Best Digital Cameras, Customer Reviews

Review by amazonaddict:

This camera is incredibly easy to use, but offers enough advanced features for the average point-and-shoot user. I bought the camera for my older parents who needed a simple camera. I was choosing between the Kodak M1033 and this camera, but decided to go with this camera because it is slightly easier to use. Kodak describes the C series as a line of easy entry-level cameras, and that’s definitely true.

PROS:

- Easy for first-time digital camera users

- Large LCD screen

- Large amount of megapixels

- Many “scene” settings pre-programmed for different types of shots

- Very low price

- Compact size

- Plug and play sharing via EasyShare

CONS:

- No viewfinder

- M1033 has a couple extra features (i.e., panoramic stitching)

- Uses AA batteries vs. charger (although this is mitigated by a good set of rechargeable batteries

Buy this camera if you’re looking for an affordable, compact, easy to use camera. It will meet the needs of most point-and-shoot users. Do not buy this camera if you’re looking to customize your shots beyond pre-programmed settings (i.e., adjustments in ISO, f-stop, shutter speed, etc.), but that should be self-evident, as this is a point-and-shoot.

Review by E. Josephs:

Bought this one for my 12yo niece. I try every piece of electronic equipment before I give it. I was surprised. It took me only 2-3 minutes to get familiar with the camera’s operation out of the box (no instruction reading). I found it’s set-up to be very intuitive without the massive confusing menu system of – oh – lets say the CANNON POWERSHOT A560.

Set up the camera mode on a dial switch.

turn flash on/off/auto at a single button.

point-click-picture. And nice ones too.

small problem – the picture stabilization mode only seems to work when the flash is used. When the flash is on, you can violently shake this camera all over the place and it will capture the crispest image when it goes off, even your shoes or ceiling if you’re shaking it that violently.

Using a 4GB sandisk sdhc card, on maximum 10mp, the camera says it will hold just under 2000 pictures on the counter. On minimum 1.2mp setting, the counter stops at 9999. Yes, nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine. The numbers don’t add up to me for MP size and # of photos, but if upscaling is used ( as I’ve read from others) , then these picture quantities do start to make sense.

Between the Cannon power shot and another hard to use upscale Sony camera, both my mother and sister wanted this one for ease of use. What they actually want.

My neice looooooooooooves this camera.

Takes about 45min of video too.

If you want wall sized pictures – this is not for you.

Full page picture – It can handle pretty well.

4×6 memories – I don’t think anyone can go wrong.

Review by K. Borah:

I bought the camera for the 10X optical zoom, because I’d like to get closer up pictures at concerts and I’m looking forward to taking pictures in the mountains this year with it. I already had a good Kodak camera, but with less zoom and less megapixels. So far, I haven’t gotten to check out the zoom for things like that, but I’ve taken some close up pictures of a butterfly and gotten clear, detailed pictures. You can even see the barbs on its legs. It’s easy to use, I like being able to crop my pictures on the camera, you can even add a sound tag onto your picture. I like that you can put it on smart capture and the camera does the work for you. Its a good, sturdy camera and even though I had read reviews that it was a little bulky, it is smaller than my last digital camera and doesn’t feel bulky to me at all. So far, loving this camera!

Review by K. Campos:

I have had probably ten different digital cameras over the last ten years, mostly Kodak, although the most recent ones were Canon. I was spoiled with the 12x optical zoom on my Kodak Z1012 and the clear, sharp images it produced. I don’t want to carry it in my purse every day though! I recently purchased a Canon SX110, which is small enough to carry daily and takes great photos; however, it doesn’t allow for a date stamp except at 1600×1200 resolution. After researching for several days online, I purchased a Kodak Z915 today. Took it straight to the park and played with it. Got some fantastic photos today. I mean, I was surprisingly truly impressed by the clear, sharp images I got today for a relatively inexpensive camera. I love the 10x zoom — can’t even imagine owning a camera with less after having that feature for a couple of years now. This one does all that I need and does it well. The movie mode seemed to have tiny shifts in focus while recording, but I don’t use the video features on my cameras too often, so not a concern for me. I may play with it some more and see if some tweaking of settings will allow for a smoother playback. Again, can’t say enough how happy I am with the image quality and that’s my main requirement.

Review by amazonaddict:

This camera is incredibly easy to use, but offers enough advanced features for the average point-and-shoot user. I bought the camera for my older parents who needed a simple camera. I was choosing between the Kodak M1033 and this camera, but decided to go with this camera because it is slightly easier to use. Kodak describes the C series as a line of easy entry-level cameras, and that’s definitely true.

