Kodak DX3500

Kodak's latest attempt to convert the masses to digital photography.

Kodak is trumpeting the DX3500 as its most user friendly digital camera to date and its claim is a strong one. The camera connects to your PC through a USB docking station, which is recognised instantly on plugging in to the PC. Coupled with the briskly installed software, you are up and running in minutes.

The only thing that delays the picture taking process is that the rechargeable batteries arrive uncharged. In fact, the batteries are something of a mixed blessing: they bring easy, automatic topping-up whenever the camera is in the docking station but they don't last long, particularly when you use the power draining colour screen.

Perhaps the most impressive feature is that you can transfer pictures from camera to PC by simply pressing a button on the docking station. The supplied software will create a directory on your PC and will transfer your pictures in to it automatically every time you push the button.

Once on your PC, the software offers a handful of options to modify pictures, with changes grouped into two helpful categories: fun effects and improvements. The helpful theme is continued with the camera itself, where the buttons are intuitively placed and ideal for ease of action in the field.

The camera takes pictures at two resolutions: 900 x 600 and 1800 x 1200 pixels. The lower resolution is fine for taking low-quality snaps for use on web pages; the higher one is more than enough for high-quality images for printing at about A4 size. The flash options are also impressive, particularly the fill-in mode, which performs well in poorly lit areas.

The 8Mb of onboard memory allows you to store 48 low-resolution and 12 high-resolution pictures. There's also a CompactFlash slot for adding more memory.

Although the DX3500 is cheap for a digital camera, it's costly in traditional camera terms and still lacks essential features, such as a zoom lens.

Contact: Kodak
0870 010 6322
www.kodak.co.uk