Kodak DX7440

I just noticed that Kodak drop the MSRP from $350 to $300 this
weekend. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this camera
yet. I was looking at the DX6440 before it came out and want to know
how it compares. I see that it is carried by more vendors now but I
still have not seen a review. Most of the sites just list the specs or
Kodak oringinal anouncement. Does a price drop this early means it is
not selling well or that a DX7540 is coming out soon. The only thing
that concerns me is the CCD is only 1/2.5".

I got the DX7440 two days ago and have taken about 100 pictures. The
camera is fast focusing. I mean really fast. The sharpness is about
the same as by DC3400. But then the DC3400 have only 2x instead of 4x.
The DX7440 also can handle contrast much better with much better
details in shadow. At 4x zoom, it is not as sharp as in wide angle but
who would expect it to be. The focus is also slower at 4x as expected.

The bad part. There is purple fringe, not too bad, but there if you
optical zoom to 4x. When I looked at sample pictures of DX6440,
DX6490, LS743, I noticed the DX6440 had the most purple fringe. I
think the DX6440, DX7440, LS743 have the same CCD. But the fringe is
less on the LS743. This may be that it have a smaller lens with only
2.8x. The 4x lens could be overloading the CCD in the 7440 and 6440 at
wide aperture. The setup for the DX6490 may be different enough to
reduce the purple fringe effect. It is not too bad but it does occur
on sunlight reflecting off cars(especially silver cars) and flash
reflecting off glasses. Most people I showed the pictures to on a 21"
monitor 1600x1200 did not noticed it until I zoom in and point it out.
At 4x, the effect is stronger. Maybe a smaller aperture may resolve
it.

There is also a fine setting now for compression. A few example, 1.50
mb vs .893 mb, 1.62 vs 1.05, .825 vs .385, 1.35 vs .793. That is at
least a 50% increase in file size. The only problem is that I cannot
see a difference. I could not see a difference in my DC3400 between
best and better setting neither. Jpeg artifacts does seem to reduce
with the file size increase. It could be they were optimized for the
standard compression.

Compare to the Canon A80 sample pictures, the A80 seem to have better
details when you zoom in. But I am not sure if they used a tripod or
not, I did not. They seem to have less jpeg artifact(when zoom in) but
they also have much larger file size. The A80 pictures from people I
know seems to support this. However, their colors or white balance
doesn't seem as good as the Kodak. They also have purple fringes and
red eyes which the Kodak doesn't have much of. I think a professional
maybe able to get a better picture from the A80, but in auto mode, the
DX7440 is better. It is also much faster. Everyone who seen this was
amazed at how little shutter lag there is without pre-focusing. This
is great for sport and kids. There is also a continuous AF mode which
would make it even faster.

Overall, this is a very good camera and the only thing that brothers
me is the purple fringe that most other didn't noticed. But since you
read this, you will notice it. I wish they would have made some
improvement over the DX6440 in the purple fringe area. I would love to
get the DX6490(or DX7490) but my wife likes the LS743 so this is a
compromise. I am happy enough with it to keep it.


(kela) wrote in message . com...
I am so tempted to buy it right now that compusa has the 128 mb card
included. Do anyone know why no sites have reviewed it?

Ron Hunter wrote in message ...
Justin Thyme wrote:
"kela" wrote in message
om...

I just noticed that Kodak drop the MSRP from $350 to $300 this
weekend. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this camera
yet. I was looking at the DX6440 before it came out and want to know
how it compares. I see that it is carried by more vendors now but I
still have not seen a review. Most of the sites just list the specs or
Kodak oringinal anouncement. Does a price drop this early means it is
not selling well or that a DX7540 is coming out soon. The only thing
that concerns me is the CCD is only 1/2.5".

I'd say the price drop is more to do with competitive pressures from other
products than with any problem of it not selling. Here in Australia, kodak
recently dropped the price of a few models to bring them back inline with
what Fuji and Olympus are offering. From what I can tell, the 7440 is
basically the 6440 with a Lithium Ion battery.


And a number of other features, such as special user definable mode
settings and optional compression settings.

kela wrote:
I got the DX7440 two days ago and have taken about 100 pictures. The
camera is fast focusing. I mean really fast. The sharpness is about
the same as by DC3400. But then the DC3400 have only 2x instead of 4x.
The DX7440 also can handle contrast much better with much better
details in shadow. At 4x zoom, it is not as sharp as in wide angle but
who would expect it to be. The focus is also slower at 4x as expected.

