Kodak EasyShare Z612 review

Kodak has no fewer than four superzoom cameras in its range. The Z612 is one of the more senior members of the group, slotting in behind its chief songwriter and flagship snapper, the Z712.   

Like the Canon Powershot S3, it’s from the sub-SLR school of cameras that pack advanced features like 12x zoom into a compact and inexpensive package.

Bargain basement

The Z612 certainly offers a lot for the money. A lithium-ion battery and charger are included, and while there’s no SD memory card in the box, the camera has a generous 32MB built in.

On the downside, the body’s scarcely smaller than that of the Canon or Olympus, but feels much more cramped. The silvery plastic finish doesn’t exactly smack of quality, and it relies too heavily on its menu system rather than on-camera buttons for a camera aimed at more serious users.

Menu migraines

Some things are just too difficult to find. Even after days of use, we’re still not sure whether this camera offers manual ISO control – a feature that’s standard on any other digital camera, and one that you really do want some control over.

Unfortunately, things don’t improve in the picture quality department. Even at ISO 400 the detail is starting to get swallowed up by heavy noise reduction and there’s some colour mottling creeping in too.

You can’t complain at the value, though. A 12x zoom, image stabiliser and advanced photographic functions like PASM modes are good going at this price.