PROS:

- Easy for first-time digital camera users

- Large LCD screen

- Large amount of megapixels

- Many “scene” settings pre-programmed for different types of shots

- Very low price

- Compact size

- Plug and play sharing via EasyShare

CONS:

- No viewfinder

- M1033 has a couple extra features (i.e., panoramic stitching)

- Uses AA batteries vs. charger (although this is mitigated by a good set of rechargeable batteries

Buy this camera if you’re looking for an affordable, compact, easy to use camera. It will meet the needs of most point-and-shoot users. Do not buy this camera if you’re looking to customize your shots beyond pre-programmed settings (i.e., adjustments in ISO, f-stop, shutter speed, etc.), but that should be self-evident, as this is a point-and-shoot.

Review by E. Josephs:

Bought this one for my 12yo niece. I try every piece of electronic equipment before I give it. I was surprised. It took me only 2-3 minutes to get familiar with the camera’s operation out of the box (no instruction reading). I found it’s set-up to be very intuitive without the massive confusing menu system of – oh – lets say the CANNON POWERSHOT A560.

Set up the camera mode on a dial switch.

turn flash on/off/auto at a single button.

point-click-picture. And nice ones too.

small problem – the picture stabilization mode only seems to work when the flash is used. When the flash is on, you can violently shake this camera all over the place and it will capture the crispest image when it goes off, even your shoes or ceiling if you’re shaking it that violently.

Using a 4GB sandisk sdhc card, on maximum 10mp, the camera says it will hold just under 2000 pictures on the counter. On minimum 1.2mp setting, the counter stops at 9999. Yes, nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine. The numbers don’t add up to me for MP size and # of photos, but if upscaling is used ( as I’ve read from others) , then these picture quantities do start to make sense.

Between the Cannon power shot and another hard to use upscale Sony camera, both my mother and sister wanted this one for ease of use. What they actually want.

My neice looooooooooooves this camera.

Takes about 45min of video too.

If you want wall sized pictures – this is not for you.

Full page picture – It can handle pretty well.

4×6 memories – I don’t think anyone can go wrong.

Review by Michael J. Mcmorrow:

I have had my Z981 for two weeks and I have given it a thorough testing. My son is a professional photographer and he told me that I would be disappointed with this camera. I told him that I would give it a real-world test and, if I was disappointed, I would send it back.

First the cons: 1) The On/Off toggle switch is awkwardly placed. It is almost impossible to turn the camera on (or off) without moving (changing) the Mode dial. 2) The battery compartment is easy to open but very difficult to close and lock (I use my car key to slide it). Also, make sure the camera works once you have locked it. For some reason, this seems to be a problem. 3) A hotshoe and tilting view screen would have been nice but I knew from the specs that I would get neither. 4) The zoom on the back of the camera (rather than on the top) is awkward but I will get use to it. 5) I would have gladly paid an extra to have the camera built out of heavy duty plastic.

Now the pros: 1) The photo quality is first rate. 2) The zoom is smooth but, keep in mind that in high power, you really need to steady the camera (I use a monopod). 3) The video automatically includes sound (not so with all cameras). 4) The video is very high quality (1280×720) and the optical zoom works in video mode. When playing this video, it fills my entire computer monitor – not just a little window in the middle of the monitor. 5) It uses SD cards. This doesn’t sound like much but these are much cheaper than the proprietary cards that some cameras use. 6) It uses AA batteries. Since I travel a lot in the Amazon, built-in (or proprietary) rechargeable batteries are not an option for me. 7) I love having a separate button for all of the different functions. Most cameras have a Function button that you push and then get totally lost in the maze of options, sub-options and sub-sub-options. The price is great. I have never paid less that 0 for a digital camera.

Bottom line: Great pictures, great high resolution video, 14mp and 26x zoom. It has some quirks but is a great camera at a great price.

Review by Mercedes L. Johnmeyer:

I have only owned Kodak cameras, and the Z981 is an upgrade for me from the Z1485 and the Z712, both of which I loved. What sold me on the Z981 however, was the 26x zoom. My Z712 had a 12x zoom, which was great, and the Z1485 was only a 5x, but it’s small and pocket sized…great for throwing in my purse. Now, be advised…I am NOT a professional photographer (or anywhere near one). I am a stay-at-home-mom who has a slight obsession with cameras, but just cannot bring herself to take the SLR plunge. I take daily photos of my son, and of course, family trips/vacations. That said, this camera may be a bit much for your everyday Joe just wanting to take pictures of the family, since this IS pretty large and quite bulky to to carry around once it’s in a case…though I certainly don’t mind.

