Sample Images for the
Kodak DX3215 Digital Cameras
| I've begun including links in our reviews to a Thumber-generated index page for our test shots. The Thumber data includes a host of information on the images, including shutter speed, ISO setting, compression setting, etc. Rather than clutter the page below with *all* that detail, I'm posting the Thumber index so only those interested in the information need wade through it! |
| Outdoor Portrait:
The extreme tonal range of this image makes it a tough shot for many digicams, which is precisely why I set it up this way. The object is to hold highlight and shadow detail without producing a "flat" picture with muddy colors, and the DX3215 did a surprisingly good job, especially considering its lack of exposure adjustments. Midtones are about right, and the camera loses only a little detail in the highlights. Overall color looks very good, and the blue flowers are nearly accurate with only the faintest purple tints at the edges of the petals. (This blue is difficult for many digicams to reproduce correctly.) Skin tones also look good. Resolution is moderate, about what I'd expect from a 1.3-megapixel camera, though details are somewhat soft. The shadow areas show good detail, with moderately low noise. Overall, a surprisingly good performance from such a basic digicam. |
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Overall results are similar to the wider shot above, though the 2x zoom lens distorts the model's features just a little. (You generally need a slight telephoto to avoid a "chipmunk" look in close portraits like this, and the DX3215's 60mm equivalent focal length at maximum zoom doesn't quite do the job. Not bad though, much better than no zoom at all!) Marti's face and hair show more detail than in the wider shot, but details are again slightly soft. The shadow areas show good detail, with moderate noise. Exposure is slightly darker than the wider portrait, possibly in response to the high contrast lighting, but it's within the acceptable range. Midtones are a little dark, but the highlights are in check. |
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Bright intensity and good color, though a blue cast on the model. The DX3215's flash illuminates the subject well, with a bright exposure.
Overall color is about right, though there's a blue cast on the model
from the flash. I usually notice a slight orange cast on the back wall
from the incandescent lighting, but the DX3215 appears to have handled
this small challenge quite well. Again, a surprisingly good performance
on a shot that's often difficult for much more advanced cameras. |
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This shot is always a very tough test of a camera's white balance capability, given the strong, yellow cast of the household incandescent bulbs used for the lighting. (I shoot this test because many digicams have trouble with this lighting, but it's a very common light source for amateur photographers and snapshooters.) The DX3215's automatically-controlled white balance system produces a warm, greenish cast in response to the incandescent lighting. Still, overall color isn't too bad, better than that from a few much more expensive/complex cameras. Exposure is a little dark, which likely emphasizes the warm cast. Though the blue flowers are very dark (a common problem with this shot), skin tones look pretty good. Noise is moderately high throughout the frame, and image details are soft. Still, a respectable job considering the lack of exposure adjustments on the DX3215.. |
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Quite soft, but good color. The DX3215's white balance system produced nearly accurate color in this shot, though the white value around the bay window has a slight magenta tint. Exposure is bright and accurate. Resolution is rather low, though you can make out a reasonable amount of fine detail in the tree limbs and shrubbery. This shot is quite a bit softer than more distant ones shot outdoors, leading me to conclude that the camera's near-field performance is somewhat lacking. (Before anyone asks though, I did double-check, to make sure that I was comfortably outside the minimum focusing distance for the lens.) The left side of the frame is much softer than the rest of the frame, and there's significant corner softness in all four corners. |
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This image is shot at infinity to test far-field lens performance. NOTE that this image cannot be directly compared to the other "house" shot, which is a poster, shot in the studio. The rendering of detail in the poster will be very different than in this shot, and color values (and even the presence or absence of leaves on the trees!) will vary in this subject as the seasons progress. In general though, you can evaluate detail in the bricks, shingles and window detail, and in the tree branches against the sky. Compression artifacts are most likely to show in the trim along the edge of the roof, in the bricks, or in the relatively "flat" areas in the windows. This is my ultimate "resolution shot," given the infinite range of detail in a natural scene like this. The DX3215 captures good detail throughout the frame, with decent sharpness. Fine detail in the tree limbs and shrubbery is a little soft, but sharp enough to define most of the details. All four corners are somewhat soft, with increased softness along the left side of the frame. The camera loses all but the strongest details in the strong highlights of the front bay window, showing a limited dynamic range. The shadow areas fare only slightly better, as the brick pattern above the front door is more distinct. Image noise is moderately high in the shadow areas, and a low level is visible in the brick pattern and roof shingles. Overall color looks good, with nearly accurate saturation. |
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Lens Zoom Range Typical 2x zoom, digital zoom softens details. I routinely shoot this series of images to show the field of view for each camera, with the lens at full wide angle, at maximum telephoto (2x, in this case), and at full telephoto with the digital zoom enabled. The DX3215's lens is equivalent to a 30-60mm zoom on a 35mm camera. Unfortunately, I forgot to snap the wide angle shot(!), but here are the results at telephoto and digital telephoto.
