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We clicked with:
The 12x optical zoom
The solid design
The easy-to-use interface
The high-definition video
Shots in the dark:
Too much noise at higher ISO
White balance options are limited
Colour reproduction not the best
Price Comparison:
Kodak Easyshare Z812 IS
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Kodak is a weird fish. The company obviously has a massive reputation in terms of photography, and in the many, many years where film ruled the roost it was up there with the biggest names of them all.
But Kodak has struggled to find a place for itself in digital era, and has recently even diversified into all-in-one printers, which seem to offer good value by the way. However its camera business has been more hit and miss, with some very interesting compacts offering unusual features, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but no real stars to speak of.
This new camera aims to change that. The Z812 IS is, we suppose, a bridge camera, coming in at the larger end of the compact market, with an impressive zoom and some of the looks of a 'proper' Digital SLR camera. It's therefore quite chunky compared to most of the smaller competition, but feels solid and weighty in the hand rather than overly heavy and a bit of a drag.
Elsewhere, the standard stuff is all present and correct, with a resolution of 8.1 megapixels not quite being up there with some of the current crop of super compacts but more than enough for most people's needs. Also, the 2.5 inch LCD screen is pretty much middle of the road now, and the inclusion of Face Detection technology is a must at this price point.
The real star of the specification sheet though is the zoom lens - the Z812 IS offers a whopping great big 12x optical zoom, which in old money works out at 36mm-432mm - quite something for such a compact snapper, and as you can see from the images below, it's easily capable of honing in on some fine detail.
This lens obviously dictates the shape of the camera, but the form is actually ideal for getting a firm grip, with well-positioned rubberized elements helping you in action. Also, the back panel is very well laid out, and the slightly larger-than-normal surface area allowing the Kodak design team lots of room for important controls.
The mode select dial is right at the top of the camera, and there's a healthy looking collection of options including a movie offering which lets you shoot high-definition footage, which is nice for the video fans out there, and is really one of the major selling points of this camera. In a world where camcorders seem to be heading the way of the dodo, this could well be the shape of things to come.
There's also a manual mode, which is as you'd expect from this type of camera, although oddly in the white balance settings there's no manual options here - which we think is a very odd decisions, especially as the automatic performance of the camera in this respect is pretty poor. Leaving automatic and selecting one of the pre-sets certainly helps in this respect, but in shady conditions it still produces occasionally odd results, although this is mixed up with some very rewarding photographs.
This also has a knock on effect for the whole colour palette, and at times the Kodak lets you down in this respect. It's also something if a disappointment when it comes to shooting at higher ISO settings, with too much noise creeping into the image too early for our liking.
What is certain is the Z7812 IS's ability to retain detail, and put it all up there on the screen or in the print for you to see. The eight megapixels may not be particularly groundbreaking, but there's enough accuracy and naturalness to the photos to suggest it's enough. Edges are nicely defined too, and quality prints have a solidity to them that only the best compacts can match.
Finally we get to the IS that is the ever-present suffix in this review. It stands for Image Stabilisation, an over-riding concern when it comes to super-zoom cameras, especially if you are likely to operate at the far end of the 12 x figure that's offered here. Thankfully it works very well, and even holding the camera by hand on a pretty cold day results in relatively sharp images - although in lower light we'd still recommend lugging a tripod around with you just to be sure.
This is great news, as without the IS, there really is no point in this kind of lens, and it's a final plus point for a camera that seems to have blessings in curses in almost equal measure, with good detail let down by iffy colour performance.
Still, if you are looking for an affordable camera that offers more features than your average point and shoot snapper there's still a lot on offer here - especially if video takes up a large part of your wish list. A few issues about colour reproduction aside, we feel the Kodak does a good job at providing that little bit more, but without the extra bulk or expense of buying into the 'proper' SLR world.
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