In my trials with this camera, I have found only a couple things that I’m not completely happy with. That main one is the battery compartment. While easy to open (just slide the tab and it pops open), it’s darn near IMPOSSIBLE to close. I have to use a small screwdriver to slide the tab over once the batteries are in place. Also, when taking video, if you zoom in, it takes a few seconds for the focus to right itself, which may not seem like a big deal, but 5 seconds can be a long time on a short video clip.

As for everything else…I’m thrilled. While the on/off switch may be in an awkward place for some people, it’s located in the same spot on the Z712, so I was already used to that. All the dial settings are very easy to use, and when you switch to each one, there’s a brief explanation on what conditions you would use that particular setting for. Of course, my favorite is the ‘Children playing in sunlight’ setting. I can take crisp, clear pics of my boy while he’s running around, and not have to worry about them being blurry, or dark. Also, (and one of the most important things, at least for me), the click-to-capture speed is VERY fast. When I push that button, it takes the picture…and I can take multiple pictures, one right after the other, with no delay.

The Share feature is also very neat. I’ll admit, I’m still getting comfortable with using the App, but it’s coming a little easier to me now. You’ll have to download the Share App to your computer if you wish to use this feature. It’ll take about 10 minutes to set it up. I think the main reason I love Kodak so much is their user friendly approach to picture taking…it’s why they’re the only brand of camera I’ve ever used. The Kodak EasyShare program is SIMPLE to use, and a great place to store or alter your pictures. Their cameras (even one as advanced as this particular model) are very easy to get the hang of after a bit of practice. If you’re at all interested in this camera, I say go for it. I’m VERY pleased with mine, however, as I said, it may be a little much for the casual picture taker.

Review by Megan Leigh:

I’ve owned a Kodak camera for five years now and it was time to replace it. For Christmas I had purchased a Nikon Coolpix s203 thinking that I needed a change. Long story short, I took the camera back to Target and exchanged it for this one. Everything about this camera is spectacular. Regardless if you’re an experinced photographer or brand new this camera is for you. Gone are the days of changing the settings, this camera does it automatically for you. Of course if you want to do it yourself you still have that option. The image quality on the camera’s screen is very clear, and the photos come out amazingly too. I haven’t had a change to mess with the video on the camera yet but from what the box says it makes it easy to put on Youtube. It’s very easy to use and I love everything about this camera.

Review by Happy SAHM of twin girls:

I was going to buy the Kodak easyshare Z1015 IS (10 megapixels-15 optical zoom) because it has great reviews, more optical zoom and same price but after comparing the features and specifications of both, pretty much the Z950 has the same things but is not as big as the other one and it has more megapixels-12. It is also newer and looks great too. I took the risk, because I only found 1 review and it was 5stars. I bought it online and I received it on friday and I love the zoom it has and the picture quality. I agree with the thing commented before about the instructions it comes with, they are not so detail but the camara itself is easy to manage and use.

Review by Jeffrey M. Curtis:

So far I have to say we (my wife and I) are impressed with the camera. The photos so far are relatively sharp (increasing the sharpness in P mode helps even more) and the colors are great. The ergonomics of the camera are well thought out and the build quality is solid.

Having used small Kodak Cameras for the last few years (v550, v705 & m1033) this is a larger camera. That said, I think that the 10x Zoom will be a nice feature and make the size increase over the pocket cameras worth it.

Shot to Shot performance is a bit on the sluggish side, but not too big of a deal. Shutter lag is very quick and is helpful for catching quick photos since we have a little baby that moves around a lot!

It would have been nice to make the camera Dock compatible, but we can live with plugging it into the iMac with the USB to transfer photos and charge the battery.

Overall I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars (not 5 stars due to the speed between photos and time to clear the buffer when shooting continuously).

I would definitely recommend this camera!

Review by A. H. Reeves:

I’m impressed with the picture quality and the ease of use. I can expand a picture to wallpaper size on my monitor and not get pixilation. It has several settings but can be used easily right out of the box. The online manual (downloadable in PDF)is easy to understand & comprehensive. The attached instructions are pretty basic. I don’t like that it has a proprietary USB cable, though spares can be had off Ebay for less than . Also a person can remove the SD card & upload from it directly. It will take up to a 32 GB card according to the manual. I can get around a 100+ photos on a 1 GB card. Battery life is OK, takes 2 AA batteries.

