I have been an advocate of "card readers" for years.  The ones I currently have hooked up to each 'puter are Sandisk ImageMate 12-in-1 - they are 25.95 at Amazon. 

I have several different cameras -- some use SD cards - some use CF cards.  Sometimes clients bring their cameras to the office with photos they have taken -- no matter what kind of camera, or what kind of memory card, I just take out the memory card, pop in into the appropriate slot in the reader -- and use Windows File Explorer to copy the images to a folder on the 'puter.  Then I open the images with either Photoshop, BreezeBrowser or Picasa.

One compliant I have with the Kodak 705 is that the hinge for the little door to the memory card compartment is very flimsy.  But I have been handling it carefully, and so far it is still intact.

And those small capacity memory cards that came with your camera.... once you have a card reader you can use those cards to copy/backup word processing files, spreadsheets, data files ... whatever.  You just stick them in your card reader and use them like you would a floppy disk.

I've been watching and studying this camera since Ines  blogged about it.  Thank you for your contribution.  I appreciate it.

James, are you happy with the images?

Sue, Yes I am very pleased with the images. I can't speak highly enough about the camera. I bought another digital about three years ago and this one is 10 times better at one third of the price. One note: I use a monopod for both stability and as a composure device. It would have been great if they had put as much energy into the design of their software as they did the camera. I would still encourage people to buy the camera just use different software.

Hey James - I love my v705 so far.  I have not used the software that came with it either.  I didn't even try it - after reading this I won't bother either.  I was annoyed that the owner's manual was so tiny. To use any of the advanced features you either have to use the on camera help features or go to the kodak site and read the tutorials.  I have got to get a hard copy of the whole manual.  I find that in between shoots I've forgotten where some of the features are and have to keep running back to my computer to look them up.  Other than that I love the camera. 

I too love my V570 and I agree the Kodak software isn't the greatest. I am however concerned about opening the cover to the memory card slot more than absolutely necessary since it seems extra flimsy. 

James, my card pops right into my tower and viola. Doesn't yours?

Sheron ... two of our 'puters at the office have the assorted media reader slots and it's great.  The other 'puters don't and we make do with the USB card readers. 

Gotta love the USB card readers - I get agents all the time wanting assistance with downloading photos - nowdays I just hand them the card reader spend a few minutes getting them started and I am back to what I was doing.  What a great tool!

Dave

I agree about the flimsy cover issue. They supposedly make a USB cable connection but I do not know if it bypassed the Kodak software like simply putting the card into the computer of using a converter as I am suggesting.

James -- No, Kodak made the import process proprietary to their software... read this from Picasa's help file so if you use the Kodak's camera-to-computer cable you're stuck with the Kodak software.  If you take the memory card out, you can work the way you want. 

Interesting to note:  The Kodak 610 (the one without the ultawide lens) has a sensible sturdy memory card compartment door at the bottom of the camera.  For the life of me, I can't figure why they moved it on the 705 and 570.  There's plenty of room there at the bottom.

James, good post!  I'm interested in how the wide angle pics come out.  Say you're in a small house where a regular camera doesn't do a room any justice.  Does the wide angle lens take a good pic of smaller rooms where a regular lens wouldn't??  Didn't know if you knew the answer to this question or not, but thought I'd ask!  Thanks James!

Christopher here is a shot of a small living room. The wide angle really makes a difference.

Cheryl-Thanks for the heads up on that.

Okay, I'm sold!  Hey, you don't work for Kodak do you???? (LOL)

Hi James - Have heard so many gret things about this camera - it was on sale LAST week at office max!  My son will have to do the cable stuff - smile!  Thank you!

Christopher....well no I don't work for them and with me trashing their software it is unlikely they will start sending me commission checks but I am always open.......

 Margaret, make sure you read Cheryl Johnson's comment above..seems the cable thing does not solve the problem so you will need to pull out the SD card and either insert it into an SD slot on you computer if you have one or use an adapter that converts it to a USB drive. The camera is great and I don't think you can bet it for the price.  Kodak, if you are listening send commission check to me directly.....

Christopher:  Rick and Ines posted some samples here... comparing 23mm wide-angle shots with 39mm shots.

Christy Powers here on AR just bought the 705  and has problems/questions.  Maybe you can think of some answers for her ... Here's her blog  http://activerain.com/blogsview/57748/I-followed-AR-advice

Great posting. I was wondering if I should teach my agents the docking system or just bypass it with the $10 card reader. I will do that now.

Frank

I have the V570 and have found it a great tool.

While I have a SD slot in my Toshiba tablet PC I do hook up the camera to the docking unit and transfer photos to the laptop directly. Funnily enough I chose not to install the Kodak software as I'd heard it was pretty useless. I have no problem using the Windows Camera and Scanner wizard to transfer files. All I need to do is press the button on the doick and the wizard pops up.

My manual is pretty substantial (62 pages in English) and is useful for many of the functions. It may be that some packages do not invclude the paper manual for some reason..

