Customer Reviews

Kodak Easyshare Z1285 12.0 MP Digital Camera with 5xOptical Zoom

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

This camera replaced my old F10 Fuji Finepix. I had several cameras (Fuji/Canon/Olympus) but this is the first time I'm trying out Kodak (cheapest HD camera I've found that allow zoom during movie recording mode)

I took two stars away from it for two reasons:

1. Macro shooting mode is horrible. It won't shoot at close range at all comparing to other cameras I have had. I was able to shoot a nice close up at 1 inch range with Fuji and Olympus but this Kodak Easyshare will not focus and get blurry as soon as the lense is in the 6 inch range from object. I returned and exchange my Easyshare once because I thought the first one was broken. I was surprised to learn that this camera will not do a close up shot.

2. Movie recording length is limit to 29 minutes when shooting in HD. I read on Kodak website and it says "80 minutes" and I misunderstood. 80 minutes max ... at lowest resolution - that is :(

There are many good things about this camera. It uses SD card. It records very nice HD quality video (picture/sound). It can zoom in recording mode (Fuji does not). It takes good pictures (12MP). Battery life is pretty good. Forget Sony Handycam, get this Z1285 instead and have a blast with HD video recording!

I do a lot of photography with my dSLR but I like to have a flexible point and shoot with me when I don't have the dSLR. I also have been interested in shooting videos lately and have tried a Aiptek Go-HD and a Sanyo HD700.

I like the form factor of the Z1285. It handles better than my Kodak V550 and it really isn't much bigger. Yes it is a little thicker. The z1285 has a lot of pre-set modes and a full manual mode that works quite well. It is easy to change shutter speed, f-stop, ISO and focus mode. You can do it all from one screen using the controller button on the back. No need to read the manual.

Image quality is great for a point and shoot. There is a lot of noise at 1600 ISO however it cleans up quite well by using a noise reduction program like Noiseware. The image quality is better than my V550 and significantly better than the HD700.

The videos are surprisingly good. Video quality is much better than the Aiptek Go-HD and sharper than my Sanyo HD700. Indoor videos taken with the Z1285 have less noise than the HD700. I did my comparisons in full auto mode and I think I could fine tune the HD700 a little, but I don't think the video would be as sharp as with the Z1285. Video stabilization is better on the HD700. The audio quality on the HD700 is significantly better than Z1285. But the audio quality on the Z1285 is significantly better than the Aiptek Go-HD.

Overall it is a very good package at a decent price. I think it is a better value than the HD700. If the audio quality were up to the HD700 standards, it would be a slam dunk and I would sell the HD700.

4 stars only because of audio performance. Other than that it is great!

The Kodak EasyShare Z1285 is more than just a camera. It's a camcorder, sound recorder, slideshow creator, image cropper, and of course a camera with myriad functions.

Pros:
-12.1 Megapixels means maximum 3000 by 4000 pixel images
-Adjustable image resolution settings
-Amazing video quality with adjustable resolution settings
-Extremely easy to use
-Really low price for product
-Many, many adjustable settings and shoot modes
-Large, vibrant screen
-Expandable SD & SDHC card slot
-USB connection (with cable included)
-and perhaps my favorite part--the fact that it uses 2 AA batteries

Cons:
-When adjusting zoom, the picture becomes temporarily unfocused
-Poor image stabilization for free hand 1280 by 720 video shooting
-When filming videos to my Transcend 8GB SDHC card, you can hear the camera writing to the card faintly. It sounds similar to a helicopter in the distance. The sound is only noticeable when no noises are present in the video. I think it may have something to do with the High Capacity SD cards because I didn't notice the noise with my Sandisk 1GB SD card.

I paired my camera up with a Transcend 8GB SDHC and some Energizer NH15BP-4 ACCU 2500mAh Rechargeable AA Batteries to make it literally the best camera around. I can have over 2100 pictures at the highest resolution on it or hours of High Definition videos. The 1280 by 720 pixel videos have a maximum of 29 minutes for one continuous video. However, the 8GB card will hold hours of collective feeds. My high-drain batteries allow me to take many pictures and lots of videos without having to change or charge the batteries. Plus, when I do have to change them, I just switch the dead batteries with freshly charged ones and I'm good to go--unlike most others, I don't have to wait for the camera to charge.
Overall, I am extremely pleased with my purchase of the Kodak Z1285 EasyShare Camera and would recommend it to anyone. (We have already purchased another for my mother and my sister wants one now too.) The price is well worth the value--I paid $185 for mine and would be willing to pay $300 plus. Don't let the three cons discourage you, the benefits of purchasing this camera far transcend the drawbacks.

