Customer Reviews

Kodak Easyshare Z8612IS 8.1 MP Digital Camera with 12xOptical Image Stabilized Zoom

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have only had the camera for a couple of days and I'm already very pleased with it. Takes wonderful pictures right out of the box in the Auto mode, but there are many different features that I will have to play around with. The 12x zoom is perfect for catching objects from a distance and the Image Stabilizer works wonders. I have tried to shake the camer while taking the picture and it has still came out great.

A few things to know before buying: The camera does not have an electronic viewfinder, so sometimes in direct light(sun)it may be hard to view the LCD screen. It also uses 3 different types of batteries KLIC-8000 (rechargeable Li Ion), CRV3 (Non rechargeable Li Ion), and it also takes 2 AA litium Ion batteries. If you buy the KLIC-8000 battery you have to purchase a separate charger, you cannot charge the battery in the camera. If you are looking for a big zoom camera that will fit in your pocket this is not the camera for you.

I orginally wrote this review after using the camera for only a few hours because I found that I liked it a lot. Several weeks later I still stand by the review. They've tried to pack as much basic camera into as few dollars as possible and IMHO they've done a good job. They've also included enough old-school professional grade features to let someone who understands f-stops, shutter speeds and depth-of-field to play with that a little.

Megapixels don't mean much anymore without the glass to support a good image and the glass on this one seems pretty good (Schneider-KRUEZNACH). The glass doesn't fill up the whole width of the lens barrel you see in the picture. Some of that width is probably for the optics of the zoom and possibly appearance. There's more and better glass however, than your typical point-and-shoot. I'm surprised how clear a picture I can get with 8.1 mega pixels. I just blew my best picture up on a 46 inch 1080p big screen TV and, even at this size, I can zoom in quite a bit before it breaks down. For me it's worth having a boxy shape that won't fit in my pocket to get a good zoom and good glass. The zoom is surprisingly variable too. It doesn't confine you to half-dozen or so preset stages, so you can frame the image as you'd like. Without preset stages, however, it wants to refocus each time you change the zoom, so it's not a continuous image and you have to be willing to put up with a moment of blur.

The focusing system itself is great. It works on some kind of grid system and it decides which part of the picture is relevant, outlines the parts of the grid it's using to focus and sets the lens. I love it! It does a pretty good job of picking the relevant detail, and you can aim it elsewhere and hold down the button if you want to tell it to focus on something else.

If you like pushing the limits of what can be done with ambient light, this camera is better than a typical pocket point and shoot. (Due to the extra glass) Even in a dark living room lit by a 60-watt incadescent light bulb and two north windows, I was able to get a super dense/detailed picture of my kid, which I'm very happy with, using no flash. (The camera picked a 1/40 shutter speed.) In the same room, with no light on, I zoomed in on my dog from 9 feet away and the camera took an awfully good picture at 1/6 of a sec. Again, I was leaning against something, but -- at a sixth -- the image stabilization had to be working overtime to preserve the sharpness it did. Zooming in all the way, showed it wasn't quite as sharp as my second picture with a flash, but it was easily good enough to blow-up on 1080p TV. And it was better, of course, because it didn't have that "flat" look that comes with using a flash. For a camera under $700 I thought it did extremely well with low light ... and I suppose one could always use the flash.

One aspect of photography is the fleeting nature of any image you might try to capture. At this price I can't get a rapid refresh between pictures, but what I did get with the Z8612 is a camera that captures the image immediately - the image or facial expression I actually saw - without the digital pause. I've not found this before in consumer-grade digital cameras and for me that was really important. Some have objected to the automatic lens cap release, but I really like the "ready to shoot" concept in that design. You hit the power button and "bing" the lens cap pops off, the lens shoots forward and the flash (if you want it) is ready to go.

Some reviews have commented the battery that shipped with the camera didn't last long at all, and I found that to be the case as well. The AA lithiums I replaced it with have lasted fairly well and it took a while to go through the first pair. I may upgrade to the official rechargeable unit, but these are pretty cheap.

