Point, shoot and save: 8 budget cameras tested

Kodak Easyshare CX4230

At first glance you could mistake the CX4230 for its cheaper cousin, the Kodak CX4200. There are slight differences in where Kodak's placed the handgrip plastic, but otherwise they seem fairly similar. Same 2.0 Megapixel CCD, same 16MB internal capacity, same capacity to work with Kodak's optional (AU$149) dock. The big difference between the two cameras however is that the CX4230 comes with an optical zoom, one of only two cameras in our roundup to have such a feature (the other is the HP Photosmart 620).

Setup of the CX4230 is identical to the other Kodak cameras, and, indeed, pretty much identical to all of the USB-connected cameras we've looked at here. Install Kodak's reasonably friendly EasyShare software, connect the camera with the provided USB cable, reboot and you're ready to go. The CX4230 uses either a supplied non-rechargeable Lithium battery or standard AA cells. Kodak rates the supplied Lithium battery as being good for up to 425 pictures. If you want to go into Kodak approved rechargeable batteries though, you'd need the Kodak camera dock, which will set you back a further AU$149.

Point, shoot and save Introduction 1. FujiFilm A202 2. FujiFilm Slimshot 3. HP Photosmart 320 4. HP Photosmart 620 5. Kodak CS4200 6. Kodak CX4230 7. Kodak CX4300 8. Logitech ClickSmart 510 Editor's choice Shooting on a budget?

Controls on the CX4230 mirror those of the cheaper 4200; a switch at the base of the lens controls power and the lens cover, the shutter button sits alone on top of the camera and a mix of buttons and a four-way button control the camera's functions. The CX4230's menu is Kodak's usual easy-to-use mix of text and icons, making it simple to pick up and use. As with the rest of the Kodak range - and, indeed, the HP range - it's child's play to mark photos for protection, print order or deletion.

Photos taken with the CX4230 were amongst the best in our tests, although we did have the all-too-common problem of improper flash timing leading to over-dark or overlit pictures in certain circumstances. The big point of appeal for the CX4230 is the 3x optical zoom that works very smoothly and allows for a greater range of pictures to be taken. There's also a 2x digital zoom facility, although as with all of the other cameras we've tested, we give very little notice to digital zoom.

At AU$399 the CX4230 represents good value for money, and just manages to edge out the very similar CX4300 to gain our Editor's Choice award for Budget Digital Cameras.

Kodak EasyShare CX4230
Company: Kodak Australia
Price: AU$399
Distributor: Selected resellers
Phone: 03 9353 2222

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I have just seen an advertisem ...Anonymous -- 24/01/04

I have just seen an advertisement for the CX4230 in a pop up when I went to the Korean Herald newspaper at http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/index.asp . It was selling there for 185000 Won which equals AU$204, half what we would pay for it. I wonder why we can't get it at that price here?

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