I wasn't very big with the kodak brand digital cameras, but they have come a long way now. This camera packs 12MP worth of resolution, prints up to a whopping 30 x 40 print. Most people will never print that big, but that means your smaller prints will come out even clearer. One thing I love is that it works on my iMac with iLife 08. It's Vista compatible. It shoots native 720P HD video. Basically, you need a very large SDHC card. I have an 8GB Transcend card that I bought off of New Egg. On that 8GB card I can shoot 2172 12MP photos, or 2 hours of HD video. This camera only shoots in 29min segments, so make sure you don't need to continuously shoot for over 29mins long. To give you an idea of file size for video, it's 1MB per sec. For pictures, it's 2MB per image. Over all, i love this camera, I'm taking it to Europe this June, it is compact and easy to use.

I bought the Kodak Z1285 about 3 weeks ago on Amazon for $149.95 and I was initially skeptical about so many features for such a low price. After shooting about 100 pictures and about 20 minutes of video, I feel that my purchase was a good one. Here's the pro's and con's why...

First, the highlights:

The 5x optical zoom is wonderful. I have had 3 digital cameras before this and the best of those had only a 3x zoom. So, 5x zoom really gets you up close. This is a real plus when you are taking pictures from, let's say, the back of a school auditorium.

Panoramic shooting mode is awesome. I have only played around with this so far, but it would be nice in outdoor shots of nature.

There is no shutter lag that I could detect.

The camera is compact enough to fit into most pockets. It is not the most compact camera out there, but it is reasonably small.

The 12 megapixel pictures are very impressive, sharp and the colors are true to life.

The video, whether at 640 x 480, or HD widescreen, is very good for a point and shoot camera. You can also zoom while taking a video (but see my drawback section). I use Pinnacle and Magix to create DVDs and have no problem creating DVDs with the quicktime (.MOV) files this camera creates. I would not throw away my camcorder just yet, but I guess the day is coming...

There are plenty of shooting modes, but the camera can be left on automatic which makes it a simple point and shoot process.

It takes AA batteries and, with the rechargeables that I use, the life of the batteries is not bad. I know what the other reviews said, but, compared with all of the other digital cameras I have had, this one has the best battery life by far and they are AA!

There is only about 2-3 second delay between photos when not using the flash. That's a decent turn around time. There is a "burst" setting if this is a problem for some.

The image stabilization mode is helpful.

Now, the drawbacks:

The camera body is all plastic. This is really not a problem, but it does lessen the "feel factor" that you are holding a quality product or showing it off to a friend.

The compression of the JPEG files by this camera cuts the picture down to anywhere from 1.4 to 2.0 megs per shot. This is not necessarily a problem, but it is not adjustable as some other manufacturers make this a user setting.

In a side by side comparison of a friend's Canon SD 1100 IS camera, I would have to say that picture quality is roughly the same. I had a difficult time telling the difference between the pictures taken by these two cameras. Keep in mind that the SD 1100 is only a 8mp camera. However, keep in mind that my friend also paid $70 more for his camera. So I am not sure if this one is a "pro" or a "con".

There is "noise" in the photos when shooting in the image stabilization mode. This appears to be due to the camera stepping up to a higher ISO.

The camera picks up a sound from the data writing to the flash card during the recording of HD video. The sound is not noticeable if, let's say, the video you are recording has a lot of sound already. However, during quiet passages, the camera picks up soft "clicks" that end up on your video. It's not terrible, but just be aware.

The camera picks up the sound of the zoom motor if you zoom while recording a video. I guess that's why most every other manufacturer out there does not allow you to zoom while taking a video.

The flash could be stronger. It's not bad; I just wish it could go beyond the 12 foot range since the optical zoom gets you out so far.

