Kodak DX4900

Easy to use, the 4megapixel DX4900 gives great image quality.

Kodak's latest digital camera sees the company finally break the 4megapixel barrier. The DX4900 is the only camera under £500 with such a specification, and has the kind of easy-to-use features that will appeal to a novice user, while providing plenty of extra features to grow into.

However, the low cost means that some corners have been cut. The casing is similar in both look and feel to other Kodak models and, although the DX4900 does not feel particularly sturdy, it is comfortable to hold with all its buttons well positioned.

The 1.5in TFT screen is bright, but colours are not particularly striking and it is reasonably slow to respond. The viewfinder is also quite small.

Once turned on, the camera is ready to use in just four seconds. At its top resolution of 2,448 x 1,632, nine images (with minimal compression) can be stored on the included 16Mb Compact Flash (CF) card. Sadly, it cannot produce uncompressed tiffs.

The 2x optical zoom is pretty much in line with what we expect from cameras under £400, but it is a pity that Kodak didn't exploit the 4megapixel CCD sensor further in order to improve the optical zoom.

Its digital zoom of up to 3x means that you effectively get a 6x zoom when it's combined with the 4megapixel CCD sensor.

Kodak is quite proud of its Advanced Digital Zoom technology. It does improve the image quality of digitally enhanced shots, although only slightly.

Flash options are basic, with just automatic, off or red-eye. Exposure compensation is +/- 2EV and in 0.5 steps, while white balance and exposure metering options offer more than we expected. ISO can be set to 100, 200 or 400.

Image quality is impressive; colours in particular are an improvement over those you would find in models £200 dearer than this. However, at times we found the images to be a little blocky.

The lithium-ion battery is long lasting, but what really disappointed us was the absence of a docking station. A separate docking station kit costs £70.

Price: £399.99

Contact: Kodak 0870 243 0270
www.kodak.co.uk