First Light: Kodak Z712 IS

sabbath999 · Jul 15, 2008

My $95 (brand new, after shipping, taxes and coupon) Kodak Z712 IS arrived this morning.

A few thoughts out of the box, at random, and some "first light" pictures.

1) Kodak needs to learn how to do packaging from Apple.

2) The camera is small and light, the IS works surprisingly well and the lens is sharp.

3) The internal memory is pointless... it will hold about 7 pictures

4) "Full Price" this camera sells for $160. It is insanely good for that money.

Now, my "first light" pictures... my typical "test shot", a c-store across from my office. Shot in program mode (I have yet to figure out the M, S & A settings, they are not intuitive). Four different focal lengths, from as wide as it will go (not very) to telephoto (very). ISO 64.

More later.

A.S.H.rimp · Jul 15, 2008

Wow, has it gone down that much already? When I bought it last year, the price was double that.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the new tool!

keith204 · Jul 15, 2008

I'd like to see some shots from indoors, low lighting, flash used.

sabbath999 · Jul 15, 2008

keith204 said:
I'd like to see some shots from indoors, low lighting, flash used.

I could do it, but it would stink... this camera ain't built for indoors, low light OR flash

Let me know if you really want to see them and I will shoot you a few.

Actually, I just shot some vehicle shots with it real quick for an ebay ad. They were pretty good (fill flash on the interior).

ISO suffers at anything above 100, flash is direct flash (redeye only) with no bounce.

It is, after all, a $160 camera.

keith204 · Jul 15, 2008

sabbath999 said:
I could do it, but it would stink... this camera ain't built for indoors, low light OR flash Let me know if you really want to see them and I will shoot you a few.

Actually, I just shot some vehicle shots with it real quick for an ebay ad. They were pretty good (fill flash on the interior).

ISO suffers at anything above 100, flash is direct flash (redeye only) with no bounce.

It is, after all, a $160 camera.

Yeah I'm not looking for a performer for myself, but the $160 tag looks nice for a camera for my family, friends, etc. I just always want to know what's the best <$200 camera at the moment, so that when everyone asks me "what's the best camera for less than $200" I can recommend something. Not too long ago, that camera was $270--seemed to have good reviews.

J7CK · Jul 15, 2008

@sabbath
is that one of these?
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Kodak/kodak_z1285.asp

i'm curious how big the 12mp files are (jpeg) in kb's from this camera (?).

i bought a kodak m853 a few months ago that is sold as a 8.3 megapixel camera but i really had my doubts as the files were only 600-800KB on the highest quality setting. i use a samsung nv3 pocket, which is ok and my 7mp jpegs are 2.5-3.0MB a shot.

someone else reached a similar conclusion..
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/read_opinion_text.asp?prodkey=kodak_m853&opinion=38560
"SD capacity charts on their website reported approximately 300 pictures for a 1GB card in one of their 8MP cameras when the camera could not report less than 875 on any setting. This number shows as below a 3MP quality according to the chart."