Kodak Z740

[cruise fairy]

My husband just ordered me a Kodak Z 740 for our cruise, it came with the printing dock (he knows I'm really bad about taking pictures and not getting them developed) Anyway, I wanted a camera that is easy to use, but more importantly takes good, clear pictures.

We are definitely not good photographers, but would still like to have some decent pictures.

What are your thoughts on the quality of the pictures from this camera?

Thanks:p

[mountainhouse]

See http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/z740.html Might have some info you can use. There's also sample photos there.

 

Most important thing is to use the camera as much as possible. Remember, it's digital, so you can shoot as much as you want. The more you shoot, the better you'll get.

 

Good shooting,

[dannjenn]

I bought this same camera for my wife a couple months ago and she LOVES it. It's not a $1000 camera but offers most of the same features and takes IMO just as good of a picture as a really expensive one. I think you'll be happy. Any other questions about it im sure my wife Jenn will gladly answer.

 

dan

[zackiedawg]

Honestly, most digital cameras today, even the cheap, compact ones, are far smarter than the average user, and usually far more capable than their skill level. So unless you are a professional photographer, with decades of experience, and have shot with digital for years and understand all of the capabilities and limitations of your camera, you really don't need to worry about the camera not being up to the job!

 

What you definately should do is learn how to get the most out of your camera. The Z740 should do fine for virtually anyone - it has fine versatility, and it should produce very nice 8x10 prints. Be careful not to get too caught up in the reviews of products on the web - understand that many people who review have very high standards or expectations, or may have more professional capabilities which are no longer met by a particular camera. So if you see reviews that a camera doesn't focus well in low light - read on to find out if that means it CAN'T focus in low light (bad), or is slow to focus in low light compared to a DSLR (which wouldn't really matter to most P&S users).

 

The basic features to get to know on your camera will be:

Optical zoom versus digital zoom - you have a great 10x optical zoom, but understand the difference between that and the 'digital' zoom. Optical zoom preserves the full 5 megapixel resolution, and uses just the lens to get you closer to the subject. Digital zoom is 'cropping' into the photo, and is lowering the resolution of a shot. You might do well to ignore digital zoom, or disable it, until you get the hang of the optical zoom - with it enabled, you sometimes can't tell when you have entered the digital portion of the zoom, and end up ruining the resolution of a shot you wanted to print at 8x10.

 

Center spot metering versus multi-point - if you are going to shoot mostly in Auto mode, and are not into manually setting the camera's aperature and shutter...you should experiment with the camera in 'spot' metering mode. This will set up a little crosshair in the middle of your screen, and whatever you point the crosshairs at in the scene, that's what the camera will meter off of. If you've ever taken a picture of something dark against a light sky, and the sky looked great but the dark object was all silhouetted and you couldn't see any detail - well spot metering can cure that.

 

Fill flash - one of the most underused and important features of a camera used for portraits. So many people on vacation don't realize that if you take someone's picture with a lightsource behind them, you won't see the person's face. if you want the sky to be properly colored and lit, but still want to see the people's faces...use fill flash. The camera's flash settings will have a mode where the flash fires whenever you take a picture, even in good light...this is the fill flash mode.

 

Settings - whenever possible, just set the camera to the BEST JPEG mode available, and the highest resolution mode. Too many people figure they can fit more pictures on a small picture card by using a lower quality setting, or reducing the resolution to 4 or 3MP. Just buy a bigger card, and keep all settings to the maximum! You bought a 5MP camera, so you might as well get 5MP out of it! And when it comes to making larger prints, or if you ever wanted to crop a photo and enlarge it, that extra resolution will be priceless.

 

Use the EVF (Electronic Viewfinder) when shooting zoom shots. Digital cameras are wonderful and fun, and having the LCD screen to compose your picture is a wonderul releae from the usual camera shooting style. However, there are an extraordinary number of complaints from digital camera users about blurry pictures. And 99% of those complaints are hands shaking! You may not realize it, but the tiniest of vibration in your hand when shooting a zoomed subject, or a slower-shutter-speed shot in low light, can transfer into the camera and ruin the shot. The biggest reason for this is the stance - most people hold a digital camera out in front of them, hands extended, looking at the LCD. This is an inherently unstable position and leaves the camera unstable. Shooting 'old-style', with two hands, one on the right side of the camera and one underneath, with bent elbow pressed against your body, and the eyepiece up against your face, is much more stable, and when shooting far-away zoom shots and low light shots, can eliminate 50% or more of the usualy shakiness that causes blurry shots.

 

Enjoy that camera...it should do you fine especially once you learn to use the features to your benefit. Sure, there are better, faster cameras out there...but only a handful of people who are good enough to really get the most out of them. Get the most out of that cam, and enjoy it!

[HarleyGirl]

I absolutely LOVE the pics this camera takes, but at less than 100 pics taken the camera started giving me problems. The shutter wont open and therefore I cannot take pics with it. This was happening intermittently but finally just stopped and wont open at all now. After two calls to Kodak to get it straight myself, I am now sending in a two-month-old camera! And they better not try to say I damaged it myself because I didnt drop it or anything! I hope yours works out better than mine. Overall, the pics were awesome, but I just cannot depend on it. My first cruise is in 11/06 and I am considering getting another Canon if they don't fix this one.

