Kodak EasyShare C713 - My Favorite Camera

This is my third Kodak EasyShare camera. This 7 megapixel Kodak EasyShare C713 has to be my favorite so far.

I am not a camera aficionado. I just want something that is simple to use, takes good pictures and will last. The Kodak EasyShare C713 is about 5" long and about 3" wide with the lens extended. It fits easily in the palm of my hand. The control wheel on the top of the camera is easy to manipulate. Selections include standard picture taking, macro and video. Picture stabilization is also a feature of the C713.

On the back of the camera is the viewing screen. It is a little over 2" wide. This seems to give a good preview but it can be a little hard to see if in bright light or on a sunny day. For best viewing you need to go indoors or find a good shade tree.

There are controls next to viewing screen which allow you to delete pictures or switch from SD card to internal memory. This same set of controls can allow you to take pictures in black and white or sepia. There are other functions you can try. A full list is included below.

The shutter is more responsive than in the C613 that we previously owned at work. This is great when shooting sequences of clips.

The pictures themselves are clear. ISO settings offer a variety of capabilities from low light situations to bright outdoors and sunshine.

Photos are saved in a jpeg format (.jpg). This helps with uploading to websites or emailing to friends. At 7 megapixel the resolution is good for most photos. I've had good luck making enlargements up to 8 x 12 but I'm not sure you can push much beyond that size and still get a quality picture.

As with the C613 Easy Share the onboard memory is the pits. You'll only be able to take about 3-5 photos before having to offload them onto a computer. You must purchase separately a SD card. This fits easily into the slot by the batteries on the bottom of the camera.

One of our favorite features of the camera is the video mode. Don't even try to shoot a video if you haven't purchased an extra memory card. There is just not enough memory on the C713 to do that.

The videos are surprisingly good though. We use this camera at work to take clips of less than 10 minutes to upload to You Tube. A 1 Gig. card will hold just under 30 minutes of video.

Although this camera doesn't pretend to be a camcorder we've been satisfied with the quality of the video. The on board microphone picks up sound well and the video itself is clear. There are some capabilities for zoom. Just switch to video mode and click the button. You don't have to hold this down like you do on some cameras.

Interestingly enough though, recorded clips won't play the sound back when you use the video screen to preview. To hear your Quicktime movie, you must load the video onto a laptop or other computer.

Still, for the price you can't beat the camera's versatility. We paid $94.00 at Wal-Mart. The card cost us another $16.00.

Included with the camera were:
Software CD
USB Cable
Camera
Strap
Instruction Booklet
Two batteries
Docking Station Insert

Let me say something here about the batteries. Go with rechargables. In addition to saving you money, over the long haul they work better and seem to last longer. This camera seems to use a lot of battery power. Do yourself a favor. Pay the money for a rechargeable pack of batteries. You'll thank yourself later.

We have used this camera steadily over the past several months. It's easy to use. Despite having a hard life the camera still works. The Kodak durability is very impressive. It's been dropped, taken to outreach events and knocked around on my desk. The pictures are just as clear as they were on day one.

My husband is a serious amateur photographer. He has entered several competitions and usually wins. He likes a faster response time and a (complicated) broader range of lenses than this camera will support. Like him, other upper end photographers may get frustrated. It takes good pictures but this is basically a point and shoot camera with a few bells and whistles.

Our staff has used this camera with ease for everything from eBay to video to snapshots. I still feel like we are just scratching the surface of what this little camera can do. It's just been a great piece of equipment that anyone can operate.

The software that came in the package was easy to load. Slide the CD rom into your computer. In a few minutes, with only a few clicks you're on your way to making great photo memories!

Product support is available from the Kodak Website.

Kodak EasyShare C713 Specs:

Features:

Resolution: 7.0 Megapixel
Light Sensitivity: ISO 100, ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 200, ISO 80, ISO 1250, ISO auto (80-200)
Shooting Modes: Frame movie mode
Special Effects: Black & White, Sepia
Max Shutter Speed: 1/1400 sec
Min Shutter Speed: 1/2 sec
Exposure Metering: Multi-segment, center-weighted
Exposure Modes: Program, automatic
White Balance: Automatic, presets
White Balance Presets: Fluorescent, tungsten light, daylight, shade
Still Image Format: JPEG
Video Capture: QuickTime - 640 x 480 - 15 fps ¦ QuickTime - 320 x 240 - 30 fps
Digital Zoom: 5 x

Lens
Optical Zoom: 3 x
Type: Zoom lens - f/2.7-4.8
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera: 36 - 108mm
Min Focus Range: 23.6 in
Macro Focus Range: 13-70cm
Lens Aperture: F/2.7-4.8

Flash Mode
Fill-in mode, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction
Effective Flash Range: 2 ft - 12 ft

Additional Features
Self Timer Delay: 10 sec, 2 sec
Audio recording, USB 2.0 compatibility, auto power save, date/time stamp, display brightness control, PictBridge support, cropping an image, ImageLink support, blur warning