It's no secret that digital cameras have gotten a lot more sophisticated over the years. It used to be that even three or four Megapixels meant a hefty price tag that left many casual photographers leaving the more advanced cameras for professionals. Now though, it's possible to get a relatively high number of megapixels in an affordable camera. This is demonstrated by the new EasyShare C743 digital camera from Kodak. The EasyShare C743 comes with an impressive seven point one megapixels for a price tag of less than one hundred and sixty dollars. Unfortunately, while the number of megapixels the EasyShare C743's CCD sensor is capable of capturing and an optical zoom of three times are impressive, there are a number of problems with this model the reflect the low retail cost. For example, the built in LCD screen- while ample in size at two point four inches- is fuzzy with a resolution of only one hundred and twelve thousand pixels. Another common complaint about this model is that the flash is insubstantial and that in general the EasyShare C743 doesn't do a good job of taking pictures at lower light levels. The EasyShare C743 also has problems with contrast- some parts of the picture tend to be over exposed and other parts aren't well enough emphasized in many levels of light.



Some reviewers complain that this camera doesn't have a very stylish look or feel. These criticisms include the fact that the casing is blocky and that the plastic that it's made out of feels cheap. While the EasyShare C743 may look a lot like a cheap point and shoot camera, in some ways adhering to newer trends in digital camera design can be a good thing. For example, in an era when many newer digital cameras are forgoing an optical viewfinder in favor of forcing their owners to just use the built in LCD screen to take pictures, the C743 still has an optical view finder. This is a good thing because it makes the camera more versatile. Even though the view finder doesn't encompass the entire field of view that will be captured through the lens, it will function much better in circumstances where glare makes the LCD screen unreadable and can be used in place of the LCD screen to save power. While this may obviously lead to having things included at the edges of the picture that you don't want there, that's what the "crop" function on photo editing programs on your computer are for.

Despite all of the various negative marks against this camera, it still does have a number of attractive features. For example it works well with the EasyShare printer docks that Kodak also makes. It also has a pretty good video record function that can store video in the compact and high quality MPEG-4 video compression format.

If nothing else, this camera is a good reminder that when highly attractive features are put into lower priced products, sacrifices have to be made in order to get them down to that price. That said, the EasyShare C743 from Kodak is a good way to get an affordable digital camera with some higher end features.