Kodak DC280

The name Kodak has been synonymous with photography for many years, but the company is also a major force in digital cameras and has invested in this technology since the first devices began to appear three to four years ago

The DC280 is instantly recognisable as a Kodak camera with its distinctive moulded shape and buttons. It's quite bulky, but the upside of this is solid build quality. It has a few quirks, however: the delay on the power switch takes some getting used to, and the rubber flaps covering the connectivity sockets are too flimsy for our liking.

The camera can be set to provide an image of your shot straight after you'veætaken it, with the option to quickly delete it if you're not happy. However, its LCD suffers from a similar problem to the Kodak DC265's: it lacks detail and has a slow refresh rate, making it difficult to see exactly what you're shooting. In addition, the DC280 still takes AA-sized batteries. Despite the inclusion of NiMH batteries and a recharger, we'd have preferred a lithium ion solution.

The DC280 sports a more conventional design than its squarer sibling and, although it doesn't have its audio-recording capabilities, it does have a higher maximum picture resolution. However, we did miss the reassuring shutter sound that the DC265 makes when taking a picture.

The DC280 proved easy to use due to its picture-taking speed and its ability to switch between capture and review modes quickly. There are a number of manual settings available including exposure control, with flash and white balance presets as well. The camera also features a 2x optical zoom and, like the DC265, USB connectivity.

Despite a low equivalent ISO rating, the final output quality produced by the Kodak DC280 was actually very good, achieving fifth place in the overall quality rankings in Labs this month. This, its low price and a generous 20Mb of CompactFlash card make it well worth considering.