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Overall good color and detail. The large amount of blue in the composition of this shot often tricks digicams into producing warm images here. However, the DX3215's automatic white balance system handled the challenge well, and produced nearly accurate color. The blue background has a slight reddish tint, but skin tones look pretty good. The blue robe looks about right, though with purplish tints in the deep shadow areas (this is another tough blue for many digicams to get right). Resolution is moderate, with a reasonable level of detail visible in the embroidery of the blue robe as well as in the flower garland. Details are very soft in the corners of the frame, as well as along the entire left side of the image. |
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Below-average macro performance. Macro shooting is one area where the DX3215 reveals its "basic point & shoot" roots - It captures a much larger than average minimum area of 7.3 x 5.5 inches (186 x 140 mm). Detail is only moderate. The flash throttles down very well for shooting up close, but its illumination is quite off-center. Probably not the camera to get if you need to photograph coins or stamps for eBay.. |
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Good color, but somewhat overexposed. The DX3215 produced good color here, with an accurate white value in the mini-resolution target. The exposure is rather bright, but the camera just barely picks up all of the subtle tonal variations of the pastel patches on the Q60 target (the "B" range is faintly visible). The entire image appears soft, with increased softness along the left side of the frame. - This is consistent with several other studio shots, apparently due to the DX3215's limited focusing range and poor near-field optical performance. The large color blocks are quite accurate, but saturation is a little low, most likely a result of the overexposure. The shadow area of the charcoal briquettes shows a moderate level of detail, with moderate noise. |
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Low-Light Tests Not sensitive enough even for city street lighting. The DX3215 doesn't fare too well in the low-light shooting category, as the camera captured bright, clear images at light levels only as low as eight foot-candles (88 lux). The target remained visible at the four foot-candle (44 lux) light level, but the image was rather dim (though you could arguably lighten it afterward on the computer). Average city street lighting at night is equivalent to about one foot-candle, so night exposures will definitely require the built-in flash. Color looks good, and noise is minimal. The table below shows the best exposure I was able to obtain for each of a range of illumination levels. Images in this table (like all sample photos) are untouched, exactly as they came from the camera.
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Flash Range Test Flash is effective as far as 14 feet, but intensity dims after 10 feet. The DX3215's flash remained usable as far as 14 feet from the test target, with the brightest intensity from eight to 10 feet. Intensity dropped with each foot of distance past 10 feet, so I'd rate it as having that range, although you could stretch it a bit beyond that with a little work on the computer afterward. Below is our flash range series, with distances from eight to 14 feet from the target.
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ISO-12233 (WG-18) Resolution Test
The DX3215 performed a bit below average for its class on the "laboratory" resolution test chart. It started showing artifacts in the test patterns at resolutions as low as 350 lines per picture height horizontally, and around 400 lines vertically. I found "strong detail" out to at least 600 lines. "Extinction" of the target patterns occurred at about 700 lines. Optical distortion on the DX3215 was a little below average at the wide-angle end, where I measured a 0.54 percent barrel distortion. The telephoto end fared much better, showing less than a pixel of pincushion distortion. Chromatic aberration is low, showing only about two pixels of very light coloration on either side of the target lines. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.) The most evident distortion I noticed was some slight corner softness in a few shots, strongest on the left side of the frame. Resolution Series, Wide Angle
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Viewfinder Accuracy/Flash Uniformity An accurate LCD monitor, but (very) inconsistent optical viewfinder. The DX3215's optical viewfinder was very tight at the wide-angle end, where I measured an approximate 71 percent frame accuracy. However, at the telephoto end, the viewfinder was a little "loose," as the top line of measurement wound up outside of the frame. - I view this sort of variation in framing accuracy as the lens is zoomed to be a problem for effective use of the camera, since you'll always be left guessing what the camera is actually "seeing." The LCD monitor was much more accurate, showing approximately 92 percent frame accuracy at both wide-angle and telephoto. Given that I generally prefer LCD monitors to be as close to 100 percent accuracy as possible, the DX3215 performs well in that respect, but still has some room for improvement. Flash illumination at wide angle is very dim, with strong falloff at the edges and corners of the frame. At telephoto, flash distribution is more even, though intensity is slightly dim, with very slight falloff in the corners.
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