RB Williams
New member
This is my first camera which I bought after researching my choices on Dpreview and deciding a 4mp was exactly what I needed. Paying for higher mp is a waste of money unless you are a profesioinal. The was no competition for the DX7440 and the Easyshare software is impressive as well.
I decided I wanted a large viewscreen which limited my options and the 7440 has a 2.2" screen which only Casio can match. Others are close and I'd decided a min of 1.8" was the lowest limit. I have no idea how anyone can get by with 1.5" which I can barely see.
The screen on this camera is easy to see and I am very impressed with the quality even in daylight. The 16 scene mode selections cover every image situation although you can input your own settings if you wish but I don't know why you would. Picture quality is excellent and I did not notice them being "too warm" as noted in another review which concerned me before I purchased. Perhaps that camera is faulty. I like the grip feature which gives you a solid feel when holding the camera body and all buttons are easy to reach with your thumb. This camera has the fastest recovery time ready for the next shot, more total telephoto and more pictures per battery charge than any other camera in it's price range.
The Easyshare software is so easy to use and I'm very impressed. I was able to save a shot later that I didn't preview and wanted to keep by changing exposure, contrast and light. You can also make new albums and move pictures from one to the other. The software recognizes the camera instantly once plugged into the computer. Version updates are available for download which I have done and you can also obtain specific printer interface software which I also downloaded for my Canon printer.
Problems:
The optical viewer diopter is hard to turn and doesn't do much in my opinion.
L-ion battery pack is expensive and Kodak should include the larger capacity 1700ah pack with the camera.
The little rubber flap door for the auxilliary power and USB cable plugs could be better engineered and should be like the door to the battery/memory card compartment.
The paper manual is easy to use but doesn't provide enough information for beginners like me such as how you should use compression settings. All it says is 'Fine renders a large file size' which is what I thought a higher mp setting did. The manual is also bulked up by 3/4 with other languages and is printed on newsprint which is very tacky.
Camera should have strap posts on both sides to attach a neck strap which I found very handy from my 35mm SLR days. I don't trust the thin handstrap connection.
I decided I wanted a large viewscreen which limited my options and the 7440 has a 2.2" screen which only Casio can match. Others are close and I'd decided a min of 1.8" was the lowest limit. I have no idea how anyone can get by with 1.5" which I can barely see.
The screen on this camera is easy to see and I am very impressed with the quality even in daylight. The 16 scene mode selections cover every image situation although you can input your own settings if you wish but I don't know why you would. Picture quality is excellent and I did not notice them being "too warm" as noted in another review which concerned me before I purchased. Perhaps that camera is faulty. I like the grip feature which gives you a solid feel when holding the camera body and all buttons are easy to reach with your thumb. This camera has the fastest recovery time ready for the next shot, more total telephoto and more pictures per battery charge than any other camera in it's price range.
The Easyshare software is so easy to use and I'm very impressed. I was able to save a shot later that I didn't preview and wanted to keep by changing exposure, contrast and light. You can also make new albums and move pictures from one to the other. The software recognizes the camera instantly once plugged into the computer. Version updates are available for download which I have done and you can also obtain specific printer interface software which I also downloaded for my Canon printer.
Problems:
The optical viewer diopter is hard to turn and doesn't do much in my opinion.
L-ion battery pack is expensive and Kodak should include the larger capacity 1700ah pack with the camera.
The little rubber flap door for the auxilliary power and USB cable plugs could be better engineered and should be like the door to the battery/memory card compartment.
The paper manual is easy to use but doesn't provide enough information for beginners like me such as how you should use compression settings. All it says is 'Fine renders a large file size' which is what I thought a higher mp setting did. The manual is also bulked up by 3/4 with other languages and is printed on newsprint which is very tacky.
Camera should have strap posts on both sides to attach a neck strap which I found very handy from my 35mm SLR days. I don't trust the thin handstrap connection.