I agree completely, James!  After spending weeks researching, I bought the v705 for a fraction of what I was resigned to pay for an SLR with a wide angle lense.  We were foolish enough to install the Kodak software, which tied our computer into knots.  After a complete wipe of the hard drive and a re-install, we take our pictures off the camera via fire wire.  Love Picasa, also, which in my view is superior to Shutterly, Windows and Dell Picture Viewing.  Google rocks!

I continue to be amazed at the lack of real estate photos on listings, or the horrible, dark, crooked, fuzzy, badly lit, and badly framed properties, thereon.  With cameras at such low price points, which are this "idiot proof", everyone can affordably have great photography.

Nigel,

If I am understanding you correctly, one might solve this problem by un-installing the Kodak software but then still use the Kodak cradle. I assume then it will behave like a USB drive. Is that correct?

Any advice for those who installed the Kodak software and now want to un-install it. Is there a fast and simple way to transfer all of the albums from the Kodak to say Picasa? Anyone?

I burned all my photos onto a CD just in case they didn't hold in my hard drive, then un-installed the Kodak Software.  As it turned out, all my photos WERE retained on the hard drive.  Then I set my default pic viewer to Picasa, so each time I opened one, Picasa opens up, then the image.

I cannot make the Kodak cradle work after un-installing the Kodak software. So Nigel, I am a little confused by your post because it sounded as though you were still hooking up the camera through Kodak's cradle. Is that correct?

I have the v705 and love the wide angle, but realize I have to forgo the quality i was used to with my Olympus.  I do use the Kodak software, and haven't had any issues thus far.  The first V705 had issues with spots on all the pics, so I got a replacement...the new one seems to work well.  I also just got the fab 1gig sd card for like $45 bucks and can now take over 2,000 shots.

I will download Picasa and give it a whirl.  I do worry now about backing up my pc with all my precious pics....I need to get a system to do that!  

Office depot has some Lexar SD 1 Gig cards on sale for $14 after instant discounts and rebates!!!! No, I don't work for Office Depot but they do have some great deals on SD cards every now and then.

I agree that EasyShare software is evil, but there are ways around it. 

I use the cradle to transfer the photos (love the one-button transfer and not having to remove the memory card), then simply open the photos in the software that I prefer to use for manipulating them and when it comes time to save the changes, save them elsewhere.

Thanks, James for the pointers, I,m thinking about getting one of these cameras. And this is helpful.

Good Day!! have a cup of java and a smile on me :)

Thanks for the post. I need a new camera and I guess this is it.

Thanks to everyone who commented on this post as well as all of you who read it. Be sure to read Parts II and II for further developments. It seems that the cradle does work without the software so no need to keep removing the SD disk.

I never use the software that comes with a camera. I inted to purchase this camera. Good to know the cradle works without the software. Thank you.

I'm saving up for this one.  It sounds perfect for staging photos and those elusive perfect MLS photos.

Thanks for sharing.  Sorry I read this too late.  When I received my camara about a week ago, I downloaded the software and boy what a mistake that was!  My husband was mad to say the least.  The Kodak software took over every picture we had on our computer and then when he went to download some pictures he had taken at the National professional Quad races, when it finished downloading it started deleting the pictures on the card which he didn't want to do yet.  It didn't even give you the option of marking a box if you want to delete after downloading the pictures or not like our other software does.  Now whenever we download, the kodak program comes up and ask to save to their program.  So now we are saving all our pictures to a memory stick then putting them on a disk since our recordable drive is not working which I have to get fixed.  Then we are taking the Kodak program off our computer.  We are afraid since it took over all our pictures that it will delete them all if we went ahead and deleted the software before saving our pictures.  Yes, it puts all your pictures on Kodak's software but it also takes over all the pictures you have in your picture folder on your hard drive. 

 By the way we have three other cameras and the software that came with them we have had no problems with.  They are Fuji and Nikon.  I wanted the Kodak V705 for taking pictures of my listings with the wide angle.  I read Jeff's blog and he sold me on it.  My husband and I both love the camara so far.  Thank you Jeff and James for sharing.

Very informative blog and comments.

I have been using my Kodak 570..still doesn't compare to my Olympus in quality..I have to sharpen each of the pic..then I bought the 750 (as a spare)...The resolution appears to be crisper than the 570, but the  pics are not as bright..anyone have any thoughts on this?

I also use a card reader, and never installed the Kodak software..

Susan Laskin

I agree, the Kodak software has messed up all the photos on my computer, but the SD slot is not as convenient as the one on my Fuji.  I've basically given the Kodak 570 its own laptop just to keep my other photos away from its software.

I printed out the manual from the Kodak site as my camera didn't come with one.

I find the photos to be just fine for MLS and most print applications.  The ultrawide angle lens is fabulous and well worth all the other aggravations.

My 570 came the other day - bought on Ebay - it is great!

After making several brave attempts to use the cradle, I had to just go to a card reader where I take out the SD card and place it in the USB adapter to download my photos. It is a pain and I do not know how long the flimsy cover will last but it beats using the camera software.

I have the V705 and the pictures aren't as sharp as I would like.  I did a side by side with a cheap Nikon L10 and the picture was sharper but the quality was a bit better with the Kodak.  I bought a SD card that you can figure to slip into a USB port.  That is really cool.  No extra stuff to carry around.