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Re: digital cameras

To: Mike Rambour <mikey@inline-tech.com>
Subject: Re: digital cameras
From: Marc Sayer <msayer1@concentric.net>
Date: Sat, 14 Nov 1998 13:25:33 -0800
I just recently bought a Kodak DC120 and my only complaints are its size and
the lack of a lens cover. It is a rather large bulky thing compared to some of
the newer cameras. However with the format (they call it binocular- the camera
is about 2" tall, 4" wide and 6" long) and the way they designed the hand
strap and control button locations, it is not too bad. The quality is good,
however there is some minor distortion that I believe is due to the lens (I am
being very picky here, most folks wouldn't even notice this, but as someone
who deals with photos for a living I do). It offers a macro feature that I was
looking for, which allows you to fine adjust focus at ranges from 12" down to
7.9". It reads out the focus distance so you can set up for very accurate
focus on close shots. As far as its image processing quality goes its is very
good. It does not save the images in compressed format on the highest
resolution setting, so files can be quite large, but a 48 MB flash card is
only about $200 and holds 515 shots at low res, 331 at medium res, 193 at high
res and 52 uncompressed. The flash card can be plugged into an adapter for a
PCMCIA card slot and is then read as a removable drive by the computer. This
speeds up uploading a lot. The LCD display is small, esp compared to some new
cameras, but on the other hand the batteries last a lonnnnng time. In fact you
don't normally use the LCD to compose a shot. To do that you have to select
that option. This adds even more to battery life. It saves images in a
proprietary format and you must convert them to use them in other programs
like photoshop. I am not sure what their proprietary format is, whether it is
a lossy format like jpg or not. All in all I am quite pleased with the camera.
It is a discontinued model but there are still stores selling it new. Prices
ranged from $499 to almost $600. I bought a reconditioned unit direct from
Kodak that came with a better than new warranty for $399, which was a hard
price to beat for a 3x zoom, megapixel, glass lens camera.  

Mike Rambour wrote:
> 
> >     Any experience with digital Cameras? Basically, looking for simple yet
> 
>   The only experience I have is the Kodak 120 and 210. I have borrowed the
> 120 from a friend many times and been impressed with it, its a 2 year old
> model I don't know if they made changes since then on that model.  The 210
> is supposed to be higher resolution, meaning higher quality pictures, but
> the zoom on it is AWFUL.  Its not a 2X zoom, its a 1X to 2X lens with no in
> between.  You either get your picture large or small.  The 120 has a 3X
> zoom and its what I call a true zoom, you can stop when you have framed the
> car part correctly and shoot.  And personally I can't tell a difference in
> the picture quality.  I have only borrowed the 210 once and I can't count
> the number of times I have borrowed the 120.
> 
>   Santa has been made very well aware that she had better have a 120 in her
> bag for me.
> 
>     mike

-- 
Marc Sayer
Editor/Publisher
Z Car & Classic Datsun Magazine
http://zcarmag.com
Voice 541-726-6001
Fax 541-726-6001/746-0863

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