Kodak EasyShare LS443 4 Megapixel Compact Camera - Silver

First pictures were blurry. Took a few bad picture ...

Strengths: compact,easy to use,great pictures,good range on wide angle to telephoto

Weaknesses: delay between pressing shutter button and photo being taken

Summary: First pictures were blurry. Took a few bad pictures till I figured timing with the delay,now photo are as good as any 35slr camera I have ever owned.Perfect pictures up to full 20x30 in.on best setting. Action photos are excellent as is video. You must remember the delay when taking photos. After that it is a great camera. Docker and softer works flawless and easy on win xp.

Avoid this Camera

Strengths: It looks nice (I'm being generous here)

Weaknesses: Breaks easily, Poor Customer Service

Summary: So I'm using the LS443 on a trip in Japan, taking a lot of pictures. I slide it in my bag, and then pull it out again to take a snapshot. Now the camera is buzzing and giving me "Error Code E45. Consult Manual." I'm thinking the camera stripped a gear trying to open in my bag, but I call their tech support anyways to get some answers.

While I'm on hold for about 16 minutes, I chance upon this review section for the camera, and peruse it's comments. Line after line of "breaks easily" and "no customer support" suddenly dawn on me that this call will be going nowhere. And it didn't.

The guy on the phone was polite enough, but it was just as I feared. You give them the question (What does E45 mean?), they ask for your personal information, and once they have it, they tell you "it needs service." Well, DUH... what KIND of service? Response: "That is proproetary information." Translation: I don't know, I don't want to look it up, and if you knew, then you would realize that you've been had.

Their solution? Send it in for over $150 to get this thing fixed (probably just replaced with a refurbished camera) or trade in to buy ANOTHER Kodak camera. If this is all the 'help' i can get, what makes them think I want ANOTHER Kodak camera?

This camera should be avoided- it will break like a toothpick bridge science project, and you will never know what went wrong. Customer service is poor at best, and in fact, I would avoid Kodak entirely. I wasted 20 minutes of my life dealing with them I will never get back.

Take heart to this review page. The ones that give poor reviews are the REAL ones, unlike the one or two here that are posted by Kodak flunkies trying to pump up sales.

Do the right thing. Avoid Kodak.

Love the camera, easy to use so anyone can pick it ...

Strengths: Ease of use, value for cost of camera.

Weaknesses: Add-on lenses are not readily available except by internet.

Summary: Love the camera, easy to use so anyone can pick it up and take great pictures on the auto setting. Having the extra features to work with is nice to have as you become more aquainted with the camera. I bought a 128MB memory card and can get over 100 4 megapixel shots on it. Excellent choice for a first time digital camera purchase. Along with the HP psc 2210xi printer you can get great 6 color prints.

I have been waiting for digital cameras to improve ...

Strengths: Everything; camera features, construction, size, ease of use, price point for a 4MP, absolutely brilliant photo's, bought it for $449.

Weaknesses: Should have come with a camera case for this price. Buy extra batteries, Rapid Charger and a 256MB SD card and your all set.

Summary: I have been waiting for digital cameras to improve since their introduction. It was worth the wait. This 4MP Kodak LS443 is everything I have been searching for. My wife (who has problems using her cell phone) can operate this camera with ease, and I can utilize all the advanced features to take breathtaking pictures. I have been taking photos non-stop for the last 5 days and have yet to find any real weakness with this camera. I have been an avid amateur photographer for 30 years, with this camera I am going totally filmless. Great job Kodak!!!!

Have had 3 cameras within the family. All have req ...

Strengths: Menu system - ease of use - picture quality

Weaknesses: quality of construction - reliability - support

Summary: Have had 3 cameras within the family. All have required repair work within first 12 months. After three years from first purchase, all cameras have been at the repair shop at least twice and only one of the three is still operational.

My first digi cam bought for Christmas. The dock s ...

Strengths: Easy to use-

Weaknesses: Easy to have problems- Easely breakable- No real customer service- Warranty non-existant-

Summary: My first digi cam bought for Christmas. The dock station stopped responding after 2 weeks, Circuit City changed it. Went to Puerto Rico, took some pix at the beach/pool (never dropped in the sand), LS 443 locked. Sent it Kodak Service and now, it would cost $ 200.00 repair.