I only bought this camera because I lost a Samsung 10 mpix NV11 but I'm glad I did. That was a nice (more expensive) consumer camera, with good reviews, and the array of buttons was neat, but the Kodak just seems to be designed better. The wider glass handles low light better; the images are as good or better even though it has fewer pixels, the image is truer to what I saw because the electronic delay kicks in AFTER the camera captures the shot, the zoom is more versatile and more powerful - again better glass - it's easier to learn, the color handling is good, the focus is more responsive and informative, and I can load images on my computer without installing any software. With the Kodak, I also get the sense of something designed by camera people and, for me, that difference has turned out to mean a lot. For instance, there are fewer buttons yet I can easily dial the EV (darkness/lightness bias) up or down a few stops in the midst of shooting, which is great.

It's kind of a gimick I guess, but they throw in a camera mode that intelligently stitches together several pictures into one panoramic view. I've not had that before and I was kind of "blown away" at first. With your help, it seems to sense how to line up appropriate edges when it can. You have to admire the software team that pulled that off.

Note that this camera does NOT have a range finder (i.e. a look-through port at the top of the camera). For me the design and lens quality took the sting out of that, but if that doesn't work for you, you may want to look at the Kodak Z1015 IS for an extra $90. I haven't tried that camera.

This is, by no means, the $1,200 EOS SLR I'm currently drooling over but, for me, it captures enough of the SLR experience to ease those cravings for now. Carrying this simple, boxy-looking camera around is an exercise in humility but, on the other hand, it doesn't shout "steal me" when you set it down somewhere. It does seem to capture enough of the things a photographer needs that I don't feel like I have to sacrifice something to go from film to digital even though I'm buying a budget camera. At the time I bought it, retailers were dropping like flies and the camera was going for something over $150 and I felt very, very fortunate to get this much camera for the price I paid, as I still do today. Apparently others agree as the demand has grown and the price has risen quite a bit.

I made the mistake of buying this camera sight unseen and without reading the reviews.

First, the good: takes wonderful pictures. I had an olympus 3.2mp 10x optical zoom camera. this one beats it in all modes I've tried including the super macro setting for ultra close ups.

Having said that, the engineers who designed this screwed the pooch so badly they need to be shot, hung, drawn and quartered, and their heads put on a pike. Same goes for the marketing morons who specified this product.

It takes 2 AA batteries. It eats them. Nope, rechargeable Nimh won't work. Not even the high capacity ones; too much power draw. You MUST use the lithium ion ones. Yeah, the $2 each AA lithium battery. Stupid engineers.

The reason it eats them is the large LCD display on the back is the ONLY way to take a picture; there is no viewfinder. Stupid marketing people. The LCD washes out easily if you're taking a picture in sunlight.

Second, the delay time to store the picture is ridiculous. I've tried faster SD cards to no avail. If you want to take more than 3 pictures within 10 seconds (count to 10; it's a long time...), this is not your camera.

And the lens cap always comes off. WTF?? I've owned a number of cameras; expensive, cheap, and moderate, and never been so disgusted with their inability to execute on this simple thing. It's like they put their worst guys on this camera. Really, how hard is it to make a camera with a lens cap that stays on? If Boeing designed things this poorly, planes wouldn't even be getting off the ground. The lens is one of the most important parts of the camera and it's at high risk of getting scratched with no lens cap.. Stupid engineers.

There are other issues with this camera, but those are the biggies.

Don't buy this camera. There are other cameras out there where you don't have to make the tradeoffs this one requires of you.

I own this camera. Bought it after enough research.

About the "issues":

1) Lens cap falling off - The lens cap falls off only when you turn the camera on. Not sure why this is perceived as a big issue if you use the lanyard to attach it to the body of the cam. It is like the cam saying "I am ready for it !" :-). When you turn it off, close the lens with the cap and it stays intact. The only annoyance is that when you want to see the snaps on your cam, but don't want to take any snap for the time being, the lens can't have the cap on since it will fall off when you turn the cam on. But do you think that when you view the snaps on the lcd of your cam the lens can get damaged because the cap is not on ? I don't. This is a non-issue to me.

2) Lens popping up - This is an annoyance, but the easy work around would be to keep a finger on the flash when you turn the cam on. Thats it !

