Kodak EASYSHARE Z650

...a camera it was my Kodak CX7330 which is a really good digital camera. The only problem with it was that I wanted a camera with more advanced features and that one only having a 3x optical zoom it just wasn't enough for me anymore. I went on Amazon and started researching all of the cameras that weren't too pricey but with good features. Unfortunately I didn't have enough for a Canon camera but I did however stumble across the Kodak Z650.
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...Kodak model in particular was because it was under £200 and it had 6.0 mega pixels as well as a 10x optical zoom which pretty much did it for me. I looked at the reviews and they all seemed relatively positive. So I purchased the camera and waited with anticipation for it to arrive.

So, I got the camera and it came with a dock to leave it on when not being used, a strap so I could wear it around my neck which is always useful. It also ... more

I am really into photography and last time I reviewed a camera it was my Kodak CX7330 which is a really good digital camera. The only problem with it was that I wanted a camera with more advanced features and that one only having a 3x optical zoom it just wasn't enough for me anymore. I went on Amazon and started researching all of the cameras that weren't too pricey but with good features. Unfortunately I didn't have enough for a Canon camera but I did however stumble across the Kodak Z650.

The reason I liked the sound of this Kodak model in particular was because it was under £200 and it had 6.0 mega pixels as well as a 10x optical zoom which pretty much did it for me. I looked at the reviews and they all seemed relatively positive. So I purchased the camera and waited with anticipation for it to arrive.

So, I got the camera and it came with a dock to leave it on when not being used, a strap so I could wear it around my neck which is always useful. It also came with the USB cable, although I don't tend to use that as I upload photos on my memory card. It also came with two batteries. The good thing with these Kodak camera's unlike any other is that they only run on 2x AA batteries which is great because I use my rechargeable batteries but I know some of the more fancier camera's have special batteries which cost a lot more.

So the appearance of the camera, it looks very professional that's for sure. It is all silver and the lens sticks out a lot which is obviously for the bigger zoom. The back of the camera has an LCD screen. What I find good about this camera is if you look at the photos of it you can see that there is a groove in the front so that the camera is very easy to hold when taking photos, so it has been well designed on that aspect. It isn't too big and chunky but big enough so that you don't lose it or break it.

When taking the photos when looking through the camera it is like a little mini viewer so you can see everything like a mini TV that is in sight. Also if you prefer taking photos on LCD instead of by looking through it you can switch the setting to LCD mode and then you will still see everything in view but just on the screen and when you are happy just click and there you have your photo. The quality of the LCD is pretty sharp and you can usually see out of it well but I just feel I get a more accurate photo by looking straight through the camera.

So my first annoyance with the camera would be the switching it on and off. It plays a little musical tune every time you switch the camera on so if you all of a sudden find a nice thing to take a photo of like a squirrel by the time you load the camera up the squirrel will probably be long gone. Also, the camera takes ages to get into focus so even when you zoom close up and think that it will be a great shot sometimes you might have to zoom farther out because it will not get into focus being close up which is really annoying.

The getting into focus thing has made me miss out on many great photos and sometimes after taking a picture it takes ages for the view in sight to show up through your camera again so you can take another photo. I suggest if you want a quick set of images change the camera setting and it will go into the mode where as long as you keep your finger pushing down the capture button it will continuously take up to 30 photos. They give the example of say a golfer trying to make a hit and having the whole swinging action which is ok. I have tried this feature out before of people dancing and it is actually quite funny seeing the step by step sequence.

Another thing about the camera that annoys me and that a lot of people have commented on is the flash. You can put the extra flash up or keep it down. The thing is at night time you really need the big flash up or you won't get much of a photo but it is very powerful and blinding so I try to avoid using it.

If you want to see how well your photos have come out, click the review button and they will all show up. It should also tell you how many photos you have left on your card or internal memory. It is also good if you want to see how blurry an image is by zooming in on the photos, it has an 8x zoom on the LCD screen so you get really zoomed in to see how good the quality of the photo is. Another thing that might annoy people about this camera is the little clicking sound it makes when you take a photo. I'm sure most people with camera phones will know the sound of taking a photo as most have it but so does this Kodak and the novelty wears off after a while.

The zoom on the camera is great. You can see the zoom bar going up the further you zoom. I tried this out in many places just to see how good it was. I was in a field and took a photo of cows very far away in the distance and it literally looked like I was standing right next to it because the zoom was so close. I have taken photos at concerts and the band members faces are the whole camera screen never mind just a little stick on stage as they used to be.

The features on the camera are night time which is ok but I find this tends to make the images very shaky and so I don't use it. The portrait feature but I again haven't used this much as I haven't needed it. Sport for when taking images of people running etc so that the shutter speed is quicker. Automatic for general picture taking which I use most of the time, day or night this guarantees the best photo in my opinion. There is a children option which I again haven't used. PASM for access to camera manual settings. The video option again for taking videos which I have tried and they are really good and I have kept a lot of nice videos made for this. Unlike my last camera when you click review and play back the videos you can hear the sound as well as see the picture.

When taking photos on this, like most you can set a 10 second timer. I use this quite a lot and as long as you set it up so that it gets what you want in the screen then you get some nice photos.

I use a memory card on this camera so I usually have a maximum of 180 odd photos which I am happy with. The internal memory only gives you abut 38 photos so if you forget the memory card you are pretty limited. The SD cards can be bought at Argos and don't cost too much. I recommend them because you can put the memory card in photo machines and lap tops and it gives you a bigger photo capacity. They come in all sizes I have the smallest but you can get higher MB cards.

This camera so far I really like, for the money I can't complain. As stated my only major problem with the camera is how long it takes to get into focus but I didn't pay hundreds of pounds for a top of the range camera so I'm still pretty happy. Kodak have done well giving so many good features for such a low price and for students like me who have quite a low budget I was happy I was able to even get this kind of camera.

To buy this camera you can buy it on Amazon for £157.57 but on Kelkoo if you search it I'm sure I saw much lower rates. If you want to see how good the photos are from this camera go to http://moiras.buzznet.com that is where most of the photos I take of bands are, you may not know them all but it's an idea of how good the photo quality is.
 

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