- 10.1-megapixel resolution for prints up to 30 x 40 inches
- 12x optical zoom with optical image stabilization
- 2.5-inch LCD screen
- Enhanced click-to-capture speed (0.14 sec) and auto-focus accuracy; Smart capture mode
- Capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)
Product Description
Kodak 1324748 EasyShare Z1012 IS Digital Camera 10MP / 12X Opt.IS / 32MB / 2.5″ LCD / HD. Compact ergonomic design. Face detection technology. Multiple scene and color modes. On-camera Share button and Favorites feature.
Kodak EasyShare Z1012 10.1MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Related posts:
- Kodak EasyShare Z1015IS 10MP Digital Camera with 15x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
- Kodak Easyshare Z915 10MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with 2.5 inch LCD
- Kodak EasyShare M1093IS 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
- Kodak EasyShare M1073IS 10.2 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
- Kodak EasyShare Z8612IS 8.1MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
When I wanted a new camera, my first thought was one of the Japanese trinity: Canon, Nikon or Sony. I first got into Kodak almost by accident: we went on a trip and left our camera at home so I bought a V603 P&S on sale at Walmart. Loved it immediately! Crisp, bright pictures and several extras, like panorama shots and “perfect touch” one click editing that I found indispensable after awhile.
So when I wanted a bigger camera, I started looking at Kodak. I first saw the Kodak Z812IS, but when I saw the Z1012, I went for it. I’ve not been disappointed. I know that Kodak has made some dogs in the past few years, but I think you’ll find this an excellent camera, and you’ll like it even better if you’re taking price into consideration.
Like others here have said, I ding it on battery life. You absolutely must get the charger and at least three rechargeable lithium batteries. Don’t be confused when it says there’s a lithium battery included in the kit: that’s a one-use lithium, not a rechargeable.
Two more things about batteries: #1. The klic-8000 battery is the shape of two AA’s. You can’t use alkalines – they dip below peak current too quickly – but you can use the regular lithium AA’s that you see in stores. It’s an expensive way to go compared to rechargeables, but it works in a pinch. #2. Don’t buy Kodak brand klic-8000′s. There are some good aftermarket li-ions of the same size that are considerable cheaper and work just as well.
As for performance, you’ll be pleased. The “smart” mode (S on the dial) works reasonably well, but it takes away all your options except suppressing the flash. Interestingly, smart mode applies the “perfect touch” editing automatically, and it usually results in a good picture. I often use it.
Mostly, though I switch to the “P” setting, which is a programmed setting with just a few more options, like lighter or darker. Honestly, for most of us, the shutter priority and aperture priority, much less the manual setup, will hardly ever be needed. If you’re such a good photographer than you need them frequently, you’re probably beyond a camera like this and already have a SLR. They’re a selling point, though, and you can hardly imagine a $200+ camera that would dare to leave those features out.
You might be tempted by the 18X lenses on a few other brands in this camera configuration, but I think you’ll be surprised at how much you get out of a 12X lens. Also, unlike all the digital cameras I’ve ever had, the digital zoom actually works very well. Obviously you get fewer pixels, but what you get is remarkably sharp, and you need make no apologies. That’s probably why they call it “advanced digital zoom”.
This model makes panoramas easy, and there’s a big advantage to doing them in the camera: it locks the same settings for the whole panorama, so there’s no line between frames as there is when you take three separate pictures and stitch them. The stitching “engine” is amazingly good.
And yes, there is HD video, and it looks pretty nice, but don’t expect it to replace your video camera. For one thing, sound isn’t that great, but what can you expect from tiny microphones behind tiny holes in the camera face? Really, this is a case of not how well the bear dances, but that it can dance at all. And yes, you can zoom while filming.
You’ve probably figured out by now, with these cameras, that there’s really not as much flexibility as all the controls and options would make you think there is. To the point: low light pictures will make poor, grainy pictures, with anything short of a tripod, no matter how you set the camera. If you want more capacity in low light, get a high-end SLR.
Finally, if you’re used to a pocket camera, having this larger thing around your neck will take some getting used to. This camera isn’t huge, but it is too big for your shirt pocket. I wish they’d make a small camera with this much lens, but we’re not quite there yet – though the (expensive) Canon PowerShot G9 has some wonderful features that make it almost worth giving up some lens power for.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
After using this about 4-5 months, I know a lot more about it than I did at first.
