Kodak DX3500

Review The DX3500 is aimed at newcomers to digital photography and comes bundled with Kodak's new EasyShare software, which makes transferring snaps to your PC a doddle. Once they're on your system, it helps you to edit and share them.

The camera comes with a dual-purpose USB docking cradle, which both recharges the NiMH battery (though this can be replaced by AA batteries if you run out of juice on the move) and provides a simple way to download photos. Pressing the button on the cradle launches the Kodak Picture Transfer software; click Transfer Now and your pictures are downloaded and displayed in a user-friendly interface. Here you can do basic image-editing, email them or create a slideshow.

The camera itself is fairly basic, as you'd expect for a sub-£300 device, but it does the job well. Buttons and menu options are kept to a minimum - the DX3500 is as close to a point-and-shoot camera as you'll find. Picture quality is impressive for a low-cost camera, aided by the 2.2Mp (megapixel) CCD (charge-coupled device). Frustratingly there are only two quality options – best (1800x1200 pixels) and good (900x600 pixels) – so even at low resolution, you can only store about 50 pictures on the built-in 8MB memory. But the camera also has a CompactFlash slot, so you can expand the storage capacity to meet your needs.

Some key features are lacking, such as an optical zoom lens and the ability to capture video and audio. Both of these will be available on the DX3500's big brother, the DX3600, which is due out this summer and will only cost £50 more.

The DX3500 lives up to Kodak's promise of making digital photography easier and less of a daunting prospect for consumers. But its lack of advanced features may prevent it from being as popular as it could have been. ®

Info

Price: £254
Contact: 0870 243 0270
Website: www.kodak.co.uk

Specs

2.2Mp CCD
3x digital zoom
1.8in LCD
8MB internal memory
CompactFlash slot
Built-in flash
USB cradle
Rechargeable NiMH battery
Video-out

This review is taken from the August 2001 issue. All details correct at time of publication.

Copyright © 2001, IDG. All rights reserved.