Surprisingly
small, Kodak's DX6490 is a clear departure from the design
of other Kodak EasyShare cameras. Equipped with a 10X optical
zoom lens from Schneider-Kreuznach and a 4 megapixel CCD,
the DX6490 is Kodak's first camera to offer an EVF (electronic
viewfinder) and sports what nowadays can only be regarded as
a giant LCD monitor that measures 2.2 inches diagonally.
Finished in a speckled black plastic
with a rubberized grip area. the DX6490 provides a comfortable
in-hand feel, and has a very reasonable weight of approximately
400 g (14 oz).
At the top part of the grip, the Kodak DX6490 provides a dial called the Jog
Dial. The Jog Dial can be both turned and clicked like a mouse button,
and serves to select some modes and adjust the values for aperture and
shutter speeds. Directly above it a 2-stage shutter release (AF and AE
at mid-course).
Cycles through the Self-timer (10 seconds) and
the Burst mode (6 photos at 3 frames per second).
Selects the Macro mode which offers a focusing
distance of 12 to 70 cm (4.7 to 27.6 in.) in wide angle,
and 1.2 to 2.1 m (3.9 to 6.9 ft.) at the telephoto end
of the zoom; or the Landscape mode which uses a fixed,
infinity focus.
Controls the Flash modes, Auto, Fill-Flash, Red-eye Reduction,
Flash Off.
As noted at the start, the DX6490
is equipped with an electronic viewfinder. The EVF provides 180,000
pixels and a refresh rate of 28 frames per second; and a diopter
corrector is fitted on its left side. When the camera is not
used, and the EVF is active, the DX6490 turns off the EVF to
save power if the camera is not used for 15 seconds (1 minute
for the LCD monitor). 2 sensors, on the right side of the exit
pupil, are used to reactivate the EVF when the user's eye blocks
the light reaching them.
EVF or LCD monitor selection is
made with a button on the left of the EVF housing. The 2.2 inch
(55.9mm) LCD monitor occupies most of the DX6490's back, and
provides 153,000 pixels, and also has a refresh rate of 28 frames
per second.
All the other external controls of the DX6490 are organized on its right,
the most dominant being the Mode Dial with a Joystick at
its centre.
The joystick serves to navigate the
camera's menus, and make selections by pressing it in. In Playback,
the joystick can be used to change from one picture to the next
by pushing it left or right, and magnify an image currently displayed
on the screen (2X or 4X). Moreover, in Playback,
pushing the joystick up acts as a shortcut to the Playback menu
option that displays shooting parameters, and from there,
pushing the joystick up again clears the info off the screen,
while pressing the joystick in accesses the Playback menu.
The Mode Dial serves to turn on the camera by selecting the recording
mode. As the dial is turned to a particular mode, the mode lights up, making
it very easy to see, even at night, the mode in use.
Six modes are available on the
dial, besides the Off position:
Auto is for general photography.
Used in this mode, the DX6490 uses Auto ISO (between
100 and 200 ISO), and pre-selects a saturated colour
mode which can be changed. Similarly, allows exposure
compensation (±2EV in 0.3EV increments is available.
Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter
Priority, Manual: are the most advanced
shooting modes offered on the DX6490. Selection for
any one of these is made using the Jog Dial below the
shutter release.
Program is similar to Auto — the DX6490
selects aperture and shutter speed — but allows
full access to all menu options, including control
over the exposure compensation, and sensitivity (80
through 800 ISO).
Aperture Priority allows choosing the aperture
while the DX6490 picks a corresponding shutter speed.
The aperture range available depends on the zoom position,
but in wide angle, the range starts at f2.8, f3.2,
f3.6, f4, f4.5, f5, f5.6, f6.3, f7.1 and f8. With the
lens set to the maximum telephoto, the apertures start
at f3.7 and continue through f8.
Shutter Priority provides control over the
shutter speed while the camera tries to match the shutter
speed to an aperture. Shutter speeds cover from 16
seconds to 1/1000 sec.
Manual Mode: provides complete control over
both the apertures and shutter speeds, and the DX6490
indicates the resulting exposure using the exposure
compensation indicators.
Sports mode automatically controls
CCD sensitivity and maximizes shutter speed to capture
moving subjects.
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.
Video captures a movie clip with
sound. Video clips are recorded at a frame size of 320
x 240 pixels and 20 frames per second while the sound is
captured at 16 bits. The zoom is fixed at the starting
position during recording, but white balance and exposure
are adjusted as the recording progresses. The maximum recording
time is determined by the memory capacity in use, or can
be set to a predetermined length. Video clips are recorded
in QuickTime format (.MOV). Worth noting, the DX6490 plays
back the sound recorded with movies very clearly.
Five other buttons are on the back of the DX6490, 2 are above the Mode
Dial, and 3 below. The 2 above the dial are for:
The Status button controls the amount of information
displayed on the LCD monitor or the EVF.
Pressing the Share button forces the camera to
enter the Review mode (Playback) and presents a special
menu that works in conjunction with Kodak's EasyShare software (included),
and which opens on the Print option but offers
additional settings:
Print: selects the photo currently displayed for
printing and the quantity of prints to make of it, while
other photos can be selected by pushing the joystick to the
right or left.
Print All: selects all images for printing.
Cancel Prints: cancels all printing.
E-mail: allows marking an image as one to be sent
to a specific e-mail address. Up to 32 e-mail addresses can
be stored in the camera's internal memory.
Favorite: marks the photo as one to be transferred
to the Favorites folder on a computer.
The remaining 3 buttons below the
Mode Dial provide
is to remove unwanted images. A photo can be deleted
immediately after capture; or one or all photos can be
deleted when the camera is in playback mode.
calls up the menu available for the Mode in use. The
P/A/S/M menu is the most extensive, others are shorter,
but all provide an access to the DX6490's Setup menu.
enters the Playback mode. Worth noting, the Playback
mode can be entered directly when the camera is powered
off by holding the review button while turning
the Mode dial to any recording mode, preventing the lens
from extending.
The DX6490, while
having much in common with other EasyShare cameras, is probably
the most advanced of the series to date. The controls are generally
accessible, with the possible exception of the 3 buttons below
the Mode Dial which are a bit too clustered, and which might
have been a bit easier to press if they had a greater separation
between them.
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Ergonomics
Surprisingly
small, Kodak's DX6490 is a clear departure from the design
of other Kodak EasyShare cameras. Equipped with a 10X optical
zoom lens from Schneider-Kreuznach and a 4 megapixel CCD,
the DX6490 is Kodak's first camera to offer an EVF (electronic
viewfinder) and sports what nowadays can only be regarded as
a giant LCD monitor that measures 2.2 inches diagonally. 