I guess better not take this camera when you need it and keep it in safe, dry, clean and/or indoor place assuming you have enough light to get good pix.

Warranty is a shame and this camera is for sure a waste of my and potentially your money.

This is an all in one camera. It meets all pictur ...

Strengths: Beautiful picture with just auto setting

Weaknesses: Unable to select picture size when using the 3 selectable resolutions

Summary: This is an all in one camera. It meets all picture taking needs. With the software included it makes picture taking a pleasure. Worth every penny spent. Thank You KODAK

I picked up the LS 443 last Saturday and will be r ...

Strengths: Good Price, Easy to use, Includes docking station

Weaknesses: *Very* poor picture quality, Bizarre picture color

Summary: I picked up the LS 443 last Saturday and will be returning it tomorrow. Why? In short: abysmal picture quality.

At first I thought I was using the camera incorrectly, until I found corroborating reviews. I compared its pictures to my friend’s two-year old digital camera and was astounded at how much better his pictures were. The detail and clarity in the LS443's pictures is severely lacking.

This may not be obvious when looking at an entire shot, but when you try to enlarge them you really notice the problem. There's a great review at DC Resource that really documents this problem:

www.dcresource.com/rev...

My other major fault with this camera is its picture color. The camera runs all your pictures through some kind of color process that is designed to make the colors "richer and fuller" -- but I just found that it made my subjects look like part of a surreal Disney animated film. Some pictures don't even look real.

The LS443 has a good price, and the included docking station is nice. It's a remarkably user-friendly camera, and the included software is easy too. Kodak definitely earns the "EasyShare" moniker.

Perhaps if this is a starter camera for you, and/or if ease of use is your primary concern, you'll be able to look past the poor picture quality. But I just couldn't. I bought this to replace my compact Pentax 35mm. Coming from film, I was prepared to settle for less -- just not *this* much less.

Almost 2 years ago I had owned the LS443 only a fe ...

Strengths: Very easy to use, nice auto-focus, many modes, unlimited movies with sound, light and compact

Weaknesses: HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE, CAMERA BREAKS EASILY, no case, internal 16 megs only gives you 12 pictures, no panoramic mode

Summary: 2004-05-23 11:41:03 Almost 2 years ago I had owned the LS443 only a few weeks and I gave it an excellent review, but since then my opinion has changed. My camera fell from knee-high and bent the lens. IT COST ME $175 TO FIX AT KODAK, and once you send it even if you don't want it fixed it's $40 to return it. I was not happy. My father-in-law's LS443 just broke as well by having it in the boat glove box, and my cousin's father-in-law told me the lens on his accidently opened and the motor broke trying to force it open against the wall of the case. That's 3 of 3 I know of to break.

Secondly, picture quality. I compared pictures with my brother-in-law's 3 megapixel sony (which takes 640x480 video) and the difference was night and day. His were crisp and sharp on EVERY picture. The Kodak can do this too, but I sometimes have to take the same picture 5 times to get it just right, and it really upsets me when I miss a picture. I also have problems with the flash - if you're within 7 feet or so everything is just white-washed out a lot of the time and I have to retake the picture.

I have gotten some great photos with my LS443 over the last 2 years, probably in the thousands. A lot have amazing colors and sharpness and some scenic pictures and close-ups of pets are so good I'll keep them for life. I also printed up 100 at Ofoto and you can't tell them from real photos. But it's frustrating when some pictures turn out grainy and dull for no apparent reason, or others are overexposed with the flash. Usually I miss the shot altogether or have to tell people to get back together so I can take another, which is impossible to do with my niece or my pets. While initially in this review I said I only deleted 10% of my photos, I now probably delete ~25% of the pictures I take (or more) which is just too unreliable for me.

I still like my LS443 and will use it until I can afford a better camera, but unfortunately I can no longer recommend this camera.

This is another of the various Kodak digital camer ...

Strengths: Hype and the Kodak Name

Weaknesses: A poor LCD, weak flash, and poor pictures

Summary: 2003-09-06 04:53:29 This is another of the various Kodak digital camera manufactured in China. The build quality is very good. The documentation is very good. However, there are several important elements that makes getting consistently very good to excellent digital photos difficult.