The bad part. There is purple fringe, not too bad, but there if you
optical zoom to 4x. When I looked at sample pictures of DX6440,
DX6490, LS743, I noticed the DX6440 had the most purple fringe. I
think the DX6440, DX7440, LS743 have the same CCD. But the fringe is
less on the LS743. This may be that it have a smaller lens with only
2.8x. The 4x lens could be overloading the CCD in the 7440 and 6440 at
wide aperture. The setup for the DX6490 may be different enough to
reduce the purple fringe effect. It is not too bad but it does occur
on sunlight reflecting off cars(especially silver cars) and flash
reflecting off glasses. Most people I showed the pictures to on a 21"
monitor 1600x1200 did not noticed it until I zoom in and point it out.
At 4x, the effect is stronger. Maybe a smaller aperture may resolve
it.

There is also a fine setting now for compression. A few example, 1.50
mb vs .893 mb, 1.62 vs 1.05, .825 vs .385, 1.35 vs .793. That is at
least a 50% increase in file size. The only problem is that I cannot
see a difference. I could not see a difference in my DC3400 between
best and better setting neither. Jpeg artifacts does seem to reduce
with the file size increase. It could be they were optimized for the
standard compression.

Compare to the Canon A80 sample pictures, the A80 seem to have better
details when you zoom in. But I am not sure if they used a tripod or
not, I did not. They seem to have less jpeg artifact(when zoom in) but
they also have much larger file size. The A80 pictures from people I
know seems to support this. However, their colors or white balance
doesn't seem as good as the Kodak. They also have purple fringes and
red eyes which the Kodak doesn't have much of. I think a professional
maybe able to get a better picture from the A80, but in auto mode, the
DX7440 is better. It is also much faster. Everyone who seen this was
amazed at how little shutter lag there is without pre-focusing. This
is great for sport and kids. There is also a continuous AF mode which
would make it even faster.

Overall, this is a very good camera and the only thing that brothers
me is the purple fringe that most other didn't noticed. But since you
read this, you will notice it. I wish they would have made some
improvement over the DX6440 in the purple fringe area. I would love to
get the DX6490(or DX7490) but my wife likes the LS743 so this is a
compromise. I am happy enough with it to keep it.



I have taken nearly 1500 pictures with my 6440 and have noticed no
problem with purple fringing. I suspect there may be some variation in
the lens, or perhaps with the way you take pictures, or the subject of
them, that makes this show up. It certainly isn't anything significant
in my experience.

Like I said, only I noticed it and you have to zoom in before others
will see it. I was trying to take pictures to make the purple fringe
show up. I was testing. After another day of testing, I really can't
see how the fine compression produce less jpeg artifact than the
standard setting. I forgot to mention all my testing used the 3:2
3.5mp setting for the file size in my last post.

Ron Hunter wrote in message ...
kela wrote:
I got the DX7440 two days ago and have taken about 100 pictures. The
camera is fast focusing. I mean really fast. The sharpness is about
the same as by DC3400. But then the DC3400 have only 2x instead of 4x.
The DX7440 also can handle contrast much better with much better
details in shadow. At 4x zoom, it is not as sharp as in wide angle but
who would expect it to be. The focus is also slower at 4x as expected.

The bad part. There is purple fringe, not too bad, but there if you
optical zoom to 4x. When I looked at sample pictures of DX6440,
DX6490, LS743, I noticed the DX6440 had the most purple fringe. I
think the DX6440, DX7440, LS743 have the same CCD. But the fringe is
less on the LS743. This may be that it have a smaller lens with only
2.8x. The 4x lens could be overloading the CCD in the 7440 and 6440 at
wide aperture. The setup for the DX6490 may be different enough to
reduce the purple fringe effect. It is not too bad but it does occur
on sunlight reflecting off cars(especially silver cars) and flash
reflecting off glasses. Most people I showed the pictures to on a 21"
monitor 1600x1200 did not noticed it until I zoom in and point it out.
At 4x, the effect is stronger. Maybe a smaller aperture may resolve
it.