Summary:
All things considered, this camera packs a lot of features and quality for the price. The good points far outweigh any drawbacks this camera may have. No, it is not a Canon, or a Sony so your family and friends might not be impressed by the label. However, if you do not want to spend $200+ on a camera with all of these features and you want something easy to use that takes good quality pictures and video, then you will not go wrong selecting this camera. If you can get it at $149.95 like I did, then it is a real bargain.

I purchased this camera because it is one of the few available that do HD video, and it's the cheapest also. I was pleasantly surprised how good the pictures taken with this camera are. It is fully adjustable from resolutions of about 1.3MP all the way to 12MP, in 4:3 and 16:9 ratios. I took it with me on a trip to Puerto Rico and all the photos were awesome. Beach Mode is particularly good, and this camera does full three-stage panoramic shots for awesome landscapes.

My only problem with this camera (which is big) was HD video. Now, the camera records in 720p (1280x720). Now of course with any recording there are two aspects: video and audio. Video in HD is GORGEOUS. Colors are great, it has zoom, it can be a bit jumpy with motion but what do you expect. My problem is the audio. The audio to begin with is sort of dull and tinny. It records fine to internal memory, but that's only 32mb or so. You can of course record to SDHC/SD, but that it where the problem arises. When recording to memory card, the sound of the data moving to the card transfers to the videos! It's not too noticeable when recording a high volume scene, but when I tried, for example, to record my sister's baby trying to talk in a quiet room, the noise from the card completely drowned out the baby. Yes, it is THAT LOUD!

I tried two different cameras, one from Walmart one from Newegg thinking it might be that, same problem. I also tried three different SDHC cards (A-DATA, Transcend, and Sandisk Extreme III, as well as a 150x SD card. All had the same result...horrible noise in the audio feed from the camera. As I said, it doesn't happen when recording to internal memory, so the issue is clearly with the card tranfers. I called Kodak, they said it was normal...NORMAL! But then they tried to have me send it in for service, which shows they don't know what they are talking about.

So anyway, great cam for pics, their HD technology isn't there yet as the HD audio is HORRIBLE!

I love this camera. I have had it for a little over a month. Prior to this I owned 2 HP cameras. My last HP camera took wonderful pictures, but ate batteries. When going anywhere-a wedding, the zoo for the day, etc I knew to pack at least 10 batteries, usually more like 12 and I'd use everyone of them, which I why I decided to buy a new camera. Here are my thoughts:

1. Batteries- this camera is great on the batteries. I bought a pack of 4 Kodak AA reacharable, along with a charger. So far, those batteries have served me and I've only had to recharge a few times. I went to a shower where I took over 150 pictures and I NEVER had to change the batteries, and the batteries had already been in the camera for awhile.

2. Picture Quality-is great. I can easily get a clear 8 x 10 in any of the picutres. I do a lot of flower designing for weddings and I take up close pictures of my bouquets a lot. It took me a few times to play with the settings to find the right one, but it takes good pictures even with that, which leads me to my next point

3. Flash- seems to be very good. My flower colors are very true to real life, as is all of the colors in the pictures that I take.

4. Features-this camera has great feaures. It has a panoramic mode, which I love, although I haven't yet had a real reason to use it. It also has a speical self-portriat setting, which my teenage god-daughter loves. It has a fireworks option, which I can't wait to try tonight, and several other great options. When I first got the camera, I took a picture of the exact same thing using each of the settings to see how it affected the picture. If you arent sure of the settings, or are giving your camera to someone else to take pictures with, you can set it to the Smart Scene function and the camera will automatically use the best option.

5. Memory-You need to get at least a 2GB or 4GB memory card. The camera does have an "internal" memory, which I found took about 20-30 pictures depending on how many megapixels I had it set on (I usually have it set on 9, so that it doesn't take as much memory). I had a 128MB memory card from my old camera that allowed me to take just under 300 pix on that camera, but I could only take about 45 on this one. Now that I have the 4GB card, I can take over 2,000 pictures.

6. Software- I don't really like the software that came with it. I find it hard to use, and it took a lot of memory from my system. The HP software is much better than the Kodak software. It put my pictures is some weird file that I had to search long for before I could find where they were to send out in an email, etc. The software works with both the Vista Desktop I have, and my XP laptop. I have found it easier to just use the memory card port on the desktop, rather than hooking up the camera with the included USB cord. That being said, the software is great if you want to burn your pictures to a CD, since it's very easy.