[zackiedawg]

That's unfortunate, Harleygirl. Hopefully it is an anomaly. Kodak seems to have had a decent reputation overall, so if they are smart, they'll fix it fast and you shouldn't have the same problem again.

 

I've never had a Kodak myself...I've shot with Canon and Sony digitals only so far. Knock on wood, I never really had any repair issues with any of the 6 digitals I've owned. But even these two great-reputation companies can have a lemon in the batch. My father's Canon digital had lens defects which caused it to be replaced, and a friend's Sony had a zoom motor fail. Both were replaced, and the problems never resurfaced.

 

I checked on cnet, dpreview, and stevesdigicams on that model of Kodak and didn't notice any repetitive complaints about your problem which might indicate a manufacturing or design flaw. Hope you resolve your issue before any trips!

[cruise fairy]

Honestly, most digital cameras today, even the cheap, compact ones, are far smarter than the average user, and usually far more capable than their skill level. So unless you are a professional photographer, with decades of experience, and have shot with digital for years and understand all of the capabilities and limitations of your camera, you really don't need to worry about the camera not being up to the job!

 

What you definately should do is learn how to get the most out of your camera. The Z740 should do fine for virtually anyone - it has fine versatility, and it should produce very nice 8x10 prints. Be careful not to get too caught up in the reviews of products on the web - understand that many people who review have very high standards or expectations, or may have more professional capabilities which are no longer met by a particular camera. So if you see reviews that a camera doesn't focus well in low light - read on to find out if that means it CAN'T focus in low light (bad), or is slow to focus in low light compared to a DSLR (which wouldn't really matter to most P&S users).

 

The basic features to get to know on your camera will be:

Optical zoom versus digital zoom - you have a great 10x optical zoom, but understand the difference between that and the 'digital' zoom. Optical zoom preserves the full 5 megapixel resolution, and uses just the lens to get you closer to the subject. Digital zoom is 'cropping' into the photo, and is lowering the resolution of a shot. You might do well to ignore digital zoom, or disable it, until you get the hang of the optical zoom - with it enabled, you sometimes can't tell when you have entered the digital portion of the zoom, and end up ruining the resolution of a shot you wanted to print at 8x10.

 

Center spot metering versus multi-point - if you are going to shoot mostly in Auto mode, and are not into manually setting the camera's aperature and shutter...you should experiment with the camera in 'spot' metering mode. This will set up a little crosshair in the middle of your screen, and whatever you point the crosshairs at in the scene, that's what the camera will meter off of. If you've ever taken a picture of something dark against a light sky, and the sky looked great but the dark object was all silhouetted and you couldn't see any detail - well spot metering can cure that.

 

Fill flash - one of the most underused and important features of a camera used for portraits. So many people on vacation don't realize that if you take someone's picture with a lightsource behind them, you won't see the person's face. if you want the sky to be properly colored and lit, but still want to see the people's faces...use fill flash. The camera's flash settings will have a mode where the flash fires whenever you take a picture, even in good light...this is the fill flash mode.

 

Settings - whenever possible, just set the camera to the BEST JPEG mode available, and the highest resolution mode. Too many people figure they can fit more pictures on a small picture card by using a lower quality setting, or reducing the resolution to 4 or 3MP. Just buy a bigger card, and keep all settings to the maximum! You bought a 5MP camera, so you might as well get 5MP out of it! And when it comes to making larger prints, or if you ever wanted to crop a photo and enlarge it, that extra resolution will be priceless.

 

Use the EVF (Electronic Viewfinder) when shooting zoom shots. Digital cameras are wonderful and fun, and having the LCD screen to compose your picture is a wonderul releae from the usual camera shooting style. However, there are an extraordinary number of complaints from digital camera users about blurry pictures. And 99% of those complaints are hands shaking! You may not realize it, but the tiniest of vibration in your hand when shooting a zoomed subject, or a slower-shutter-speed shot in low light, can transfer into the camera and ruin the shot. The biggest reason for this is the stance - most people hold a digital camera out in front of them, hands extended, looking at the LCD. This is an inherently unstable position and leaves the camera unstable. Shooting 'old-style', with two hands, one on the right side of the camera and one underneath, with bent elbow pressed against your body, and the eyepiece up against your face, is much more stable, and when shooting far-away zoom shots and low light shots, can eliminate 50% or more of the usualy shakiness that causes blurry shots.

 

Enjoy that camera...it should do you fine especially once you learn to use the features to your benefit. Sure, there are better, faster cameras out there...but only a handful of people who are good enough to really get the most out of them. Get the most out of that cam, and enjoy it!

 

Gosh! thanks for all the great information.

I love this camera, it really takes great pictures. I'm still trying to figure out all the modes, your info is really very helpful.

Thanks again. :p