Samsung Digimax GX-10 Digital SLR Camera
An inexpensive, consumer-level digital SLR, the GX-10 captures well-exposed images, but our test shots weren’t very sharp.

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Can changing the name on a camera save you money? Yes, when you take thePentax K10Dand call it the Samsung GX-10 Digital SLR Camera. The former, with a 27-83mm (35mm equivalent) zoom lens sells for $800, more or less, while the latter–virtually identical   camera body and   same lens–sells for $750. Given the GX-10’s features, it’s a bargain.

A bit on the bulky side, this DSLR still feels solid and comfortable in the hand, and has controls that are well placed for productive photography. I found that my index finger and thumb fell naturally in the right places for using the two setting-selector dials (one is in front of the shutter trigger; the other is on the back of the camera where the end of your thumb rests). The   GX-10 looks and feels like it’s ready for rugged use, with a solid body and seals on its battery, media, and I/O port doors. I still wouldn’t take   it into rough weather, though, because it has no seals where the lens attaches to the body.

I found only one truly irritating feature with the GX-10’s design: The latches for the battery and SD Card media doors are small, fold-out twist locks. Turning these tiny and somewhat sharp lock tabs with my fingertips was actually painful.

In some ways, the GX-10 is a combination of old and new. Unlike nearly every other consumer DSLR currently on the market, it has no special scene modes (such as action shooting, scenic, beach and snow, portrait, and so on). On the other hand, its dedicated RAW button is unique. If you’re shooting JPEGs and want to quickly switch to a higher-quality RAW image, you simply press the button. The camera will then take the shot in both RAW and JPEG formats. Press the button a second time and you’re back to just JPEG mode.

Another enlightened feature is the stop-down button next to the shutter release (it’s actually a dial that also turns the camera on and off). In one mode, it performs the traditional function of manually stopping down the lens aperture so that you can check your focus throughout the scene (in other words, the depth of field). In the second mode, it displays a preview of your photo on the camera’s 2.5-inch color LCD by taking the shot, but not recording it to the SD Card media. It saves you the trouble of taking a series of pictures and then deleting them until you get it right.

Other highlights include a flexible system for limiting the automatic ISO’s top and bottom range; an extended automatic bracketing feature that lets you pick white balance, contrast, saturation, or sharpness as parameters (this is much more than what you get with most other DSLRs); and a multi-exposure control that lets you overlay one or more images on top of another, in camera, without overexposing the final composite photo.

Mac users will probably want to look elsewhere: The capable RAW processing and image editing applications that Samsung provides are Windows only. You can get an Adobe Photoshop plug-in (Camera Raw 4.3) that supports the RAW format, but you’ll need either Photoshop CS3 or Photoshop Elements, or an image-editing application that recognizes Photoshop plug-ins.

I was generally pleased with test shots produced by the GX-10. They were a little underexposed in many cases, but that’s fairly common with digital SLRs. Colors were accurate and nicely saturated. In shots with extreme contrast, the GX-10 did a good job of maintaining shadow details.   My one area of concern was image sharpness: Most shots, when viewed on screen at 100 percent magnification, looked noticeably softer than similar shots taken with aSony Alpha DSLR-A700and aPanasonic DMC-L10Kthat I reviewed at the same time. The PC World Test Center’s formal   evaluation had similar findings–the GX-10 ranked third from the bottom among models we’ve tested for image sharpness.

Nevertheless, the GX-10 gives you a lot for the money, even if it is a bit behind the curve in the latest DSLR technical advances. It has the same features as   some other consumer SLRs, but the controls are not nearly as extensive, flexible, and nicely designed as, say, those on the Sony A700.   Nevertheless, the GX-10   gives you a wealth of options, and as a Pentax in disguise, the selection of lenses available is relatively good.

Visit ourTop 5 SLR Cameras chartand ourCameras Info Center.

–Tracey Capen

By Courtney Dentch

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) — Eastman Kodak Co., the photography company remaking itself in the digital age, said revenue may rise as much as 2 percent this year as sales of electronic cameras and printers compensate for a drop in film demand.

Revenue was projected to rise to $10.4 billion from $10.3 billion, the average of six analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey, after a 22 percent drop in 2007. Digital camera and printer sales will increase as much as 10 percent while traditional film may fall 14 percent, Rochester, New York-based Kodak said in a statement. Shares rose in New York trading.

Chief Executive Officer Antonio Perez said today he will bring out 50 percent more digital products than last year. Demand for inkjet printers, one of the devices unveiled in 2007, may double to triple. Perez said he wants to convince investors that the four-year restructuring he concluded in December will create a lasting flow of revenue from accessories and supplies.





“He’s done a good job of fixing some bad parts,” said Rusty Robinson, president of Brentwood, Tennessee-based Robinson Investment Group, who said he is considering adding to his firm’s 24,000 shares of Kodak. “He’s going to have to accelerate getting out of the low-margin businesses. Ten-dollar ink cartridge refills is the way to go.”

Kodak rose 63 cents to $19.29 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock lost 28 percent in the past 12 months.

Forecasts

Sales for 2008 will be little-changed or rise as much as 2 percent and earnings from continuing operations will be $250 million to $275 million, the company said, without providing a per-share forecast. In 2007, Kodak posted a loss from continuing operations of $205 million, or 71 cents a share, and net income of $676 million, or $2.35 a share.

Perez has spent $3.4 billion on the transformation and cut 28,000 jobs since 2004 to focus on digital products instead of traditional film and processing supplies. Restructuring costs may reach $150 million this year, the company said Jan. 28.

Kodak plans to boost digital-product introduction by more than 50 percent from last year, Perez told investors and analysts at a meeting today in New York. That includes new additions to the inkjet line, commercial printing and digital cameras that produce clearer pictures in low light.

The company expects 70 percent of revenue and 60 percent of profit to come from digital products, Perez said. “We have a proven ability to create digital products,” he said. “We are No. 1 or No. 3 in market share in all of our businesses.”

Printer Supplies

Consumers buying Kodak’s inkjet printers are buying three times as many refill cartridges as those for competing devices, and printing twice as much, Chief Operating Officer Phil Faraci said. Revenue from the ink and supplies is forecast to match that from the hardware by 2011, he said.

While the traditional film sales will decline 12 percent to 14 percent this year, Perez said investors are underestimating the value of that business. Asia and Latin America are leading demand for paper and film products, and most television and movie production hasn’t switch to digital media.

“We are signing multi-year contracts with customers who want film products,” Perez said. “Why you don’t believe us that this business will be there for the next 10 years, I don’t know.”

Kodak cut costs in the film business last year, said Shannon Cross, an analyst with Cross Research in Livingston, New Jersey, who rates Kodak a “sell.”

“Now we’ll see how margins hold up as volume declines,” Cross said.

The photography company said today it expects to generate $400 million to $500 million in cash before dividends and other items this year, with a target of $1 billion a year by the end of 2011. Perez plans to use the money to invest in products this year, and may consider acquisitions, though he declined to name potential targets.

Kodak is rated below investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s. With the company’s progress, that may change, one investor said.

“I see Kodak as a `AAA’ company; it will be investment grade again,” said Joseph Kosinsky, president of the New York- based Joseph Kosinsky Inc. “They’ve done all the hard things.”

Kosinsky bought a stake in Kodak when the stock was trading near $24, and plans to add to his position. He declined to say how much he owns.

To contact the reporter on this story: Courtney Dentch in New York at cdentch1@bloomberg.net .