The Kodak Easyshare C360 is a simple, no fuss digital camera. It has five megapixels and a three times optical zoom lens. With ease of use as its main attraction the Easyshare C360 is likely to appeal to anyone who is looking for a point and shoot digital camera for around £100.
Image Quality
This is the second Kodak digital camera I have reviewed and I am already noticing a pattern developing. This camera produces very strong colours, but images can be a little on the dark side away from the centre of a photo when the zoom lens is not being used.
Both of these observations can be found when looking at the scenic shots I took with the Easyshare C360. The strength of the colours is especially noticeable in the skies. In fact this camera has produced far bluer skies than the vast majority of digital cameras I have tested recently. Even a cold winter sky is given a degree of warmth. The second scenic shot shows the issue of darker edges to photos. This does occur occasionally with other cameras I test, but it is quite pronounced with the Easyshare C360.
My other comments on the scenic type shots are positive. The focusing is sharp enough without being of the highest quality. In fairness it compares well with most other entry level digital cameras. There is a reduction in sharpness as you move towards the edge of each photo, but again this is less obvious than with many of its rivals. The camera also makes a fair attempt to reveal detail in the darkest and lightest areas of each shot.
Not surprisingly I am impressed by the dedicated colour test. This underlines the strong colours the camera produces. This bodes well for all types of photo, especially landscape shots.
The outdoor portrait is another photo I am pleased with. Colours and skin tones show up well and by using the flash on a cold day the camera manages to add some warmth to the picture.
Moving indoors the camera struggles. Both of my test shots are not sharply focused. This is obviously a drawback. All you can really do to try and compensate for this weakness is to make sure any indoor or lowlight scenes are as well lit as possible.
For a camera in this price bracket the macro shot comes out well. The camera does not quite get the colouring right and this leads to a slight orangey, brown tinge to the shot. You may be able to solve this problem by working with the camera's white balance settings. This is likely to be more of an issue with jewelry shots that other types of close up photographs.
My final test is for how the camera handles higher ISO settings. You may wish to use higher ISO settings in lowlight situations. As with almost all consumer level digital cameras there is a clear reduction in picture quality when you push the camera up to ISO 400.
Shutter Lag and Recycling Times
It took we 0.30 seconds to take one photo and 6.66 to take five. The time it takes to take a single photo is an average time. The time it takes to take five photos is a fast time. It looks to me that Kodak have developed a type of buffer system that allows them to record a number of pictures quickly. After five shots the camera processes the photos you have already taken before you can take any more. Nevertheless I think on a camera for this price the buffer system works well.
You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.
Features
The three times optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 34 - 102mm in 35mm format. For close up photography the lens can focus from 5cms away from the subject. The aperture works in a range of f/2.7-5.2 (wide), f/4.6-8.0 (tele). The aperture setting is controlled by the camera. There is also a 5x digital zoom feature.
For composing photos you can choose between the optical viewfinder and a 2" LCD screen. The screen is made up of around 110,000 pixels. There has been a shift away from including viewfinders on digital cameras, so this is a plus point for the Easyshare C360.
The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 3.7m. This falls to around 2.1m when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes you can use are auto, digitally enhanced red-eye reduction, always on and off.
To add something different to a picture there are a number of colour modes you can choose from. These are high color, natural color, low color, sepia, black-and-white. When you would like to appear in the picture yourself there is a self timer. You can set the delay to either two or ten seconds.
To help you take the best possible shots the camera has a number of built in scene modes. By using a scene mode you help the camera to work out the optimum settings for the shot you are about to take. All you need to do is select the most appropriate scene. The scene modes available are scene, portrait, sport, landscape, night portrait, night landscape, snow, beach, text/document, fireworks, flower, museum/manner, self-portrait, party, children and backlight.
Up to 80 minutes of video footage can be captured. The highest resolution you can use is 640 x 480. The top recording speed is 24 frames per second. This is just below TV quality. Zoom is not available whilst recording the movie, but sound is captured.
You also have a degree of control over focusing. Although manual focusing is not available you can select continuous AF or single AF and set the focusing zone to either multiple or centre.
Among the more advanced features are white balance (auto, daylight, tungsten, fluorescent, open shade), Exposure compensation (+/-2.0 EV in 0.5 EV step increments), metering (multi-pattern AE, center-weighted AE, center-spot AE) and a burst mode (2.4 fps, maximum 5 images in any quality mode, 4 images at ISO 400/800).
Shutter speeds are automatically selected in a range from four seconds to 1/1400 seconds. There is also a feature that lets you set a longer shutter speed of up to eight seconds. This can come in handy at night and in low light.
ISO settings can either be left to the camera to select in a range from ISO 80 to ISO 160 or set manually. When selecting the ISO reating yourself you can select from the following settings ISO 80, 100, 200, 400. ISO 800 is also available, but this reduces the resolution of the photo to 1.8 megapixels.
Kodak supplies all the necessary software and cables to connect the Easyshare C360 to a television set, PictBridge compatible printer and a computer. You can also buy a Kodak printer dock that enables you to use the camera with a Kodak printer.
Ease of Use
There is nothing difficult about the Easyshare C360. I like the main control dial on the top of camera. This is easy to understand and reduces the need for lots of buttons on the back of the camera as well. The menu system is very straightforward and it is very easy to scroll through and find the option you are looking for.
Cost
You can pick up a Kodak Easyshare C360 for around £105. This compares to around £115 for a Canon Powershot A430, £115 for a Fuji Finepix A500 and £115 for an Olympus FE-130.
As you can see there is plenty of competition around and there are a number of very closely priced five megapixel cameras around. The Kodak Easyshare C360 is not perfect, but it is worth considering.
Style
The Easyshare C360 has a pleasingly simple design. The grip on the front helps you to hold it steady when you are taking a picture. In terms of build quality I felt it had a sturdier feel than many other cameras in this price bracket and there seems to be an extra touch of quality about it. It weighs in at 150g and has dimensions of 84.7 × 64.7 × 34.9mm.
Batteries and Memory Card
The camera is powered by two AA batteries. To help keep running costs down it is worth considering buying some rechargeable batteries.
With 32mb of memory built into the camera no memory card is supplied. I was able to take a respectable 40 photos with the camera before the internal memory was full. When you need to buy a memory card to go with the camera it is compatible with either SD cards or Multi Media Cards (MMC).
Click here to save money on SD cards..
Points I like:
Design
Build Quality
Ease of Use
Where it is not so hot:
Indoor photos
Summary
There is a lot to like about the Kodak Easyshare C360. It is very easy to use and the build quality appears to be a bit better than you normally find in digital cameras around this price bracket. The photographs it produces have very strong colours, but it does have a weakness indoors and in lowlight situations.
Kodak Easyshare c360 Front View
Kodak Easyshare c360 Back View
Kodak Easyshare c360 Top View
Sample Menus
| Kodak Easyshare C360 Summary |
| Description: | Five megapixels and a three times optical zoom lens |
| Ease of Use: | 9 |
| Features: | 7 |
| Colour: | 9 |
| Macro: | 8 |
| Indoors: | 6 |
| Value for Money: | 8 |
| Style: | 8 |
| Movie Mode: | 7 |
| Image Quality: | 7 |
| Build Quality: | 8 |
| Total: | 77 |
| Verdict: | "The Kodak Easyshare C360 is not perfect, but it is worth adding to your shortlist. It is very easy to use and the build quality is superior to other digital cameras around this price. It takes good outdoor shots, but tends to struggle indoors in lowlight." |
| Review Date: | March 2006 |
| Click for: | Sample Images |
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