Kodak Z650 Digital Camera Review

For those looking for a sleek, stylish, small digital camera, read no further. The Kodak EasyShare Z650 camera is not for you. If, however, you are in the market for a powerful, well-equipped digital camera designed for the intermediate user, read on. The Kodak EasyShare Z650 will quickly win you over.

The Kodak Z650 digital camera replaced last year's counterpart, the Z740 and boasts many features for just a modest jump in price.

Priced between $250-$350, the Kodak Z650 digital camera offers more than any other camera in it's class. Offering 6.1 megapixels, a 10x optical and a 50x total zoom, it's powerful, yet surprisingly simple to operate. The 2" LCD screen offers extra ease of use.

Though the Kodak Z650 digital camera offers an automatic mode, the user will find the other modes necessary for maximum refinement of photographs, making it the optimal camera for the intermediate, rather than beginner, user.

Capture modes include: Auto, Sport (subjects in motion), Portrait (full frames of people), Night, Scene (see scene modes), and video. Scene modes offered are: children (action pictures of kids in bright light), party (people indoors. This mode mimimizes red eye.), beach (bright beach scenes), flower (close-ups of small objects), fireworks (flash does not fire), snow (bright snow scenes), backlight (subjects with the light behind them) and close-up (subjects closer than 28 inches).

Additional flash settings are also available: Auto flash, fill, red eye, and, of course, off.

Though a larger camera, the style of the Kodak Z650 digital camera is well-designed to wrap one's hands around. Minimal, yet well-positioned buttons contribute to the flexibility and ease of use of the camera.

The review option allows the user to quickly review pictures after having taken them, without having to close up the Kodak Z650 digital camera and switch to a review mode. A slide show feature is also offered, as is the ability to bring up nine pictures at a time. One can also easily crop and reduce red-eye with just the touch of a button.

The only drawback to the Kodak Z650 digital camera is the lack of a steady-shot feature. Because so many features are offered with the camera, along with the high-quality all glass Schneider-Kreuznach lens, something had to give to keep the Kodak Z650 digital camera within it's budgeted price point.

That said, the other features, ease of use, and incredible power of this well-priced camera make it well-worth every penny.

Kodak won the 2005 JD Power & Associates highest award for digital cameras in the price range of $200-$399. The Kodak Z650 is a true measure of high standards and top-quality.

With the added features Kodak offers, such as the EasyShare printer dock and PictBridge software, both in the packaging, and on-line, one would be hard pressed to find a camera other than the Z650 that can compare.