Digital Camera Review

Digital Camera Review

Crafted by Kodak as a simple, accessible digital camera that is “ready to go--right out of the box,” the Kodak EasyShare CX7330 is equipped with a Kodak Retinar 3x optical zoom and a 1/2.7-inch. (3.3 total megapixel) CCD. With a MSRP of US $199.95, the CX7330 is armed with direct print capabilities when used in conjunction with Kodak EasyShare printers and printer docks. The CX7330 provides Kodak EasyShare software for personal computer editing to help simplify the printing process. With 16MB internal memory, the CX7330 can shoot without a memory card when desired, although the user can choose to utilize an additional SD/MMC memory card with up to 256MB of added memory. The Kodak EasyShare CX7330 can capture video at 15 fps for up to 18 minutes with the largest compatible memory card and up to 53 seconds on the camera’s internal memory. The direct print ease of the CX7330 as with other Kodak EasyShare cameras is a strong benefit of this line of digital cameras, providing near instant prints with minimal effort. This simplistic shooting and printing process is headlined by Kodak and seems to be a new area of mastery for the former celluloid masters.
Advertisement

Viewfinder (6.0)
The Kodak EasyShare CX7330 comes with a real image optical viewfinder. This unit is not electronically enhanced, and there is no diopter adjustment available on this model. Its extremely small size and awkward placement makes it a rarely used feature, relegating it to a historical accoutrement, left for merely nostalgic purposes.

 

LCD Screen (5.0)
The LCD screen on the Kodak EasyShare CX7330 is 1.6 inches in size and contains 312 x 230 (72K) pixels. The LCD is centrally located on the back of the camera and is generally used as the sole means of framing and reviewing images. Alterations and shooting conditions can be seen on the LCD similarly to the way they will appear when captured. The only problem is that there is minimal resolution with only 72K pixels, so users may not get as accurate of a representation of the image as they might assume. This can create a discrepancy in the imported or printed image from what is projected on the LCD, so users beware, this can be frustrating!

 

Flash (6.5)
The flash for the Kodak EasyShare CX7330 is located in the upper central portion of the front of the camera. The flash range for a wide angle shot is 2-11.8 ft, and with the telephoto engaged the range is 2-6.9 ft. To turn the flash on, the button directly to the right of the zoom toggle on the back of the camera must be pressed; it is represented by a lightning bolt symbol. The icon will thus be shown on the status bar on the LCD monitor. Each time the flash button is pressed, the user will be able to scroll through a series of flash possibilities. The possibilities for the Kodak EasyShare CX7330 are Auto flash, Off (never), Fill (activates every time, no matter the lighting condition), and Red-eye (normalizes the subject’s eyes prior to flash, thus eliminating red eye).

 

Zoom Lens (7.0)
The lens for the Kodak EasyShare CX7330 is a 3x optical zoom lens, with a focal length of 37-111mm (equivalent) with an aperture range of f/2.7-f/4.6. The focusing system runs from 5.1-27.6 inches in “macro/close-up” mode for focusing within the wide angle lens element and 8.7-27.6 inches. There is an additional digital zoom from 1-3.3x with 0.3 increment change when focusing with the telephoto aspect of the lens, though this is not supported when capturing for movies.

 

The lens on the EasyShare somewhat contains manual zoom capabilities. Perhaps one of the only options left up to the user, the manual zoom on the Kodak EasyShare CX7330 is located on the back of the camera body, in the upper right-hand corner. With variable choices between wide angle and telephoto, this optical zoom allows for 3x possibilities. To use digital zoom, the user must first turn the LCD monitor on, and then they must press the telephoto (T) portion of the zoom button until maximum zoom levels have been reached. Within the onscreen menu it is possible to dictate whether the digital zoom will be continuous, paused, or none. The pause aspect will be the default choice until otherwise dictated. Once engaged, the user can press the (T) button again, showing the onscreen display for zoom capabilities between 3.3x and 10x in 0.3 increments.

Advertisement