My pictures have been, overall, outstanding, on low ISO speeds. Not sure you’ll get better anywhere. One thing I’ve learned is that the pictures are a lot better than they look on the camera. I think Kodak decided to save 50ยข by putting in a lower quality LCD, that really doesn’t give you good feedback on picture quality. In fact, the LCD on my old V603 was far better.
There are occasional odd freeze-ups that I’ve had with this camera. It has never stopped working, but I have had to remove the battery once or twice. I also noticed recently that when I use an 8GB card, rendering pictures got really slow, like it had a lot of processing to do. Not sure what that’s all about.
My biggest annoyance remains the bulk of the camera, after being used to a pocketable camera. I’m looking for a smaller camera to add to the camera bag, such as the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5K 9MP as a pocketable (though not small) camera–I used a friend’s and was very impressed. For a very small camera, J.D. Powers has rated the Sony Cybershot T series (such as this Sony Cybershot DSC-T500 10.1MP) very high, though I’ve not tried it.
Rating: 4 / 5
{amazon:3}
Kodak is back on track.
This is a real bargain if it holds up for a few years.
The Kodak Easyshare Z1012-IS works very well and reliably in normal light. No auto focus is perfect and this camera is not an exception to that rule.
The HD Quick-time movie options work very well. You need 3rd party software to convert Apple Quick-time movies to Windows formats.
Extreme Zoom is clear (when it focuses right), but it is a tad less predictable than the regular lens settings.
Internal panorama stitching works surprisingly well.
Battery life is fair to good (50 to 100 shots per charge).
It is easy to figure out most settings and menus. And it is good that most controls are simple and intuitive as the awful part of this package is the documentation; it is almost nonexistent.
If you search the Kodak support site diligently; the in-depth instruction manual can be discovered, but it is not included with the camera, nor is it downloadable. Its format is FLASH not PDF; (it ought to be on the CD with the Easyshare software).
This is a small, light yet powerful and flexible camera, I highly recommend it.
Rating: 4 / 5
{amazon:3}
I bought this camera shortly after receiving panasonic 10MP lumix w 12x zoom. I found out the lumix was as big as my sony digital slr, so I didnt see the point in bringing this on vacation with me. I also wanted a camera that focused better than the lumix in low light conditions, and this camera does. I am not totally unbiased, as I had owned 3 other kodak easyshares prior to this, and was happy with their quality, so I bought this kodak the day before traveling to yosemite, napa and san francisco. I wanted a smaller point and shoot with high zoom for this trip. I do also own the sony alpha 700 digital slr, but, again it is bulky for traveling, especially with camcorder in the carryon. The kodak took very good quality pictures and the panoramic function worked very well, joining the images together seamlessly. It does step the image quality down slightly to use panoramic function, but I was able to stitch my own panoramic using home software with full quality images. I will be posting some of these images from yosemite and san francisco once I reduce the image sizes. I would buy this camera again for certain.
Rating: 5 / 5
{amazon:3}
To be fair to this camera, it is good and bad. It depends on what you’re looking for in your camera.
I bought this camera in August 2008 and now it’s on eBay. I upgraded from a Kodak C series point and shoot digital and thought this was the logical next step for upgrading to an SLR format. I also really like the EasyShare software.
I was very disappointed with the camera.
First of all, do not be decieved by how large this camera looks in the photograph on ANY website. It is very small and light weight. Which can go one of two ways depending on what you’re looking for.
There is no fun clicking sound after you take a shot, no shutter closure, the camera makes more of a hissing sound. That can take the fun out of taking photos for some people.
The lens has a wonderful zoom of 12x optical, but the lens is slow to respond to zoom commands. The camera is slow overall and often did not turn on quickly when I went to use it. I had to turn it on and off several times before it was ready to go.
The burst mode is horrible, it lags when shooting anything and it freezes up often. Which is bad news for people shooting children in motion. Or any wildlife shots. Even in the special function modes, like sport, etc, it lags and the photos come out blurry. It’s speed performance leaves a lot to be desired and I ended up shooting in automatic mode more often then I wanted to b/c I knew I would miss critical shots if I changed the settings.
