal length
in 35mm equivalent, so that is what you'll read
below and on the other pages.
Click
here for comments accompanying pictures.
Click
here for comments accompanying pictures.
Need
a place to upload your photos? Free photo sharing
and photo hosting web site at cassepoze.
A
Personal Word
The
image quality on the Kodak DX6490 is excellent
and it is regrettable the output is compressed
so much, resulting in the loss of some detail,
especially at full telephoto. Set on Programmed
Auto mode, and used in a point-and-shoot capacity,
pictures consistently come out true in colour
and perfectly exposed. That includes indoors shots
in low-light (though this requires the use of
a higher ISO).
Noise is not an issue at ISO 80. At higher ISOs,
noise is present but I believe it is quite acceptable
since it allows you to capture pictures you would
not otherwise be able to take. For screen display
and 4x6 in. prints, the noise would be barely
noticeable.
All the exposure modes and metering modes are
available, though I find the Kodal DX6490 performs
very well on Programmed Auto mode and using Spot
metering.
The
Kodak Easyshare DX6490 will give you great images
in Programmed Auto mode. In addition, the availability
of full exposure flexibility means that you will
be able to express your creativity whenever you're
ready to explore and try out the other exposure
modes.
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