Kodak Easyshare Z612 6.1 MP Digital Camera with 12xOptical Zoom by Kodak
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Digital camera reviews of Kodak Easyshare Z612 6.1 MP Digital Camera with 12xOptical Zoom
Digital camera Review: Love this camera!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Unfortunatly, I lost our camera last year!! So I really wanted to get another Kodak since I was so happy with the previous model. I looked at all the popular camera's like the Cannon powershot, which I was not happy with at all. I have a friend that owns one and has to recharge the batteries after only a few hours of use. The kodak uses the Rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which after a full charge lasts for DAYS!!! not hours!! For the casual user this is a perfect camera. Vacations, parties etc.. this works great. I like to use it at sporting events because of it's abiltiy to zoom from a distance and still take sharp pictures.Digital camera Review: My new camera
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoyed using my new camera. I've already taken some great pictures. Digital zoom is really great. Took a picture of a cardinal and had it enlarged. Great!!Digital camera Review: Nice & Easy Camera To Use
Summary: 4 Stars
After much research and forum hunting [...] I decided on this camera for my parents. I went with the Z612 because it is simple to use, has a big lcd screen and has image stabilization. My parents are seniors and are not technologically advanced. They do not have a computer and this is their first digital camera. The set up menu is straight forward and very easy to understand.
I set up everything before I gave it to my parents and took several shots. Great quality pictures! Especially on the fine setting. The lens quality is outstanding (for the price) and image stabilization corrects for hand shake (great feature for the senior crowd). I have a digital SLR camera and was still impressed by the quality pictures this camera took...and it cost about a third of what I paid for my camera and is about half the size. The 12x lens is fantastic!
The reason I gave this rating a 4 and not 5 is because the product manual that comes with it is a "getting started" manual...you have to go on the internet and download the full manual. Also, each time you charge the battery you have to reset the clock and calendar.
Digital camera Review: Noises of using the zoom lens and when turning on
Summary: 2 Stars
When turning on this Z612 6.1 MP Digital Camera, it sounds a slight "Da-Da-Da..." noise. I suppose this is due to the automatic focusing function that is endurable. But when I took the video recording, the noise was clearly recorded by the camera. This seems abnormal. I don't know how to abate the noise.
Thanks,
Jiang Dong
Digital camera Review: One important drawback
Summary: 4 Stars
Kodak Easyshare Z612
Pros
1. There are dedicated buttons for setting focus, flash, timer, review, information, delete, menue and share photos. Because the buttons require a solid punch, I have not not had the problem of accidentally resetting the camera when handling it. This makes the camera easy to use.
2. The x12 zoom works great and so does the image stabilization. I was able to take photos of people without a tripod from significant distances (15-20 feet) allowing for candid, non-intrusive shots of subjects. Because there are blur and poor exposure warnings, almost all of my photos came our sharp and bright. At the longer distances on the flash range, it was necessary to enhance the exposure in editing and I was amazed at the quality of the correction. Unless I was very close to the subject, the skin tones were good. I have submitted some sample images for your review.
3. I really like the software that comes with the camera. I normally edit the photos in a retail store because the touch screens are so easy to use as compared to my complicated and tedious computer software. The Kodak software was simple and had fun features such as turning the photos into cartoons or coloring book pages. Plus, the software is integrated with the Kodak website for easy photo sharing.
4. The camera is lighter weight (10 oz w/o batteries) and smaller than the Kodak "P" (professional) series. [...] While it is no substitute for a pocket camera, I think I would still use the z612 as my primary camera on a road trip.
5. The LCD screen is large at 2.5 inches and the EVD is bright. In comparison to other cameras I have used, I can see the LCD screen in bright sunlight but it is on the dim side in the normal mode. There is an option to brighten it beyond normal, which I have not tried.
6. The batteries, which come with the camera, seem to last around 50 photos with lots of telephoto adjustments.
7. The camera does come with a lens cap and lens strap, which I attached to the hook for the neck strap. The cap pops off and hangs out of the say when the camera is turned on. It is NOT necessary to keep track of the lens cap.
Cons
1. The wide/telephoto lever is located immediately to the right of the viewfinder. I use my left eye when looking in the viewfinder and it is very, very difficult to use the wide/telephoto at the same time. My thumb ends up poking my right eye. If I had tried this camera out in the store, it may have been a show stopper. This is a significant con, which dropped my rating by one star.
2. The icons and text describing the scene options are on the small side compared to the space available on the LCD screen. My current camera uses a descriptive photo with large text for the scene options. After you select a scene option, you have to toggle the wheel off and back onto the scene option to get back to the scene menu. This is cumbersome.
3. The icons on the camera body for the flash, focus, et. al are small and may be difficult to see for the 50+ consumer.
4. The battery indicator does not come on until the batteries are low. I would like to know the status of the batteries at all times.
5. For macro photography, you have to be at least 4.7 inches away from the subject for the focus to work properly. This is a long distance for macro photography, so your photos may require cropping for a really close look. I did some test photos of a grid and the tightest I could get (while maintaining good focus) was an area of around 2 inches by 2 3/4 inches. Too much cropping degregates the image quality. If you want to take pictures of ladybugs in high resolution, you may want to consider another camera that has a better macro mode and a super macro mode. Cropping to a grasshopper size works--but a ladybug size seems to be beyond the limits of this camera. (I did get a good shot of a ladybug, but I had to leave a lot a background to maintain a quality photo.)
Conclusion
This is a light-weight, easy to use, affordable camera with a large, bright LCD screen and bright EVD viewfinder. The image stabilization and the integrated editing software is a real plus. This camera will work for a beginner photographer, as well as, a serious amateur who wants some control over settings but doesn't want to spend the $ for a DSL. I would have liked a super macro mode, but the trade off was more expense, weight, no batteries included and a smaller, dimmer LCD screen. (Check out the Canon IS 3S or Sony super zoom) While I may not be able to photograph the texture on a bug's eye, at the end of the day, I'm really most interested in good candid photos of people. All in all, I am very pleased with my purchase and I'm having lots of fun taking pictures. Check out the images I have shared. If you buy this camera, I also recommend that you download the full manual from Kodak and take the time to edit each photo with the included software. (Note: I have not tried the video on this camera.)
7/12/2007 update. I still love my z612 and lots of acquaintances seem to have camera envy. I just wanted to mention that the Kodak editing software does not allow one to straighten or sharpen photos. I am now using picasa2 by google, which is available through a free download. It has very easy photo editing capability that is easy to use and is significantly better than the Kodak version. Google also offers a free web service for storing and sharing up to 1 gig of photos. The best thing about this service is that your friends can download a HD version of the photos for free. On the Kodak website, you can share photos but friends can only download a low quality version or buy prints or a CD.