The shutter release has a very spongy feeling to it, to a degree that it is difficult to determine the 1/2 way point so that the digital camera can set the exposure, the focus, and its other "housekeeping chores that are necessary to take a picture. When reviewing the already taken digital photos, the quality and definition of the digital camera's LCD viewing screen is so poor that you cannot realistically determine the sharpness of the digital photo displayed, nor all details within the image on the viewing screen. The large data overlay on the LCD screen itself, seems to lure new users into "chopping off" heads. Likewise, the flash unit is very distance limited. As long as you are at 10 feet or less, your digital photos can be processed. Beyond 10 feet, the ability to process the digital image and produce a good digital image falls off very rapidly.

The Schneider lens does an excellent job sometimes. The User Manual is well organized, nicely laid out, and easily readable. Without a doubt, the biggest plus for most new digital camera users will be the docking station/software combination. Both the docking station and the software were easy to install and they work together flawlessly.

This camera has been rapidly superceded by the 6240 and 6440 models which are much more dependable and produce much better photo quality. So let the buyer beware.

We took nearly 300 pictures on a camping trip, eve ...

Strengths: Easy to use, Great auto settings, clear pictures

Weaknesses: None so far

Summary: We took nearly 300 pictures on a camping trip, every situation from bright sunlight to nighttime and even inside a cave. We found that the sport mode works best for active kids. The closeup mode works great. If the shutter speeed is going to be slow make sure to hold very still. The few pictures that we did not like were caused by operator error. The short videos with sound are fun also. We experianced no malfunctions or problems with our memory cards (128mb). The software is great. E-mailing pictures is extreamly easy.

I bought this camera from reading many reviews and ...

Strengths: Nice design; inexpensive

Weaknesses: Very poor pictures due to almost non-existent auto focus

Summary: I bought this camera from reading many reviews and because of its attractive price. All I was looking for was a camera that took great pictures and all the reviews I read confirmed this. The rest, like the Variogon were bonuses.

After unpacking the box it was very easy to get started. I took about 15 pictures right away of my bedroom and my baby daughter. After transferring the pics to my computer I was shocked that only one of them was in focus. Two were very marginally acceptable and the rest were garbage (we're talking so blurry you couldn't tell what was in the picture)! Many thoughts went through my head at this point, but I dismissed them thinking the settings were wrong.

I proceeded to methodically isolate the problem setting by mounting it on a tripod and changing one setting at a time, while taking the same picture over and over again. No luck. After probably a hundred pictures I gave up and contacted Kodak via email. They haven't returned a reply yet. I'm hoping they can fix it with a firmware upgrade, but I have my doubts.

On auto settings, and holding it in my hands as opposed to mounting it on a tripod, I should be able to get at least 50% decent shots. But it's more like 1 out of 10 are okay, and 1 out of 30 are sharp!

I've used several digicams and I could say with certainty that this one is the worst. Among the cameras I've used are the Canon A20, S400, and S45, and my Sony 1.5MP camcorder, which I use as my reference. I'll update this

This camera is a piece of crap and if I could go b ...

Strengths: It worked for a while. I like the review button.

Weaknesses: It broke right after my one year warranty was over. Customer Service is horrible. Viewfinder and preview aren't same. Can't see in daylight.

Summary: This camera is a piece of crap and if I could go back in time I would definitely buy a different camera. I have had this camera for a year and a half and it is now completely broken, and I do not want to spend $150 to get it fixed. My other option is to trade it in for one of two lesser reconditioned models, at the bargain of $50 off the new price. Thanks Kodak.

My camera broke due to what seems to be a defect in the design. It turns on very easily when in a case. Before the warranty was up, I emailed Kodak to complain of this problem. The response I got back (in addition to like 5 paragraphs of "we care sooo much about your comments") was merely "Regarding your camera powering on by itself, we do recommend you to take out the battery from the camera when not in use."

Not to mention that it is annoying to take the battery out every time I put the camera away, at least half the time when I actually do this, the date and time need to be reset.

Since the gears in the lens have broken, I have continued to use the camera (just have to pull the lens out myself) until recently. Sometimes the picture would end up blurry (and of course I can't tell till I see it on my computer that it's blurry!), and sometimes zooming would turn the camera off. However, now the gears are so messed up I can't just pull the lens out anymore. In addition, when I actually get it to turn on successfully, I can't see through the viewfinder, and it is in perpetual zoom. this camera was definitely not worth the $431.99 I paid for it!