I used the fireworks setting for shooting fireworks at Walt Disney World and all of the photos ended up blurry. I was stood as still as I could while the shot was being processed and none of them were usable. Once I switched to shutter priority and set the shutter speed very low, I was able to capture some nice shots. So the fireworks setting was useless.
10.1 megapixels does not a good camera make. It’s nice to have if you’re blowing up shots to the size of a billboard, but otherwise, if you’re getting sucked in by the high MP, look elsewhere. It’s just not that important in a camera this small.
The f number has a surprisingly high setting at 2.8. I was able to shoot in apeture priority quite a bit and get some very beautiful macro photos. The borkeh was beautiful and the depth of field was lovely. The photos I am most proud of that I took with this camera are the ones shot in apeture priority.
Every shot I took in Program mode came back blurry. Even professional photographers that I know who used P mode couldn’t quite get it. So back to the auto setting.
Manual mode was a waste since this zoom lens is too hard to control for manual shots. It’s fine for manual macro shots, but, otherwise, another miss.
The Shutter Priority mode is just ok. Since the camera is really slow overall, it’s not much of an improvement to change the shutter priority to anything fast, since it’s never really fast at all. The click to capture best in class award must be a joke. Seriously, there is no speed with this camera.
The flash always fires, even when I had the flash turned off and wanted to shoot in natural light. That was impossible to overcome.
The camera does not come with a battery. You can expect to purchase an alkaline battery and the recharger separetely. So the camera does not work out of the box. You can use regular AA batteries, but they will be drained within a day. You also have to purchase extra memory cards. The camera held maybe 20 pictures without the memory card.
If you’re not into using the viewfinder, then you’re in luck since this camera comes equiped with the option to use either the viewfinder or the monitor for picture-taking.
The battery life seemed to be fine. I used it all day on several vacations and trips and even when the battery started to get low, I would turn off the camera and that gave the battery a boost. It charges up quickly which is a nice turnaround feature. The small size of the camera is nice for traveling with and easy for carrying around. It can be mounted to a tripod, if you so desire.
The worst part about this camera is the speed of it is just totally lacking. The additional modes to use are pretty worthless, but it’s is nice to have advanced settings (PASM) to experiement with. You’re better off with a regular point and shoot if you’re not into creative photography. If you’re into exploring photos and taking more creative shots and learning more, then this camera is a SKIP. Do not waste your money or time on it. Go for something like the Canon Rebel XSi or the Nikon 40D. Spend a couple of hundred dollars more to get exactly what you want (or save money and just stick with a point and shoot.)
I just upgraded to the Canon 40D and skipped over all the step-up cameras and went for the one I knew I’d end up.
The class this camera belongs to is confusing…it’s not a point and shoot and it’s not a true SLR…
Last point – HD video. I took HD video of my 3 year old trick or treating with my niece. It would have been a nice keepsake, but when I played the video back, it was extremely choppy. It wasn’t even watchable since it cut in and out from start to finish. That feature was disappointing to say the least. I planned to send it off to my brother who lives some distance from me, but since it wasn’t watchable and we couldnt’ even tell what was going on, I never did send it.
Rating: 2 / 5
{amazon:3}
I love this new camera because of the lens quality, 12x zoom optical image stabilization feature, and price. I have tried other 8x and 10x zoom cameras the past few years in stores but always had trouble getting sharp point and shoot pictures even with image stabilization. This one works great, it’s easy to hook up straight to my computer with the USB cord, and is a reasonable size for all the features.
However, it’s annoying to have to order a rechargeable battery (and charger since I am not getting the docking station) and hunt down a form fitting case since Kodak does not offer one. The way it’s designed, it’s needed in order to protect the display monitor (if I just want to toss in a bag – not a big camera case). Especially since the lens cap tends to pop off, as other reviewers have mentioned. I would rather have paid $25 or $30 more, with both included. A couple of years ago, I came back to Kodak after being away for over 15 years. I purchased the pocket sized V570 which has a wide-angle 5X optical zoom range. I found I used it much more then my Fuji FinePix SLR, with extra wide angle lens, because it was too cumbersome. While the Z1012 is smaller then the Fuji, there are still times when I will use the V570 because it’s more compact. Now if Kodak can just improve the easy share software : )
Rating: 4 / 5
{amazon:3}