There is also a fine setting now for compression. A few example, 1.50
mb vs .893 mb, 1.62 vs 1.05, .825 vs .385, 1.35 vs .793. That is at
least a 50% increase in file size. The only problem is that I cannot
see a difference. I could not see a difference in my DC3400 between
best and better setting neither. Jpeg artifacts does seem to reduce
with the file size increase. It could be they were optimized for the
standard compression.

Compare to the Canon A80 sample pictures, the A80 seem to have better
details when you zoom in. But I am not sure if they used a tripod or
not, I did not. They seem to have less jpeg artifact(when zoom in) but
they also have much larger file size. The A80 pictures from people I
know seems to support this. However, their colors or white balance
doesn't seem as good as the Kodak. They also have purple fringes and
red eyes which the Kodak doesn't have much of. I think a professional
maybe able to get a better picture from the A80, but in auto mode, the
DX7440 is better. It is also much faster. Everyone who seen this was
amazed at how little shutter lag there is without pre-focusing. This
is great for sport and kids. There is also a continuous AF mode which
would make it even faster.

Overall, this is a very good camera and the only thing that brothers
me is the purple fringe that most other didn't noticed. But since you
read this, you will notice it. I wish they would have made some
improvement over the DX6440 in the purple fringe area. I would love to
get the DX6490(or DX7490) but my wife likes the LS743 so this is a
compromise. I am happy enough with it to keep it.



I have taken nearly 1500 pictures with my 6440 and have noticed no
problem with purple fringing. I suspect there may be some variation in
the lens, or perhaps with the way you take pictures, or the subject of
them, that makes this show up. It certainly isn't anything significant
in my experience.

Like I said, only I noticed it and you have to zoom in before others
will see it. I was trying to take pictures to make the purple fringe
show up. I was testing. After another day of testing, I really can't
see how the fine compression produce less jpeg artifact than the
standard setting. I forgot to mention all my testing used the 3:2
3.5mp setting for the file size in my last post.

Ron Hunter wrote in message ...
kela wrote:
I got the DX7440 two days ago and have taken about 100 pictures. The
camera is fast focusing. I mean really fast. The sharpness is about
the same as by DC3400. But then the DC3400 have only 2x instead of 4x.
The DX7440 also can handle contrast much better with much better
details in shadow. At 4x zoom, it is not as sharp as in wide angle but
who would expect it to be. The focus is also slower at 4x as expected.

The bad part. There is purple fringe, not too bad, but there if you
optical zoom to 4x. When I looked at sample pictures of DX6440,
DX6490, LS743, I noticed the DX6440 had the most purple fringe. I
think the DX6440, DX7440, LS743 have the same CCD. But the fringe is
less on the LS743. This may be that it have a smaller lens with only
2.8x. The 4x lens could be overloading the CCD in the 7440 and 6440 at
wide aperture. The setup for the DX6490 may be different enough to
reduce the purple fringe effect. It is not too bad but it does occur
on sunlight reflecting off cars(especially silver cars) and flash
reflecting off glasses. Most people I showed the pictures to on a 21"
monitor 1600x1200 did not noticed it until I zoom in and point it out.
At 4x, the effect is stronger. Maybe a smaller aperture may resolve
it.

There is also a fine setting now for compression. A few example, 1.50
mb vs .893 mb, 1.62 vs 1.05, .825 vs .385, 1.35 vs .793. That is at
least a 50% increase in file size. The only problem is that I cannot
see a difference. I could not see a difference in my DC3400 between
best and better setting neither. Jpeg artifacts does seem to reduce
with the file size increase. It could be they were optimized for the
standard compression.

Compare to the Canon A80 sample pictures, the A80 seem to have better
details when you zoom in. But I am not sure if they used a tripod or
not, I did not. They seem to have less jpeg artifact(when zoom in) but
they also have much larger file size. The A80 pictures from people I
know seems to support this. However, their colors or white balance
doesn't seem as good as the Kodak. They also have purple fringes and
red eyes which the Kodak doesn't have much of. I think a professional
maybe able to get a better picture from the A80, but in auto mode, the
DX7440 is better. It is also much faster. Everyone who seen this was
amazed at how little shutter lag there is without pre-focusing. This
is great for sport and kids. There is also a continuous AF mode which
would make it even faster.

