When you buy one of the new Kodak Easy Share-compatible cameras there will be a special insert included that mates it to the optional Easy Share Dock.

We have another page with screen shots of the Kodak Picture Software to show you how it works.

The DX3600 Zoom is equipped with a Kodak Ektanar 2x optical 35-70mm (35 mm equivalent) f/3.3-4.5 aspherical zoom lens. It has 30mm threads for filters or add-on lenses and a built-in sliding cover that protects the lens when the camera is turned off. To further extend the focal range there is a 3x digital zoom.

The focus range is 1.6 ft. to infinity in normal mode and in close-up mode it covers from 10 to 24 inches.

The lever below the lens turns the camera on and automatically opens and closes the lens protector.

The optical viewfinder is large and bright with framing marks but no dioptric adjustment. The LED on the side indicates power is on and camera is ready to capture. The color LCD is automatically turned on when you switch the camera into macro mode to avoid parallax problems with the optical finder at close range.

The 1.8-inch color LCD is a higher quality display than most other entry-level cameras, it can be used for preview, review and menu operations. The refresh rate when used as a live viewfinder is near realtime but it does get a little grainy in low light conditions.

Navigating the menus is simple, just use the 4-way selector to move up and down through the selections and accept a setting by pressing the SELECT button. The record and play menus will be detailed on the next two pages of this review.

The FLASH button cycles you through the Auto, Red-Eye, Fill and Off modes.

The Mode Dial has positions for Movie Record, Still Record, Play and Setup. As previously mentioned, the camera power is controlled by the lever on the front.

The DX3600 Zoom has a Video Out feature with user-selectable NTSC or PAL format. The USB port works with the Kodak Picture Sofware to make image downloading fast and easy even without the use of the Easy Share Dock.

The DX3600 Zoom has 8MB of internal memory in which you can store images or to extend your picture taking capabilities it has a standard CompactFlash Type I card slot which accepts any capacity CF card.

Images may be copied between the internal memory and the CF card.

Power is supplied by two AA type batteries - Kodak does not recommend the use of alkaline type and supplies two lithium cells with the camera. The optional Easy Share Dock includes a rechargeable NiMH battery pack or you can use any brand of NiMH AA type cells.