Digital Trends

Kodak EasyShare Z740 Bundle

August 24th, 2005 | by David Elrich

Performance

All digital camera makers could learn a lesson or three concerning ease of use just by looking at this camera, dock, supplied documentation and software. Following the supplied "Start Here!" brochure, it's a breeze to get up and going. While the control layout is very similar to the 200 digicams out there, Kodak goes every one a big step better. After the camera's batteries are charged in the dock (it uses two supplied rechargeable NiMH AAs) and the date and time are set, the mode dial is turned to whatever position you'd like. And here's where the fun starts. When placed in Auto, the icon lights up and a statement appears "Auto: use for general picture taking." Move the dial to Sport and the menu tells you to use this setting "when subject is in motion." This is the case for all the settings including manual, scene and movie options. Other manufacturers are using descriptive menus (Casio, HP) and we applaud them as it opens the world of digital imaging to many more people.  

The camera starts up very quickly (less than two seconds) and is ready to go. We loaded a 512MB card and hit our usual subject matter: colorful flowers, plants, skylines, friendly faces, fuzzy cats, subjects indoors and out. It has an AF Assist lamp for accurate flash shots and it pops open when you power up. Flash photos taken were quite good and close-ups weren't overpowered by too much light output, thanks to AF Assist.

The camera is almost film quick but it does choke after a five-shot burst (two fps) at highest resolution, as the images have to be saved to the card. This delay is only about 10 seconds so it's not the end of the world. Compare this to the <Sony DSC-H1> with its nine-frame burst mode and it shows you this camera is not state of the art. I used the camera in very bright sunlight and the LCD screen held up well but at one point, I had to switch to the EVF that is much more accurate outdoors than in. Although I shot most of the images in Auto, I took some time in the PASM manual mode. It's here that the camera shows some of its point-and-shoot limitations. Although you can change white balance and color modes as well as aperture and shutter speed, you cannot adjust ISO (which tops out at a surprising 800) or manually adjust the focus. Also note you cannot change the compression of the JPEG images, just overall pixel count. Not that the buyer of this camera bundle will move beyond auto or the 14 Scene modes but you should be aware of the limitations before you leap. Like all quality 2005 digicams, the Z740 also takes VGA 640 x 480 pixel video clips at 30 frames per second. No zooming is available during video mode. The clips looked quite good on my 36-inch HD-ready monitor.

Once the photos were taken the true blessing of the bundle makes itself very clear. Rather than run down to the local drugstore or mass merchant to use a photo kiosk to make prints, I simply placed the camera in the dock. It automatically sprung to life and asked how many prints I wanted of the image on the LCD screen. After picking the number and pressing print, in about 90 seconds a very high quality photo appeared. By simply tearing off the edges, I had a smooth-edged 4x6 in my hand. Very cool indeed.

The dock uses dye thermal technology so unlike an inkjet each paper package comes with a matching color cartridge. This means that when you finish the last print in the pack you add another batch of paper and the cartridge that comes with it. This ensures print quality will be uniform and helps camera company profits. A combo pack of 40 sheets of 4x6 paper lists for $25 but you can get them for $19, driving your price per print from 62 cents to 47 cents. This is hardly cheap since you can get prints for 10-19 cents at stores and online. But you can't beat the convenience of simple, at home printing with no adjustments whatsoever and no computer.

There is a downside here. You cannot crop your photos or do any editing or color corrections. You'll have to load the prints on your PC and open the EasyShare software. This is not a problem since the program is terrific. At that point you can output the photos to the dock but 4x6 is as big as you can go—no 5x7s, 8x10s, post cards, panoramas. If you want to go larger, consider a good printer from Canon, Epson or HP or go to the local photo finisher.

Image Courtesy of Kodak