3) Battery getting drained quick - Three types of batteries can be used on this cam which are recommended by Kodak- AA sized Lithium batteries, CRV-3 batteries and the Klic-8000 batteries. I bought "2 NEW Lithium-Ion BATTERY & CHARGER For KODAK CR-V3 CRV3 C743 / DX4530 / DX6330 / DX6340" from amazon. You can use the link http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00153RFUY to see this product. Got 2 rechargeable CRV-3 type batteries and a charger for less than $14 which includes shipping. These batteries do work and lasts for plenty of snaps.

4) Slowness - Turn review/Quickview off and you can take 4 snaps in 10 seconds. If you are one who takes more than 4 snaps in 10 seconds, a $100 cam is not what you should be looking for.

5) Use manual is not detailed - Download the extended user guide from Kodak website. You can use the link http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/products/ekn035114.jhtml?pq-path=12672 to get the extended user guide.

The lens is great. Image stabilization works very well. The camera feels solid in your hand. The cam offers 12x zoom, PASM modes, a bunch of scene selections, panorama mode, takes excellent snaps and has great low light capabilities. The buttons are laid out pretty well and neat too. If you are looking for a cam which takes excellent snaps, has good zoom, your budget is less than $150-$170 [You can get one for less than $109 including shipping] and you don't care about the size and looks of the cam, then this is the one ! If you are ok with 3x-4x zoom and want a compact cam which takes great snaps and offer PASM modes and other features, looks good and should be within $150-$170 go for Canon A590 [You get it for less than $114 including shipping. I bought one for $98 a couple of months back. Now the prices have been raised probably because of the rising demand]. Download the Canon firmware hack and get it loaded on your A590 and that makes it a super cam, though with only 4x zoom. I own both z8612 and A590. z8612 takes snaps which are far colourful and rich than A590.

I only got to play with this camera for five minutes at Staples, but expect me to place my order soon. For the price, these features are usually unheard of. The camera shot super clear pictures zoomed completely out or completely in. Rapid-fire shooting rate captures clear images, even when moving fast ( I was rotating in circles to test this out, if you've ever been shopping with me I test every camera I buy completely). My only qualm was that it is built like a traditional 35mm camera, meaning that anyone wanting to stash it in their jeans pocket for stealth shooting may be out of luck. But since I work from my car, this will not be a problem. Definitely a good quality camera that will carry me until I can afford an XSi and beyond.

This is a great camera for the price. It's pretty intuitive to use. It's easy to delete unwanted pics on the fly. I bought this as a replacement for a Sony. Take good pics easily. True, it does take Li-Ion batteries, as do most higher quality cameras (look around a little) The rechargeable Li-Ion battery lasts a lot longer and has more voltage. I picked up a charger on Amazon, including the battery for about $30.00. So for around $200 total, a very decent set up. Save time for photos to SD card is decent. Again probably thanks to Li-Ion. Good manual settings too. It seems like a good camera for someone who may want to use in auto or do a little experimenting with manual controls as well. The options are there. 12X's optical zoom is awesome.

For the price I paid for this camera, I was expecting the same old average digital camera that I usually buy. After taking just a few photos, I realized that this camera was far better than any other camera I've ever purchased for the price!! In fact, the Z8612IS completely wipes out a camera I had purchased in the past for over $200!! The pictures are crisp and clear, and you don't even have to play around with the settings to take a really good photo. Most of the pictures I take are in "Auto" mode which doesn't work that well on some cameras. But on this camera, it works like a charm!! This camera is also "user-friendly" and isn't that hard for the average person to understand how to use it. Anybody who says otherwise must be a complete newbie when it comes to digital cameras. The only thing I didn't like about this camera is that it doesn't take regular AA batteries. However, lithium ion batteries last much much longer so even if it did take AA batteries, lithium ions would be the better choice. For the price of this camera, you really can't beat it!! I'm surprised this camera isn't selling for the retail price of $200 because that's what it's really worth. If you're searching for a digital camera that costs around $120, then I would highly recommend you go along with this one.

