Newly
introduced into Kodak's EasyShare camera line, the DX6440 is equipped
with a 4 megapixel CCD and a 4X Schneider-Kreuznach zoom lens.
The front and back of the DX6440's body is covered in a champagne colour
brushed metal while the rest of the body is a silver-grey plastic, providing
an impeccable finish.
The
Kodak DX6440 is an average size compact camera and weighs approximately
220 gr. (7.8oz) with both batteries and card.
The exterior design is relatively simple providing lots of space between
its controls which are positioned on the top and back of the camera.
On top, the DX 6440 provides a chromed 2-stage shutter release with a
speaker to its left. Near the back edge, 2 small buttons provide for:
the Self-timer
(10 seconds) and the Burst mode (6 photos at 3 frames per second).
Flash Info serves
to choose flash modes (fill-flash, red-eye reduction, flash off,
auto-flash).
On
the back of the DX6440, a small but useable optical viewfinder is fitted
into the upper left. The viewfinder provides markings for the AF area,
and is equipped with a diopter correction.
An LED is positioned to the left of the exit pupil. It indicates autofocus
with a steady green, and camera operations and flash charging by blinking
orange.
The delete
button is located immediately below the viewfinder, and serves to erase
a photo immediately post capture, or delete images in Playback.
The
most important control on the DX6440's back is the Mode Dial with the
joystick at its centre that is used for menu navigation, and the
confirmation of selections made there when pressed in. Moreover, one position
of the Mode Dial also serves to turn Off the DX6440.
The joystick at the centre of the Mode Dial provides some additional functions:
it
turns On or Off the LCD monitor;
allows
magnifying an image in Playback (2X or 4X);
displays
a screen with 9 thumbnails of the photos stored on the camera in Playback;
and
allows starting and stopping the playback of a video clip when pushed
to the left and right, and controls the playback volume when moved
towards the top or bottom.
The last button
on the left side of the DX6440's back is red, and labelled share.
It can be used at any time to call up a short menu which is overlaid
on the photos stored in the camera. The menu provides a number of options:
Print:
to select a specific image for later printing.
Print
All: to mark all images for printing.
Cancel
Prints: to remove all print settings.
E-mail:
to select one or more images that will be e-mailed to a list of contacts
(with their e-mail addresses) that has previously been imported into
the camera.
Favorite:
which marks the image for automatic transfer when the DX6440 is placed
in its dock, or connected to a computer.
The Mode Dial
has 8 positions in addition to the Off, 7 of these placed on one side
of the Off setting of the dial:
Auto is the simplest mode. The DX6440 decides all settings
for exposure, and automatically sets the flash mode to Auto. The
flash modes however can be changed. In this mode metering and white
balance are automatically selected by the camera, but the user has
control over exposure compensation (±2EV in 0.5 EV increments).
Sports mode is to capture moving subjects with the highest
shutter speed possible.
Portrait
mode uses a large aperture to capture the subject clearly and slightly
blur the background. The effect is more noticeable if the zoom is
used.
Night mode sets the flash to slow synch and uses a low shutter
speed so as to capture the foreground and background clearly at
night.
Landscape
mode forces the focus to infinity and cancels the flash, although
the flash modes remain available.
Close-up mode allows the camera to focus on a subject from
10 to 60 cm (4 to 24 in.) distant while the camera is set to wide
angle. At the telephoto position focus can be achieved on a subject
25 to 85 cm (9.8 to 33.5 in.) from the front of the lens.
Program,
Aperture Priority, or Shutter Priority, all of which
allow control over exposure compensation directly on the screen
using the joystick:
Program
mode lets the DX 6440 control the selection of both aperture
and shutter speed, but gives the user control over white balance,
metering, focus zone and ISO setting.
Aperture
Priority allows choosing the aperture while the DX6440 picks
a corresponding shutter speed. The aperture range available
depends on the zoom position, but in wide angle, the range is
f2.2, f2.4, f2.8, f3.4, f4, f4.8 and f5.6. With the lens set
to the maximum telephoto, the apertures become f4.8, f5.6, f6.7,
f8, f9.5, f11 and f13.
Shutter
Priority provides control over the shutter speed (from 4
seconds to 1/2000 sec) while the camera matches it to an aperture.
Set
by itself on the other side of the Off position, the Movie mode offers:
Video
clips with sound are recorded at a frame size of 320 x 240 pixels
at 15 frames per second. The zoom is fixed at the starting position
during recording, but white balance and exposure are adjusted dynamically.
The maximum recording time is determined by the memory capacity
in use.
To the right of the 1.5
inch LCD monitor and embedded into the upper ridge of the camera's back
is the zoom control. Unlike many other digital cameras, the zoom control
serves no additional function and simply controls the focal length.
Two
more buttons are placed near the bottom of the camera, menu,
which calls up either the menu appropriate to the recording mode in use,
or the playback menu options.
Last, the review
button places the camera in Playback mode. To operate, the camera needs
to be On, with its lens extended. The review
button will not turn on the DX6440 by itself. When active, pressing the
button a second time returns the DX6440 to the shooting mode.
The
DX6440 is retailed with an accessory common to all of Kodak's EasyShare
cameras, a plastic insert designed for use with the optional docking station.
The camera dock is connected to a computer via USB and powered by household
current. When the camera is placed on it, connecting through a special
connector underneath it, the photos can be automatically transferred from
camera to computer.
The
optional camera dock includes a Ni-MH battery pack for DX 6000 series
cameras, and the battery pack can be recharged while the camera is on
the dock.
The
ergonomics of the DX6440 make it an easy camera to use as its controls
are well placed. Only the placement of the Off switch on the Mode Dial
is not quite ideal, particularly since it is positioned between the
Movie and the other shooting modes.
