Kodak LS443

Opinion: Yea Baby! This is the one I have been waiting for. I just purchased a new LS443 last Saturday. I saw the preview of the LS443 on this site about a two weeks ago and decided I had to have one. The article said the LS would be available in October, so I took a chance and stopped at Circuit City Saturday October 4th. When I checked the shelves they did not have any out. So I asked the salesman when they expected to get some in. He checked his computer and they had just got three units in that day, and they were still in the stock room. I told him I would wait, while he went back to get one!! There is a story behind this so bear with me.

I bought my first Kodak digital camera about 3 years ago, a DC3400 and loved it. As a matter of fact I still have it. The 3400 is bullet proof when it comes to the average go getting great shots in any situation, without messing with white balance, exposure, etc. I didn’t realize how good the camera was until I purchased a Canon S110 about a year later. I loved the size but hated the yellow cast I got in every shot and the thing had a terrible focus problem. With the S110 white walls were dingy in color and everyone’s face was either pasty or had a reddish cast (not natural). The biggest kicker was the color. Kodak mops up when it comes to excellent saturation and vibrant colors (hands down). Still wanting a camera that was easier to travel with than the DC3400. I soon sold the S110 and got another Cannon, this time a S330. Canon had made improvements on their white balance and color. The S330 had 3x zoom, was still small, and now took good to excellent shots. The white balance worked great if you made the manual presets, but don’t let the camera decide, because it can’t. Anyway, the whole problem was, I wanted Kodak color and richness, but in a small package. I later saw a Kodak DC3800 in the local Walmart and decided to give one a try. The 3800 came up short. The focus was soft the camera was dog slow and it did not have an optical zoom (just digital). The 3800 was soon sold.

So back to the LS443. I was waiting on Kodak to come out with a smaller sized camera with hopefully 2x or 3x zoom, 3-4megapixal in an attractive unit. The minute I saw the press release on the LS443 I knew that this was the one. Now for the real stuff, how does it perform. Like a champ!! Styling is excellent, build quality is very good (wish it was stainless instead of plastic but being light is nice). This thing is fast. Flip it on and you are ready to shoot! Controls are well-placed and very very simple to use. The LCD is nowhere near as sharp as the Canon, but far better than my DC3400. It has 2x and 4x zoom on the LCD reviews and an option to view thumbnails (very similar to the Canon S330). The 3x zoom is great and being 4megapixles is tremendous. The new German lens combined with the 4 mg really makes this thing perform. I CANNOT BELIEVE how crisp and sharp the photos are. I was initially worried because the shots appeared a bit rough on my PC when viewed through my software. However, after printing some shots and burning a DVD on my ULEAD DVD Picture Show software, the clarity, sharpness, and vibrant rich colors are unbelievable! Great job Kodak. When I played the DVD on a large screen Sony WEGA TV I was extremely pleased with the performance of the LS443. The whites are WHITE! (I shot every shot in auto mode, indoor, outdoor, low light, great light) and the exposure and white balance performed flawlessly! No more monkying with buttons and guessing which one I should use. The flash does a great job and the camera is butt simple to use. As for the Easy Share system. Love IT. Great software and the docking station is a great idea.

Now what I don’t like. The camera uses multi-media cards. That means that all of my compact flash cards are useless in this camera. Oh well, I’ll get over it. Still wish the case was stainless steel and finally: what about a camera case?? Kodak should at least offer one especially designed for the LS443.

I will do another update as I get more experience with the LS443. But for now, as a semi-novice user, who shoots a ton of pictures every year, the LS443 is a GREAT camera. PS visit the Kodak website and do some exploring. They have an exceptional section on digital photography. Kodak does a good job of helping you utilize and enjoy your digital cameras to there fullest. If you really want to enjoy your pictures try the ULEAD DVD Picture show software. TV is much more fun than photo albums.

Opinion: Let me start out by saying I am brand new to digital photography. My needs are pretty basic: I want a simple, point-and-shoot camera that lets me focus on catching the moment rather than fidgeting with the camera for the "ultimate picture".

After reading the specs and the press release here, I finally decided to purchase this camera. I am not an expert on image quality, but I can present an opinion from a novice's point of view.

First of all, the camera is stylish and well-built. The camera body is a composite of metal with some strategic use of plastic. It has a very solid feel to it, yet is lightweight enough that its easy to carry around.

After unpacking the camera, and hooking up the dock, the software install was flawless under Windows XP Pro. I turned on the camera and viola! Ready to go!

This camera lets you choose between 5 basic modes: auto, sports, night, distant landscapes, and close-up. That's simple enough even for a guy like me to understand. Probably 99% of the time I'll be working of auto mode. Putting the camera thru some test pictures, I was snapping shots of everything around the house. Try as I might, it was darn near impossible to take a bad shot with this camera. I even went so far as to turn off the lights in my office to see how it would focus on a chair in the dark. Immediately the AF assist lamp kicked in and the camera acquired correct focus- producing a nice photo of the chair even in a pitch dark room!

The only nitpick I have about the camera is the proprietary battery. Why didn't they just make the camera a tad bigger and go with standard rechargable NiMH AA's?

I can honestly say this camera takes GREAT pictures without having to fuss with controls. Is it perfect? Probably not. But neither is film-based point-and-shoot either- which is what I wanted it to replace. At least so far, it looks as if I have developed my last roll of film.

In summary, this is a well-build, high quality, easy-to-use camera that takes amazing pictures at an affordable price.

Opinion: Great camera, great buy. Kodak is getting it together.

Great choice.

Opinion: At this moment, this is the most prefect digital camera in the market, sure you will love it.