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October 19, 2006
[ REVIEW—KODAK P712 digital camera ]
Price: $700
Average
The low-down: The Kodak P712 is a 7 megapixel all-in-one camera with a 12x zoom (36–432mm film equivalent) Schneider lens and electronic viewfinder. It has effective image stabilisation.
Construction is of attractive smoothly moulded plastic and the camera is small. It looks like this is a camera made for women which is in line with the company’s boast that women prefer Kodak over all other brands.
Kodak cameras always have high colour saturation and this one is no exception. It is far too high. We had to turn the Colour Mode to Low to stop solid colours bleeding.
Image noise at ISO400 was so noticeable that we were forced to limit ourselves to ISO100 which is absurd in this day and age.
Like: It looks nice and the image stabilisation works well. Under ideal conditions -- that is, with a static subject in low contrast lighting and with the in-camera saturation turned right down and with the zoom at the half way mark -- you can take decent pictures. The external hot shoe is a nice touch.
Dislike: This is one of the slowest cameras we have ever used. Focus and exposure are hit and miss affairs, particularly when the lens is at its longest focal length. The electronic viewfinder is poor and operational lag is such that any moving subject will be over the horizon between pressing the button and the camera getting around to capturing the image.
Verdict: The Kodak P712 is a disappointing camera. It is just as well that digital images are free because you must take at least 5 photos to get one worth keeping.
We understand the attraction of these super-zoom cameras. They seem to offer so much -- a pseudo SLR through-the-lens viewfinder; a lens which is the equivalent of at least three interchangeables; a compact body and, so people hope, simplicity. In our experience it takes much more effort to produce a good picture with these gimmicky cameras than with any digital SLR. The super-zooms are light and cheap and that is the end of their advantage. Kodak’s lovely little V550 is a better camera even with only 5 million pixels and a 3x zoom and optical viewfinder.
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Posted by terry at October 19, 2006 05:54 AM
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