Product: Kodak EasyShare DX7440 Price: $2,690 Pros: Ergonomic design Cons: None of significance Product: Kodak EasyShare CX7530 Price: $2,490 Pros: Five megapixels, easy to operate Cons: Cheap-feeling plastic housing Product: Kodak EasyShare CX7330 Price: $1,490 Pros: Cheap, takes reasonable pictures Cons: Three megapixels is so last year The digital age has not been kind to Eastman Kodak, the company that put the first true point-and-shoot camera into consumers' hands. Don't get me wrong - Kodak cameras are not bad. The company has recently launched three new models and all three produce images that are fairly sharp and natural in colour. But compared with the metallic artwork of the Canon IXUS series or the signature sliding covers on Olympus cameras, Kodak's bland snappers can be a tad boring. Hopefully, the new four-megapixel DX7440 is indicative of a new direction the company is taking. Like its six-megapixel younger brother the DX7630, it is more ergonomically designed, with an SLR-like grip and a shutter button right where the index finger falls. Combined with a large 2.2-inch LCD display, it makes for a camera that is easier on the hands and the eyes. The DX7440 uses a 4x optical zoom lens from German optics designer Schneider-Kreuznach. It has a slightly wider aperture than the more generic Kodak Retinar lenses and a faster shutter, but for most users the image improvement is probably not as evident as Kodak would like it to be. There is also the five-megapixel CX7530 with a 3x optical zoom. This is a well-built point-and-snap camera but, like with a lot of Kodak cameras, the casing is not terribly imaginative. Lastly, the CX7330 is fine if you can overlook the slightly blurry LCD display - especially since it is inexpensive. The three-megapixel sensor is good enough for making even 4R prints, but anything bigger is not recommended. Besides, three megapixels are so last year. All three cameras have limited manual functions and all are fitted with the new ruby-coloured 'share' feature, which allows pictures to be tagged on camera for either quick printing or e-mailing when connected to Kodak's printer dock or a PC. One feature on these cameras that does not make much sense is the 'favourites folder', which is supposed to allow people to view an album of selected pictures on the camera's LCD display. This seems rather silly as it assumes people would rather show their holiday photographs to their friends on a small LCD than having them printed out or sent by e-mail.