Kodak Easyshare Z710 Review
Review Date: November 1st 2006
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Conclusion
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Ratings (out of 5) |
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| Design | 3.5 |
| Features | 3.5 |
| Ease-of-Use | 3.5 |
| Image Quality | 3 |
| Value for Money | 3 |
The Kodak Easyshare Z710 is a camera that tries to appeal to both beginners and more experienced photographers, but ultimately it doesn't really satisfy either user-group. Its stylish shiny silver looks will appeal to the general consumer and put off the prosumer, whilst the full range of creative exposure modes will do the opposite. More significantly for a camera with such a big zoom range, the lack of an image stabilization system is a serious omission, especially when all of its main competitors offer an anti-shake mode. The Kodak Z710 may be slightly cheaper, but you would be better off investing the extra money in an ultra-zoom model with anti-shake.
This is especially true given the Z710's poor image quality, particularly with regards to noise. The Kodak Z710 essentially has a useful ISO range of 64-200, with ISO 200 not being that great anyway, which coupled with the lack of image stabilisation means that many photos taken at the longer focal lengths will inevitably suffer from camera-shake. Professionals will know about techniques to get around this problem to some extent, Beginners will be disappointed by how many of their photos taken at longer focal lengths appear out-of-focus, especially when taken in less than perfect lighting conditions.
Add to this fundamental problem a slow start-up time and general operation, poor continuous mode, and an annoying flash unit which pops-up every time you start the camera, and you begin to realise that the Kodak Z710 is an ultimately flawed camera. This is a shame, as everything from mild wide-angle scenics to distant close-ups is possible, all from a camera that you can fit into a small shoulder bag, and there isn't too much distortion at either end of the zoom range. The Kodak Z710 isn't a bad camera, but poor image quality and important missing features means that it doesn't compare well at all to the ultra-zoom competition.
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