Overall, this is a very good camera and the only thing that brothers
me is the purple fringe that most other didn't noticed. But since you
read this, you will notice it. I wish they would have made some
improvement over the DX6440 in the purple fringe area. I would love to
get the DX6490(or DX7490) but my wife likes the LS743 so this is a
compromise. I am happy enough with it to keep it.



I have taken nearly 1500 pictures with my 6440 and have noticed no
problem with purple fringing. I suspect there may be some variation in
the lens, or perhaps with the way you take pictures, or the subject of
them, that makes this show up. It certainly isn't anything significant
in my experience.

Hey Kela,

Glad to hear about your choice, you are going to love the camera, but
interested in understanding your fringing issue.

I suspect it is related to particular pictures you may have taken which are
more than likely not the norm. Fringing is generally the result of how
lenses are handling light and it is often with bright or over exposed shots.
Is that true of yours? In any event, I am glad to share more if you like.
Your new camera should work very well for you, but if you have questions,
let me know.

Ron Baird
Eastman Kodak Company


Like I said, only I noticed it and you have to zoom in before others
will see it. I was trying to take pictures to make the purple fringe
show up. I was testing. After another day of testing, I really can't
see how the fine compression produce less jpeg artifact than the
standard setting. I forgot to mention all my testing used the 3:2
3.5mp setting for the file size in my last post.






I have taken nearly 1500 pictures with my 6440 and have noticed no
problem with purple fringing. I suspect there may be some variation in
the lens, or perhaps with the way you take pictures, or the subject of
them, that makes this show up. It certainly isn't anything significant
in my experience.

Hey Kela,

Glad to hear about your choice, you are going to love the camera, but
interested in understanding your fringing issue.

I suspect it is related to particular pictures you may have taken which are
more than likely not the norm. Fringing is generally the result of how
lenses are handling light and it is often with bright or over exposed shots.
Is that true of yours? In any event, I am glad to share more if you like.
Your new camera should work very well for you, but if you have questions,
let me know.

Ron Baird
Eastman Kodak Company


Like I said, only I noticed it and you have to zoom in before others
will see it. I was trying to take pictures to make the purple fringe
show up. I was testing. After another day of testing, I really can't
see how the fine compression produce less jpeg artifact than the
standard setting. I forgot to mention all my testing used the 3:2
3.5mp setting for the file size in my last post.






I have taken nearly 1500 pictures with my 6440 and have noticed no
problem with purple fringing. I suspect there may be some variation in
the lens, or perhaps with the way you take pictures, or the subject of
them, that makes this show up. It certainly isn't anything significant
in my experience.

Hey Kela,

Glad to hear about your choice, you are going to love the camera, but
interested in understanding your fringing issue.

I suspect it is related to particular pictures you may have taken which are
more than likely not the norm. Fringing is generally the result of how
lenses are handling light and it is often with bright or over exposed shots.
Is that true of yours? In any event, I am glad to share more if you like.
Your new camera should work very well for you, but if you have questions,
let me know.

Ron Baird
Eastman Kodak Company


Like I said, only I noticed it and you have to zoom in before others
will see it. I was trying to take pictures to make the purple fringe
show up. I was testing. After another day of testing, I really can't
see how the fine compression produce less jpeg artifact than the
standard setting. I forgot to mention all my testing used the 3:2
3.5mp setting for the file size in my last post.






I have taken nearly 1500 pictures with my 6440 and have noticed no
problem with purple fringing. I suspect there may be some variation in
the lens, or perhaps with the way you take pictures, or the subject of
them, that makes this show up. It certainly isn't anything significant
in my experience.

Geoff Newbold wrote:
I recently bought this camera from Amazon but I cannot install the software
from the cd rom. I run W98se, AMD 800 meg., 256 meg memory & plenty of drive
space.
Any help would be appreciated.

Geoff.


Perhaps we could help if you told us what happens when you try to
install it.

Greetings Geoff,

Sorry to hear that you are having trouble. Can you elaborate on what it is
specifically that is happening? I will help you get the software installed
and running correctly. Are you getting error messages? Please include the
entire sequence of events that you have experienced as they will help in
reviewing your situation.

Talk to you soon.

Ron Baird
Eastman Kodak Company





"Geoff Newbold" wrote in message
...
I recently bought this camera from Amazon but I cannot install the
software
from the cd rom. I run W98se, AMD 800 meg., 256 meg memory & plenty of
drive
space.
Any help would be appreciated.

Geoff.