Kodak EasyShare Z1085 IS

Opinion: Just a warning to everyone. I had a Kodak camera stop working, poor design. Trying to get the camera returned was a joke. Kodak has horrible customer service. Don't buy Kodak products. They could care less about customers.

Opinion: This is my second Kodak digital camera. The quality of images is consistently good and are well focussed. It is nice to have a point-and-shoot with full manual controls as an option. I use manual settings about 1/3 of the time because the automatic settings are so accurate.

For the price (US$179.00), nothing comes close in quality. The new Nikon P6000 looks like a nice alternative but at almost 3 times the price.

- Mechanical quality is quite good and almost no lens play when zoomed out.
- The lens looks like it is using a quality multi-coating which gives nice images without ghosting and good contrast as compared to other zooms.
- CA is visible at edges but not a problem if you aren't looking for it. The lens is relatively fast compared to others and the shake reduction really works.
- Some barrel distortion at wide angle which seems to be common for cameras of this type.
- Macro is more of a close-up feature than true macro.
- Movie quality looks good but I have not used it much.
- Settings are preserved when using P or M mode.

The high ISO settings up to 3200 are a joke because they are so blurred by noise reduction. However, the regular settings up to 400 are quite usable. ISO 80 is excellent.

A very good choice for someone who wants manual controls on a budget or who wants an excellent automatic camera with the option of learning more about manual settings.

>> Added Note<<
I have noticed that some people complain about poor battery life and locking up. This all relates to not reading the manual. It is clear that you need to ONLY use lithium batteries. Either the disposable type or the Kodak rechargeable with their charger. NiMH batteries which are the typical rechargeables do not have enough voltage (1.25v) compared to lithium (1.5v) and the camera knows it. Beware of sales people who don't know any better telling you otherwise.

Opinion: Excellent camera--construction and image quality. Handy size for carrying around everywhere. For best image quality I do NOT use the Auto or scene features, which tend to make the pictures too "painterly," that is blur over detail. "P" mode with high sharp setting gives best quality for me. The camera has been on sale for some time at the $120 point (and even lower)--a real bargain, especially since it is a quality camera to begin with.

Opinion: This is a wonderful camera and with it's manual controls,
it is more than I expected. With the large sensor and outdoor shooting, you can't beat it.