Kodak EasyShare Z712

Digital SLR prices have been continuously dropping over the past few years. You can now get a very decent SLR for under $600. For most people this wouldn’t be that big of a purchase and would be well worth the cost, but what happens if you don’t have $600 to spend on a camera.

If you don’t have enough money for a SLR but want a better camera than a simple point and shoot, what should you do? What happens when you mix an entry-level SLR and a point and shoot camera? The Kodak EasyShare Z712 IS.

The EasyShare Z712 IS is a really good mix between a P&S camera and a SLR camera. It has a number of great features like a 12x optical zoom, a number of preset settings for different environments and lighting conditions and it lets you have a lot of control over your camera. The great thing about it is that it’s about a third of the price of a regular SLR camera.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the EasyShare Z712 IS:

• Street Price: $299.99
• Resolution: 8.0MP
• Shutter Speed: 1/2–1/1000 sec
• ISO range: 80-1600
• SD/MMC card

Things I like
The thing I like most about the Z712 IS is its compact size. This thing is small compared to a SLR. Measuring approximately 4.1W × 2.9H × 2.7D in. you can easily shoot with one hand and it won’t take up an entire case. I like the size because it makes it perfect for spontaneous shooting. With my Nikon D40, I never carry it around unless I know I’m going to be taking pictures that day. I don’t have this problem with the Kodak EasyShare because I can just put it in my backpack and take it out whenever I need it.

The other thing I like about the EasyShare Z712 IS is its low price, at only $250 it’s very affordable. While it doesn’t have all of the features that SLR’s have considering the price it is well worth it. The 12x optical zoom is also impressive. Most point and shoot cameras only have a 3x optical zoom so the 12x is a nice addition.

Things I don’t like
While the camera does have a lot of excellent features, none of them are done overly well. The manual focus is pretty bad, its easier just have it on automatic focus and then tweak it a little bit. This is really annoying because focus is very important when it comes to taking good pictures and having the ability to manually focus a picture is needed. All of the other features are the same, they work but can be very annoying. I guess I’m just comparing it to a more expensive SLR but I think that if you’re going to put a feature in it should work well.

The final thing that I don’t like is the noise levels at high ISO. At 800 or 1600 ISO the noise level is just too high. While you can shoot at these levels because of the noise the pictures that are taken are almost useless. This can be very annoying if you’re shooting in a dark area.

Pros:

• Low price
• Small size
• Lots of features

Cons:

• Poor manual focus
• Lots of noise at a high ISO
• Most features aren’t done very well

Final Thoughts
The Kodak EasyShare Z712 IS has a very nice zoom and considering its low price makes it a very nice camera. Unfortunately the camera does lose its image quality at higher ISOs. If you don’t have enough money for a SLR I would recommend buying this camera. If you can however, spend a little more, I would suggest that you buy a SLR.