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Kodak DC4800 Zoom Kodak's first true 3 megapixel consumer camera has excellent color and *amazing* low-light capability! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet DC4800 Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on DC4800 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Image Storage & Interface :(Previous) | (Next): Test Results & Conclusion>> Page 11:Video, Power, Software Review First Posted: 7/31/2000

Video Out
US and Japanese models of the DC4800 ship with an NTSC video cable for connecting the camera to a television set, while European models ship with the appropriate PAL cable (the video out setting is adjustable to NTSC or PAL through the Setup menu). By connecting to a television set, you can use the larger screen for composing and playing back images. You also have the option of recording images to video tape by connecting a VCR. The Power Save setting in the Setup menu lets you decide whether or not the LCD monitor will be active along with the television set. For lower battery consumption, we recommend keeping the LCD monitor off when using the video output.


Power
The DC4800 utilizes a lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack for power, and is shipped with one battery. An AC adapter also comes with the camera and allows you to charge the battery in-camera by simply attaching the adapter and plugging it in (the camera must be shut off for the battery to charge). A completely spent battery should take about four hours to charge in the camera. Faster, one hour charging can be done with the accessory battery charger, sold separately by Kodak. A very useful feature we found on the DC4800 is the Power Save option in the Setup menu. By setting the Power Save to On, Standard or Off, you can optimize the camera's power consumption. For example, the On setting slows down the preview frame rate, lowers the LCD brightness, turns off the slide show loop, does not allow the LCD monitor to be active while connected to a television set, and turns off the automatic quick view function. At the opposite extreme, the Off setting increases the preview frame rate, sets the LCD brightness to high, allows the slide show to loop five times, allows the LCD monitor to be active in conjunction with the television set, and activates the automatic quick view function.

You can also save power by turning the LCD monitor off while composing images. Since the top panel status display window shows the majority of the camera settings, there's really no need to keep the LCD running if you're not using it for any other purpose (especially since relatively little operating information is shown on the LCD screen).

The table below shows the amount of power consumption for a variety of operating modes and functions.

Operating Mode	Power Drain
Capture Mode, w/LCD	950 mA
Capture Mode, no LCD	190 mA
Half-pressed shutter w/LCD	950 mA
Half-pressed w/o LCD	440 mA
Memory Write (transient)	640 mA
Flash Recharge (transient)	800 mA
Image Playback	570 mA

In our tests, the DC4800 showed fairly high power consumption, particularly relative to the capacity of its 3.7 volt, 1100 mAh Li-Ion rechargeable battery. These small Li-Ion batteries are becoming quite popular with digicam manufacturers, but they simply don't pack the punch of a set of four high-capacity NiMH AA cells. Comparing the Li-Ion cell in the DC4800 with 1500 mAh AA cells, we find a total energy capacity of 4.07 watt-hours (3.7 volts x 1.1 amp-hours), as compared to 7.2 watt-hours for the NiMH cells. This is a very significant difference, and the DC4800 is far from a low-power camera to boot. You also need to take into consideration that the power numbers shown in the table above are measured with 5 volts applied to the external power jack: When the applied voltage is brought down to closer to the operating voltage of the battery, current drain easily soars over 1000 ma As a result, the DC4800 doesn't have a terribly long battery life. We always advise buying an extra battery pack with any digicam, but especially recommend doing so with the DC4800. Also, minimizing your use of the LCD display can pay especially large dividends here.


Included Software
A USB cable is packaged with the DC4800, for quick connection to a PC or Mac. Also included with the camera is a software CD containing Kodak's Digital Camera Software and Pictures Now, compatible with Windows 98 and 2000, as well as Macintosh OS 8.6 or higher. The Kodak software simply allows you to download and organize images, as well as access the camera to change settings. You can also pull up the image information screen for each image, to see the exposure settings, date, time, filename and directory. Pictures Now allows you to set up images for printing on all of the available Kodak photo papers for Inkjet printers.

At the time of our testing, the DC4800's final software disk wasn't ready yet, so we weren't able to measure download timing from the camera to a host computer. Given that it uses the USB interface though, we're confident that downloads will be pretty fast. (On the order of several hundred kilobytes per second.)