I’m not a real camera buff, I just wanted a point & shoot camera. This fits the bill perfectly for me.

Review by PaulD:

I am an advanced amateur user of expensive film cameras for many decades and purchased this as a gift. I am blown away by the quality of these digital images. This is a really nice camera and easy to use – small and compact, too. Although the camera has various settings, the automatic feature on this camera will try to automatically select the setting appropriate for the scene (i.e. backlit subjects that you don’t want to come out dark, come out perfectly exposed). I can honestly find nothing wrong for a camera in this price range. And, don’t let he price fool you – you get a very good camera with additional settings (should you need them) for a GREAT price and can you believe it even comes with a tripod socket! Kodak has done a nice job with this camera…kudos to them! And, Amazon has great prices – keep up the good work Amazon and I will return.

Review by Bonnie DeMotte:

This camera is fantastic! The pictures are beautiful, very clear in a lot of different conditions. The lcd is large and has great resolution. I recently purchased the Kodak m380, and the lcd screen was larger, but the resolution wasn’t good, so you really couldn’t tell if you took a good picture until you saw it on the computer. I ended up returning that camera because it didn’t take good pictures, and I really missed the 10X zoom. This camera has the portability of a smaller “pocket” type camera, but all of the features of a full size camera. It is also a lot easier to hold and handle than the smaller m380. That one was awkward to figure out where to put your hands for a steady shot. It was almost too small. This one is perfect! I really love it, and the price was fantastic. I bought the red one because at the time it was cheaper than the black one on Amazon.

Review by Mar:

I just got this camera today ! red ! love it.

its little and takes nice sharp crispy pictures. colorful.

its a bit heavy but thats fine,

its cheap and good !

recommend this camera to everybody.

Review by amazonaddict:

This camera is incredibly easy to use, but offers enough advanced features for the average point-and-shoot user. I bought the camera for my older parents who needed a simple camera. I was choosing between the Kodak M1033 and this camera, but decided to go with this camera because it is slightly easier to use. Kodak describes the C series as a line of easy entry-level cameras, and that’s definitely true.

PROS:

- Easy for first-time digital camera users

- Large LCD screen

- Large amount of megapixels

- Many “scene” settings pre-programmed for different types of shots

- Very low price

- Compact size

- Plug and play sharing via EasyShare

CONS:

- No viewfinder

- M1033 has a couple extra features (i.e., panoramic stitching)

- Uses AA batteries vs. charger (although this is mitigated by a good set of rechargeable batteries

Buy this camera if you’re looking for an affordable, compact, easy to use camera. It will meet the needs of most point-and-shoot users. Do not buy this camera if you’re looking to customize your shots beyond pre-programmed settings (i.e., adjustments in ISO, f-stop, shutter speed, etc.), but that should be self-evident, as this is a point-and-shoot.

Review by E. Josephs:

Bought this one for my 12yo niece. I try every piece of electronic equipment before I give it. I was surprised. It took me only 2-3 minutes to get familiar with the camera’s operation out of the box (no instruction reading). I found it’s set-up to be very intuitive without the massive confusing menu system of – oh – lets say the CANNON POWERSHOT A560.

Set up the camera mode on a dial switch.

turn flash on/off/auto at a single button.

point-click-picture. And nice ones too.

small problem – the picture stabilization mode only seems to work when the flash is used. When the flash is on, you can violently shake this camera all over the place and it will capture the crispest image when it goes off, even your shoes or ceiling if you’re shaking it that violently.

Using a 4GB sandisk sdhc card, on maximum 10mp, the camera says it will hold just under 2000 pictures on the counter. On minimum 1.2mp setting, the counter stops at 9999. Yes, nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine. The numbers don’t add up to me for MP size and # of photos, but if upscaling is used ( as I’ve read from others) , then these picture quantities do start to make sense.

Between the Cannon power shot and another hard to use upscale Sony camera, both my mother and sister wanted this one for ease of use. What they actually want.

My neice looooooooooooves this camera.

Takes about 45min of video too.

If you want wall sized pictures – this is not for you.

Full page picture – It can handle pretty well.

4×6 memories – I don’t think anyone can go wrong.