Kodak EasyShare Z980 Review

 
Kodak EasyShare Z980 Camera Experience
With the exception of attaching the included neck strap, which seemed to require a degree in mechanical engineering, the Kodak EasyShare Z980 was quick and easy to get up and running. The memory card and batteries fit easily in the same compartment, which includes a helpful diagram for battery placement.

The Z980 has the expected array of exposure modes, including Kodak’s proprietary Smart Capture, which combines scene recognition, automatic exposure and noise reduction. As the camera’s default automatic mode, Smart Capture automatically analyzes scene conditions and selects the best settings for them. It is reliably good in typical shooting conditions and works well enough that beginners may just stick with it.

Sixteen scene modes offer automatic settings for a range of situations: Children, Backlight, High ISO (for low light), Beach, Snow, Sunset, Self Portrait, Night Portrait, Candlelight, Night Landscape, Manner/Museum, Stage, Fireworks, Flower and Text.

All Kodak EasyShare Z980 Camera Menus >>

Two additional scene modes – Portrait and Sport – are easily accessible on the mode dial, as is a Panorama mode. Finally, there are Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual modes for those who prefer to select their own settings.

I didn’t notice anything in particular about the 3-inch LCD monitor – and that’s a great thing. The Z980′s screen is plenty big, vivid and accurate – enough so that I have no complaints. That is not always the case with LCDs. The electronic viewfinder (EVF) is small, but usable and offers an alternative to the LCD in bright sunlight or for tracking action.

My first outing with the Z980 turned out to be an excellent test of the superzoom lens. I was able to photograph a red-tailed hawk in dim lighting conditions from a distance that many cameras couldn’t handle. Later, I photographed a fledgling robin through the glass of my living room window with startling sharpness. The Z980′s 24x zoom lens also allowed me to capture a dozen images of a whitetail doe across our big yard before she even noticed me. The Z980 also works well for close-ups. The macro setting allowed me to make great close-up shots of bold orange and yellow roses and ripening pie cherries.

Shooting the Fourth of July festivities in Butte really put the Z980 through its paces. I got reasonably good results capturing fireworks with both manual settings and the fireworks scene mode, while using a tripod. The camera really shined at the parade. I set it to Smart Capture and let it handle the exposure details – which it did admirably — while I focused on framing the quickly passing floats and people. The superzoom lens and burst mode came in very handy here.

Only one outing with the Z980 was a complete failure: A late-night stargazing expedition to Blue Mountain Observatory. After an hour-long drive up a rutted, bumpy dirt road, I attempted to capture the observatory and Montana’s night sky in a long exposure. Unfortunately, I discovered that the Z980′s slowest shutter speed is 16 seconds — not nearly long enough to expose the scene properly, even at the largest aperture, f/2.8 and ISO 1600. A minute or more would have been better. As it turns out, I would have been better off with my little point-and-shoot, which has a scene mode with a 60-second exposure.

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