My first digital Camera was a Nikon who was given to me by my son.I never had a camera before.When this one stopped operating, I knew i have to get another one.Don't get me wrong,this Nikon is a good Camera.Kodak EasyShare 8612IS I thought the best camera .After I have searched and keep looking that I like, this one I rated 4.5 to 5 stars.
The quality of pictures are superb.After I read the instructions,I experiment to take pictures at work,inside and outside the house,the flowers and plants we have around came out perfect.I made some mistakes of taking pictures because I forgot to change settings on the mode dial.
But most of my shooting came out nice.Also,it takes about 3 sec.in-between takes.Second con,it takes about 8 to 10 secs. to light the 2.5" LCD.
It has a cover for the lens,the glass itself look like an SLR professional camera.Yet it's true that it is not a pocket camera.I bought 4gb sd and will take over one thousands pictures, one hour of video, which I haven't try it yet.It comes with the strap and a battery,you have to buy your own charger. Oh, the battery last longer than expected, over a week. Well, that's when your not taking pictures a lot.I still have to get familiarized with the features,after all I just have this last 17th,aug08. I love the color a black surface.As other recommended for potential buyers,check it personally,try to feel in your hand if it is comfortable or too big for your fingers to press tiny bottons.Like Ii said if you want a pocket camera this one is not for you.By the way the lens is not retractable, permanently protrude.
I am writing this review after 32 months I bought it. Now I am changing my attributes for durability and performance.I say to some negatives about it.The flash
stop working,all the features on the Dial mode not showing anymore.Still takes good pictures outdoors and of coarse bad quality images indoors,sucks.The rubber felt
on the hundle peeled off, so I glued back in.It could be just my camera, and others may stil in good conditions.

Great camera, good optics and pictures...only bad thing is it DOES NOT have a viewfinder, only LCD screen. This will make outdoor shooting a pain in the rear. This was not clear in the product discription and is the only disappointment with this camera.

I purchased this camera to replace our older point and shoot digital that we kept handy to take snaps of the grandkids when they are over. (The old camera had a fatal incident involving a sidewalk a few weeks ago.) I was very surprised with the quality of the pictures I have taken with this camera. Pleased enough to take a little time to write up a review.

First the pics off this camera are terrific. The lens is wonderful. I would consider this a great lens at any price, and certainly unusual to find a lens of this quality on a camera in this price range.

Initial start up and ready to shoot time is very good. Recycle time between pics is adequate at 8MP and very good at 5MP. The time between pressing the shutter and the image capture is very fast.

The controls are simple. The camera is light weight and easy to hold and shoot with one hand. (If you are right handed.) In fact the camera is so lightweight that at first I worried about durability. I don't worry so much now. It has already survived one drop to the floor with no problems so evidently it is sturdier than it feels.

The pre-programed modes are easy to adjust. Not a lot of menus to toggle through. I believe you will find yourself shooting on auto most of the time. I have found that works fine for just about everything.

The flash is adequate for most family snapshots. What is even better is the low light capability. There is a high ISO mode that also works quite well.

There is no viewfinder but the display is bright and relatively easy to see even in daylight. The brightness is adjustable but you have to navigate the menu system to change the display brightness.

Speaking of battery life, it is actually very good. The camera will not work with conventional alkaline batteries so good battery life is a good thing. The CRV3 battery is lasting much longer than batteries on my other digital cameras so I can't complain too much. (CRV3 batteries are not available everywhere so keep an extra in your bag, or get rechargeable ones.)

The zoom works very well. Very smooth and allows stopping at any point. And with 12x optical zoom capability there is really no need for a bag full of lenses.

The image stabilization works great. Great for use in a moving car.

When you turn the camera on, the lens cap automatically pops off. (So use the cord to attach it to the camera body.) The flash always pops up as well. Even if it isn't needed. It does not flash if not needed but it is always up and ready in case you move into a low light situation.

The camera looks are kind of plain. Nothing flashy about it at all. Still it works just fine.

So overall I have to say this is a great camera. Especially in this price range. You can find remarkable deals on line for this 8MP model. I do miss the viewfinder. (I still find myself putting the camera to my eye to take a picture. 50 years of looking through viewfinders is a hard habit to break.) But this system works very well and the resulting photos are great, which is the whole point isn't it?

I have not used the video much. But it seems easy enough to use and has pretty good quality from a still camera.

Over all this is a great digital camera. A really great lens and lots of features for very little money.