Kodak DC260

Getting the pictures from the camera onto your PC can be achieved in a number of ways. Easiest of the lot is by using the USB connection - the first digital camera I've seen to support it. As long as you've got USB set up correctly, your PC will detect the camera as soon as you plug it in and prompt you to install the software from the driver disk. There is, of course, the option to connect the camera to a serial port if you don't have the benefit of USB, but it's considerably slower and not quite as slick to install. As with the DC210, the DC260 software gives you the option to install the camera so that Windows sees it as a logical drive in the Explorer window. There's also a TWAIN module for acquiring images directly from applications, and Kodak also bundles copies of Picture Easy, Adobe PhotoDeluxe and Adobe PageMill 2.

In light of Kodak's previous pricing policy for its cameras, it comes as no surprise to find that the DC260 comes with a reasonable price tag of £765. Good value for money, you might think, especially for a camera of this quality. This time, however, Olympus has beaten Kodak to it. Its C-840L may not deliver quite the same quality as the DC260, but it's a whopping £255 cheaper, just pipping Kodak to the Recommended award.

Author: Jonathan Bray