Product: Kodak EasyShare DX7440 Price: $2,690 Pros: Ergonomic design Cons: None of significance
Product: Kodak EasyShare CX7530 Price: $2,490 Pros: Five megapixels, easy to operate Cons: Cheap-feeling plastic housing
Product: Kodak EasyShare CX7330 Price: $1,490 Pros: Cheap, takes reasonable pictures Cons: Three megapixels is so last year
The digital age has not been kind to Eastman Kodak, the company that put the first true point-and-shoot camera into consumers' hands.
Don't get me wrong - Kodak cameras are not bad. The company has recently launched three new models and all three produce images that are fairly sharp and natural in colour. But compared with the metallic artwork of the Canon IXUS series or the signature sliding covers on Olympus cameras, Kodak's bland snappers can be a tad boring.
Hopefully, the new four-megapixel DX7440 is indicative of a new direction the company is taking. Like its six-megapixel younger brother the DX7630, it is more ergonomically designed, with an SLR-like grip and a shutter button right where the index finger falls. Combined with a large 2.2-inch LCD display, it makes for a camera that is easier on the hands and the eyes.
The DX7440 uses a 4x optical zoom lens from German optics designer Schneider-Kreuznach. It has a slightly wider aperture than the more generic Kodak Retinar lenses and a faster shutter, but for most users the image improvement is probably not as evident as Kodak would like it to be.