Kodak Z915

Kodak EasyShare Z915 Review

The market for compact cameras costing under £200 is fairly replete, although the Kodak EasyShare Z915 offers far more than most at a decent price of £160. It is a compact, pocket-friendly design and is very user-friendly with a decent range of features - including fully automatic and manual shooting options. Its performance is also a good deal faster than its similarly-priced competition. Perhaps one possible blight concerns problems surrounding photograph quality, although how important this is deemed to be for the potential user will depend upon what the user wishes to do with their photos.

Aside of the fact that the device has a 10X optical zoom it is still ultra-compact and can easily fit into a decent-sized trouser pocket or small bag. It comes in a choice of three different colour schemes for the fashion savvy as well - red and black, blue and black or all black - and there is also a large right-hand grip making it very comfortable and ergonomic. From a style perspective the grip is made from plastic and is somewhat at odds with the sturdiness of the rest of the body, thereby giving the device something of a 'cheap' look. Overall, the appearance is good, although of course some will find fault if it doesn't mesh completely with their style.

Perhaps the main asset to the Z915 is the image-stabilised 10X zoom lens, and it certainly gets you up close to your subject. For review there is a rather small 2.5 inch LCD display at the rear, with a row of vertical buttons for play, info, menu and delete as well as a directional pad enabling you to alter settings and navigate the menu in addition to the Kodak 'share' button, allowing the user to tag favourite photographs.

The Z915 affords great flexibility allowing you to step away from completely automatic photography and thus allowing it to suit a wide range of users. It allows for full manual control plus shutter speed as well as colour effects and sharpness adjustments. The 'smart capture mode' is good, too, if at any point you don't fully trust either yourself - or another photographer - to take a good shot.

While it is true that most people find that the cheaper super-zoom cameras are rather slow it is a nice surprise to find that the Z915 is fairly rapid, giving a time from start-up to first shot of 1.7 seconds. Shutter lag when in bright lighting is also excellent, standing at just 0.4 seconds rising to a mere 0.6 seconds in dim lighting. One caveat is that the performance of the auto-focus stands out in a bad way for its slowness in dim lighting. In such conditions, you may need a couple of attempts to get your subject right.

The quality of photos is also good for the class, with the biggest detraction possibly being noise and artefacting which becomes visible in snaps viewed at 100%. The device also offers very good VGA-quality video capture as well as the zoom lens whilst recording, although HD quality motion picture capture is not a feature of this device despite the fact that many of Kodaks cameras are capable of it, which may disappoint some.

Kodak EasyShare Z915 Pros

• Packed with features
• Comfortable, ergonomic design
• Excellent and rapid performance

Kodak EasyShare Z915 Cons

• Photos viewed at 100% can seem noisy
• Small LCD