7. The only 2 things I dont LOVE about this camera is the fact that each time I remove the batteries & recharge them, I have to re-set the time & date. This may be because it is without batteries at times for 24+ hours. However, that is not enough to stop me from highly recommending this camera. I also find the turn-around time between shots to be a little longer that I would like, but there may be a setting to help change with. I'm still playing with the camera, and haven't played with EVERY feature yet.

All in all, the camera is an excellent value and I don't regret buying it.

I purchased my Kodak Z1285 12 Megapixel compact camera because I needed better resolution and my previous Kodak was a small 4 MP. Nothing wrong, it still works. I just needed something sharper. When I saw the Kodak Z1285, I jumped at it. I have never looked back. This camera is incredible in both sharpness and quality. Even the High Definition video is incredible.

Like many Kodak digital cameras, the Z1285 shares the same simplicity and ease-of-use that has made Kodak digital cameras so popular. Kodak's use of Schneider-Kreuznach lenses are so sharp, I can count the stitches on clothing in my pictures. I was shocked how sharp pictures came from this little camera. My previous Kodak's had their standard Retinar lenses, yet experiencing the Schneider-Kreuznach lens clarity, I could never go back. Compared to Canon or Fuji lenses, the Kodak's Schneider-Kreuznach lenses are leaps-and-bounds better. The camera's construction is well thought-out. It's solid and well-built. Nothing clunky or cheap here.

The Kodak Z1285 comes with a USB 2.0 transfer cable along with Kodak's EasyShare software. The user menu is similar to previous Kodak menus. So the learning cure is almost nil. It has a small AC power port, along with a SD/MMC memory card port for added memory. Its size is both small, yet easily handled. It's not super-slim not leafy in weight. It holds some weight to allow the user to hold and maneuver and shoot/video with some control (a problem with razor-thin digital cameras).

The camera uses Smart Scene as default for scene selection. The Kodak Z1285 `reads' the image you're shooting and adjusts the camera to the best scene selection. The Scene setting allows you to select preset scene settings, such as Night time, Sunset, Portrait, Fireworks, Candle light, Beach, and many more. You can also select Program and Manual mode to configure or manually configure your own camera settings. This camera can also be used as a web cam.

Besides the sharpness of the pictures, I was shocked by the clarity of the video. This small camera shoots HD video. You can zoom using the small toggle while shooting video, as well. The video is quite impressive, given the camera's small size.

The one drawback with this camera is the battery life. Unless you're using Lithium batteries, expect to replace alkalines on a regular basis.

I highly recommend this camera to both amateur and familiar photographers who would like a small yet powerful high-megapixel digital camera/video in their pocket or purse. This camera packs not a punch, but punches! The camera is well worth the price. You will not be disappointed with this most amazing Kodak Z1285 12 megapixel camera!

I had this camera for about 6 months when it went on the fritz - same problem several users have mentioned - the lens freezes when it zooms and won't turn back on. Sent it back to the Kodak repair subcontractor twice with no results. My 5 MP Kodak was great - but no more Kodaks for me. The Z1285 has a lot of lemons on the market and Kodak won't make it right for consumers.

I was excited when I purchased this camera.. 12 megapixels, optical zoom! I bought it in September 2007. And it was treated so very well..no dropping, no nothing, hardly used it..

In September 2008, it started to freeze and die. Fresh batteries didn't help. Sometimes it turned on, sometimes not. Now it is permanently opened..the lens extended..and it will not turn on.

I had to buy a new camera in October (Nikon- I didn't make the same mistake twice) so I could take photos on my trip to see family.

I wrote several detailed emails to Kodak. They just recommended new batteries and other nonhelpful thoughts. Now I can't use the camera. Should I toss it, repair it? They do not replace defective cameras and they will not pay for repair, though there was ostensibly a year warranty on the darn thing. I don't really know what a warranty is worth. Nothing, apparantly.

My advice is- DO NOT BUY this camera..be wary of Kodak products. No help will be forthcoming should you get a crappy product. Maybe all digital camera makers are like this...I don't know yet.