Since Kodak went to such great lengths to tell me how important my feedback is to them, I replied to the emails they sent me. About 3 times. They haven't responded. One of them was regarding the fact that EasyShare doesn't work with my new computer. (I now just copy and paste from the camera instead! much easier!)

Before the camera broke, I wasn't completely satisfied with the pictures it was taking, given the price, and most of the other features either are pointless or useless. The menus are too simplistic (at least for me). I don't like the qualitative Good, Better, Best labels for image quality. I want to know the resolutions!!

Pictures at night are horrible. Even when I use a longer exposure time, I still get virtually nothing. When close enough for the flash to work, it takes pretty good pictures at night. However, even when looking through the viewfiner, it is pitch black. When someone else uses my camera they are confused by this, so I explain to them that they just have to shoot in the general direction of the subject. The AF light, however, comes in really handy here; in low light situations, you don't have to totally guess if you're close to capturing the intended subject.

Someone wrote that the flash washed people's faces out. I also found this to be true, especially when there are both caucasian and african americans in the same picture. The white faces are totally washed out, and I would even say that the black faces are as well. In fact, this happens even when white people are wearing black clothes.

Another problem I had was that when looking through the viewfinder, the area that is shown is smaller than when looking at the LCD display. When I first got my camera and I had someone take a picture of me and a few friends, he looked through the viewfinder, stepped back about 10 feet and had my friends and i squeeze together. The actual picture looks pretty silly because there we are squeezed close together and there is all this space around us. The display claims to be versatile, but on a sunny day, I can't see the pictures.

In addition to liking the AF light, I also like how there is a button you can press at any time to review the stored photos or videos; you don't have to change the camera to playback mode.

Something that I found cool, yet ultimately totally useless, is the ability to enter email addresses in the camera. You can basically tag a photo as going to a certain address.... which won't matter cuz you can't send it till you hook up to the computer anyway. If you have different addresses in the Easyshare program from the ones on your camera, you can't just merge the two lists, one list gets erased when you import the addresses.

I don't see the point in features such as being able to tag pictures with info like how many copies of that picture you are going to print out later... wouldn't you just tell the computer to print twice if you want two??

My friend has a newer version of this model, and hers is lighter and doens't turn on when she doesn't want it to. I got jipped!!

Owned this camera for over one year, sent for repa ...

Strengths: Nice looking camera

Weaknesses: fragile, worthless for quality pictures, poor customer service, expensive for its value

Summary: Owned this camera for over one year, sent for repair three times and missed many important events for relying on such a poor quality camera.

First it came with a problem and all my pictures were not clear; Second time the lent got stuck and wont return once the camera was turned off; third time camera just did not want to take pictures, all I had was a black square.

From the biginning asked for a replacement camera, and they kept sending me back the same faulty equipment.

I am looking into another digital camera, and for sure it will not be a Kodak. "Not recommended"

Kodak Failed Me. After careful research, I purcha ...

Strengths: Marketing Hype

Weaknesses: Using a 256MB SanDisk SD card, get error message “Unrecignizable file format” when trying to review large amounts of content (video and/or stills).

Summary: Kodak Failed Me. After careful research, I purchased the Kodak LS443. Everything I had read indicated it was a great value. A great value was not my experience with the Kodak LS443. First, the Kodak LS443 performs poorly, if at all, with a 256MB SD card. The LS443 paired with a 256MB SD card will fail long before the 256MB of available space is filled. But it will not indicate a problem until you try to review or “easyshare” your pictures. Only then will the message “Unrecognizable file format” be presented. Even after troubleshooting, which included reformatting the SD card, the camera’s internal memory and completely replacing the SD card, the issue remains the same. This issue can be reproduced at will by simply using a SanDisk 256MB SD card and trying to completely fill it with content (either stills, video, or a mix of both still and video). At the time of this posting, the Kodak website offers no firmware upgrade for the Kodak LS443. Kodak did not offer to replace this camera, only suggested that I send it in for repair. I don’t know what the cost would have been, as sending a month old camera in for repair was not an acceptable solution for me. I’m returning the Kodak LS443 and replacing it with a non-Kodak brand digital camera.