I've been using one since April and am very pleased with it. I've owned three other Kodaks before this one. Firmware improvements have cured some glitches (file naming, custom white balance), but the biggest improvement to image quality came with the release of PhotoDesk 3.1. It produces images straight out of the camera with more contrast and saturation. Kodak has typically processed their images from all of their cameras very conservatively. They err on the flat, low cantrast side to insure not losing saturated detail in any channel. The result is an image that looks a bit dull compared to those straight out of other cameras, but one which can stand up very well to heavy post processing to achieve exactly what you want. PhotoDesk 3.1 gives images straight out of the camera that look more like what you might expect from some of the other makes. Kodak included a few more "looks" in PhotoDesk 3.1 but for max flexibility its worth investing in the full Kodak Custom Looks software. I've seen at least one dealer giving this software away with a 14n purchase.

Kodak cameras in general take a bit more time to learn to use optimally than some of the others, but when you do the results and workflow are very nice. The majority of the complaints in reviews come from people that don't understand Kodak's methodology. For one thing, these cameras are designed to shoot raw. JPEGs are an afterthought. Shoot raw only and the camera is fast and responsive. It has a smaller buffer but will clear each image in half the time of a Canon 1Ds. Turn JPEG processing on (which is what most every new user does) and it slows to a crawl. Yes it produces noise in the dark shadows but many would argue that it records more deep shadow detail than others. You can at least see something where others would yield pure black. Unlike other cameras which need to be used similar to shooting slide film, you need to expose with the 14n as if you were shooting color neg film. Expose to be sure that critical shadow detail is captured high enough to be as clean as you want then handle highlights with post processing, pulling them back if need be with exposure compensation on the raw file.

The drivel has mostly cleared on the Kodak SLR forum at dpreview.com now and there's some helpful comments and work being posted by real users of the camera. Its worth a look to go through the last couple of weeks worth of posts there.

Bob Smith


On Thursday, July 31, 2003, at 09:15 AM, Simon Brown wrote:


It would be interesting to hear from someone who's been using one for a while now.

=============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE

Reply via email to