Kodak PIXPRO Friendly Zoom FZ43-RD 16MP Digital Camera with 4X Optical Zoom and 2.7" LCD Screen (Red)

Good item

Maybe I just got lucky? But it looks brand new without scratches or anything. The only thing missing was the official box. It came in a cardboard box with compartments.The battery is external so I don't have to worry about it dieing on me - I got traumatized from my first one refusing to charge, lol. Also cheaper than the similar model with internal battery, so that's a plus. Batteries are usually interchangeble in major countries so if it dies on me during a trip, I could just go to a nearby grocery shop.Ok so for the actual part of taking pics - this is a device that forces you to learn some tricks up your sleeves. Good for people who is a artist at heart that wants more than the phone pics, or a student photographer. Overall, good beginner model.UPDATE: Pic posted! Close-up with Macro function on Auto Mode. You can see the shiny flakes in certain parts + see through the clear parts. Also a bit blurry since it was taken handheld. Not perfect like expensive cams but enough for myself.

As others have mentioned, this camera will rapidly consume batteries. Just be sure to buy some rechargeable AA batteries to use with this camera (or find a very good deal on a bulk supply of alkaline cells). Otherwise, the optical quality of this camera is excellent for a point-and-shoot camera in its price range. Color rendition, optical (and digital) zoom, manual settings variety, and ease of use are all great. The battery issue is actually a plus for those searching for a good camera deal, as a small deficiency of that type will make the camera less popular with the typical user, and it will therefore be priced lower to sell off quickly.You should be able to find a great discount on new or "open box" used cameras. Mine was purchased "used, like new" and it didn't have a scratch on it.You will need to study and try out the various manual "scene" settings to get exactly the results you desire. If you make the proper setting selections, you'll create images of much higher quality than any phone camera.So, three points :1. Buy rechargeable AA batteries for this camera, or buy bulk generic alkaline packs. No Duracell etc. as they last somewhat longer, but are not justified by the much higher price.2. Stay alert for discounted units.3. Test out the many image options to acquaint yourself with the camera's capabilities for the best results. The beginning user may be disappointed with the picture quality, but only because they've chosen the wrong setting.

My old point & shoot conked out after many years of service. Using my phone without real camera features blows. I needed optical zoom & a low enough price point that if it broke, no big deal. Dug around until I found this one & I'm glad I did. Takes very good pictures for my purposes. They say this camera eats batteries but I haven't had it long enough to tell. Anyway, the one I had before did too & it was not that big of a deal. I found a cheap case at a dollar store that had a place to store a spare set of batteries & that worked out fine. The movie mode is not all that good but none of these are on these little cameras. You want a good movie, use a real camcorder. The zoom goes strangely in steps instead of a smooth transition, too.

I bought this camera to take photos for reports I produce for work. I wasn't looking for anything advanced or fancy … nothing MEGA megapixel, etc. Just a simple point and shoot that takes decent pictures. Sometimes I'm out in the field for a day or two without returning to the office, so battery life is important to me. After 7 pictures sized at 4" x 6" in the camera settings, I received the "Warning, batteries exhausted' message. I replaced the batteries, changed the size and quality of photos to lesser size and quality, put in two brand new batteries and after 9-10 random pictures, I received the same message. I took the batteries out and placed them in a similar camera and THAT camera wouldn't turn on. STAY AWAY FROM THIS CAMERA. Even at it's relatively low price, it isn't worth it. Two more things that annoyed me … even after setting the flash to "forced off", the daggum thing flashed. Additionally, it would allow me to delete only "one" picture at a time. Yes, 1! So if you don't have a computer handy to "delete all" and you NEED to, you must delete one image at a time. Overall, a pain in the neck camera that isn't worth the app. $63 I paid for it.