Kodak CX7430 - Frugal Buy!

I bought the Kodak C330 as somewhat of a replacement for my Kodak LS443 digital camera. The LS443, although over 3 years old, is very comparable with the C330, and I will use this as the basis for a few of my comments. I was only days away from taking a big trip when my LS443 unexpectedly stopped working. The LS443 was still under warranty, so I was looking for something comparable but cheaper that I could hand down to my sibling when I received my LS443 back.

Specifications
4.0 megapixels
3x optical zoom, 5x digital zoom (15x total zoom)
1.5 in. (3.8cm) color LCD screen
16 scene and color modes (detailed below)
16MB internal memory
Port for SD/MMC cards (expandable to over 500 MB)
Uses AA batteries (I recommend buying rechargeable AA NiMH)
USB port for picture transfer
Works with Kodak EasyShare docks (optional)
MPEG video


The C330 is quite compact. Easily small enough to fit in a jean pocket. The camera is approximately 2.75" high by 3.75" long with a depth of 1.5"

The selling point of this camera is the features - all at a great price. This camera is a very affordable 4 megapixel camera with a 3x digital zoom. There is a huge variety of picture modes.

Picture Modes
Auto: General picture taking - when in doubt, use this.
Portrait: Full-frame portraits of people
Sport: Subjects in motion - shutter speed is fast
Landscape: Distant subjects - flash off by default
Close-up: Very close subjects - flowers, text, etc.
Video: Full motion, with sound.
Scene: This is for the ones they ran out of room on the dial. In italics
Children: Action pictures of kids in bright light
Party: People indoors, minimizes red eye.
Night portrait: Reduces red eye of people in low-light conditions.
Beach: Bright beach scenes
Snow: Bright snow scenes
Fireworks: No flash, for fireworks (must keep camera very still)
Self-Portrait: For those artistic photos of yourself
Backlight: Light is behind subject

The LCD screen is smaller than on other cameras, but it is exceptionally bright and has very little lag.

Next to the LCD screen are clearly-labeled buttons. Here you will find the review button (allows you to look through your pictures), the delete button (deletes pictures when in review mode), the menu button, and the LCD on/off button.

When you get into the menus, you can use the 4-way controller to navigate through. There are many menu options. You are allowed to choose the resolution of your picture (also valuable for saving disk space), the color (or lack of color) for your image, and a variety of options for the more experienced photographer.

When taking pictures, the camera has an image sensor that senses if you are taking a vertical shot. This allows the camera to capture more of the image and allows for better prints.

Power options: The camera comes with two AA batteries. These will probably last all of 3-4 hours. Your best bet is to buy a set of 4 NiMH rechargeable batteries. You keep 2 in the camera, 2 as backup. If not, AA batteries will add up quickly!

(Shutter Lag Updated) My big problem with the camera is the shutter lag. The difference between my older LS443 and the C330 is very noticeable. There is some kind of work-around though in the "Sport" mode of the camera. But with the sport mode I have noticed reduced quality. The quality reduction isn't very great and probably not noticeable to the untrained eye, but if you are looking you can see it.

I just want to touch on the why I picked the C330 and how it compares to my 3-year-old Kodak LS443. The LS443 is also a 4 megapixel, 3x optical zoom camera. I was attracted to the Kodak C330 because once I picked it up, I saw that it operated very much like the LS443, which I was very familiar with. The LS443 had been a very good product, and although it did stop working, I was attracted back to Kodak because of how long the LS443 made it through the heavy-use I put it through. However, upon getting my C330, I feel that the craftsmanship of the camera is much lower. The buttons feel cheap and the camera looks cheap. But they have held up so far, so no complaints, especially for the price I paid.

Also a neat addition to the camera is the "quality" selection that allows you to choose what quality you want your images to be. The actual quality of the image is not reduced, only the number of pixels. For the average person who will only be printing on 4x6" photo paper, it won't be a big deal. If you want to get into the huge oversized prints though, you'll have to stay at high quality. Putting the camera on even the medium setting will allow you to double the number of pictures the card can hold. This works out great for long vacations, and saves you from buying another $50 memory card.

Recommended Accessories:
SD/MMC memory card, the bigger the better.
Rechargable NiMH AA batteries.
A case that includes room for extra batteries

Final note:
So you've gone and purchased a digital camera. If you want to make prints at home, make sure you have a high-quality photo printer! If you can't do it at home, you can always take your memory card into a grocery store or drug store with a machine that will make prints for you. The old inkjet will never do a 4-megapixel picture justice!