Kodak has unveiled its Kodak EasyShare DX6490 zoom digital camera,a 4 megapixel digital camera that features a Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 10X optical zoom lens (38-380 mm equivalent) with a f/2.8 – f/3.7 maximum aperture; a new Kodak Color Science image processing chip; low-light precision auto focusing; a 2.2" LCD, multiple shooting modes, and its , which was introduced earlier this month. The DX6490 will be available worldwide beginning in September for $500.

With Kodak's integration of the Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 10X optical zoom lens, the Kodak Color Science image processing chip, and intelligent matrix metering, photographers using Kodak's new camera can achieve portraits with edge-to-edge sharpness and brightness, rich color, and highly accurate exposure, which Kodak says is typically associated with high-end digital SLRs.





The DX6490 camera features a dual-speed zoom control to drive the lens from 1X to 10X in just two seconds; users can further extend the total magnification up to 30X using the 3x Advanced Digital Zoom technology. The DX6490 camera offers fully manual controls, permitting independent aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, ISO equivalent and other settings; it also features aperture and shutter priority modes, as well as sport, portrait, night, landscape, macro and automatic program modes.




The DX6490 also features saturated, neutral, black-and-white and sepia color modes and a new hybrid, low-light precision auto-focus system. In addition, the camera is equipped with an external flash synch — capable of synching at any shutter speed — for illumination of subjects beyond the 16-foot pop-up flash range.

Using the high-resolution TTL electronic viewfinder (EVF) with diopter, as well as a large, 2.2-inch high-resolution indoor/outdoor LCD screen, photographers can preview shots or review pictures stored in 16MB internal memory or on optional SD/MMC cards. Kodak says the EVF shows control settings superimposed over the scene and also eliminates parallax while presenting a nearly 100 percent field of view.



A new album feature, used in conjunction with Kodak EasyShare 3 software, enables organization of pictures right on the camera. Additional features include joystick and jog-dial controls for rapid control access, easy-to-read menu options and the ability to record and play back continuous digital video with audio.



Included with the DX6490 is the Kodak EasyShare camera dock 6000, which provides one-touch picture transfer to a connected PC and also charges the camera's lithium-ion battery in under three hours.



The company press release notes it will be available in September, while its Website says October.

by MacNN Staff