Kodak EasyShare Z885

Opinion: The Z885 works very well in auto and video modes, especially in daylight, giving
sharp and colourful pictures in almost every situation. Indoors it can generally take
passable pictures without the flash, and good ones with it - if the subject is in the
sweet spot of the flash range.

Manual mode is convenient, although stepping through LCD menus makes setting
awkward.

The five bracket shots are handy.

The high ISO capability allows pictures (albeit somewhat noisy) to be taken in some
extreme situations. An 8 sec time exposure at ISO 3200 and f2.8 in moonlight looks
like bright sunlight (and the time exposure reduces the noise usually visible at this
ISO). A handheld 1/2000 sec exposure at ISO 3200 and f8 can freeze the motion of
a car passing by 1.5 metres away at 60kph (although getting most of the
background in focus as well). The 1.2 MP pics at ISO 8000 are, as expected, very
noisy, but reveal details that I cannot see with my eyes, and almost serve as a low
cost (and colour) night scope.

The 5x zoom reaches far enough to make the Z885 useful for many sports events,
although I would personally prefer the zoom range to start wider.

The small size and black colouring allow video pictures with sound to be captured
unobtrusively.

I prefer AA batteries that can be replaced almost universally, and found that a pair
of 2500 mAH NiMH cells lasted longer than I had expected.

For my purposes, to record family activities, to have to hand for any eventuality,
and to display predominantly on a computer screen with occasional prints up to A4
size, I find the Z885 excellent. It a very good holiday camera not only for its
versatility and portability, but because its low cost means that I do not have to
worry so much in situations where it might be damaged or stolen.

Opinion: This is my 3rd digital, I moved from kodak to nikon 5200 back to Kodak z885 because it was the same SMALL size with a finger grip and better features. And it takes bigger mpg movie too.
We are long distance bycycle riders and I look for small & light for our travels. A camera that won't pop out of my hand while riding.
I like to only carry one item to a party and when I want to capture a movie. I don't have to search and pull out the camcorder. Which I like the fast swtich from still to movie in 2 clicks.
I don't yet know what/how to use the favorites button?
I set the sound to let me know it focused and then to capture the pic, this way I know it was trying to focus.

I have large exotic parrots/macaws/eclectus's/amazons, cockatoo. Cats, and Border Collies and I need to have the camera ready at any time. The low ISO is great.
REALLY like the LOW ISO, I used the 8000 in a candle lite dinner & the pic turned very good. Grainy but I got the pic and I can remember the moment very well. I'll use at dusk and the pic looks like daylight. pretty darn good. Though the camera should be held very still or on a tripod. But again I got the pic. where my other would NOT have captured the secene.
Glad it has a 5 optical zoom, I would think if the Low ISO they could try for a bigger zoom.

Opinion: I presently own a Nikon Coolpix 950, Panasonic Lumix FZ-10, Pentax *istDS with four lenses, and recently bought this Z885, after getting rid of my 3 megapixel Pentax 30 (travel) camera. This z885 camera has a 5x zoom lens, can take moderate macros of flowers close in (they came oyut very well)and has a bunch of settings that allow for a wide variety of conditions. The high iso (up to 3200) pics look very good and you can even get iso 8000 at 1.2 megapixels-I am not recommending that, but it's better than nothing if you need extreme zoom. The pics I've taken of flowers close up are excellent and the sports pics in daylight at telephoto of kids playing soccer have come out very well. It's actually an amazing camera-I never thought I'd say that about a Kodak digital. It can be set for individual aperture , shutter speed and iso. The high iso setting, as i said appears to be useable. I don't generally make prints larger than 8 by 10 though. One negative: it does not have a viewfinder and the screen is difficult to see in bright sunlight. I got this camera as a carry around travel camera and I think i'll be using it for a great deal more.