Kodak EasyShare Z950 review

You can use the Z950 as a standard point-and-shoot camera, too, thanks to 17 scene modes and Kodak's 'smart capture' mode, which combines its intelligent scene detection, intelligent capture control and intelligent image processing. It's a reliable mode if you don't trust yourself -- or others -- to get a good shot. There's a standard panorama mode (shoot two or three photos and the camera does the stitching), a sport mode that boosts ISO and shutter speed for moving subjects, and a 720p high-definition movie mode with use of the optical zoom while shooting (you'll hear the lens movement, but the video is very good).

Hits a wall
Shooting performance is something of an issue with this camera. If you're the type to take a single shot and not need to quickly take another and another, you should be fine. You can take up to three photos in a row without slowing down, but, as soon as you try to take a fourth, the camera puts up a 'processing' screen as the camera catches up with storing the shots you just took. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't take in excess of 5 seconds for the processing to finish.

If you take another photo once the processing stops, it will capture the fourth photo and put the warning up again if you try to take a fifth shot immediately. For many people, this won't be a problem, but those who like to keep shooting will probably be frustrated. The burst modes on the Z950 (set through the timer button) are limited to three continuous shots as well. You can set it to record the first three or the last three of up to a 30-shot burst.

The raw numbers from our lab tests put the Z950 behind the competition in all areas except continuous shooting, which, again, is only for three shots at a time. From turning on to the first shot takes 3.2 seconds. Because of the shoot-process cycle discussed earlier, the shot-to-shot times average 3.5 seconds. With the flash on, the time goes up to 7.4 seconds. Shutter lag is long at 0.6 seconds in bright lighting, but short in dim lighting, at 0.7 seconds. Finally, that three-shot burst mode fires at a fast 2.2 frames per second.

Good images
The Z950's photo quality is generally very good for its class. ISO 100 is the lowest setting the camera can be set to manually, but the auto ISO will go as low as ISO 80. Using 'auto' means the camera will select sensitivities above ISO 200, and those photos tended to look soft and over-processed, although detail is good up to ISO 800. That's not to say the pictures are unusable, just that shots at ISO 1,600 might not be good enough for small prints. The highest selectable sensitivity is ISO 3,200, which can only be used at resolutions below 3 megapixels and yields poor results.

Due to not having a wide-angle lens, the Z950 suffers from some very visible barrel distortion, although there's no real pincushion distortion at the long end of the zoom range. Lens sharpness is consistent from edge to edge and there was little to no purple fringing in our test shots.

Exposure is fine and the smart-capture processing does a solid job of rescuing detail lost in shadows. On occasions, though, it will over-process images, giving them a washed-out look. Colours are very vivid, which many people, including ourselves, find pleasing. Blues and violets appear particularly punchy and, occasionally, a little too unnatural. In the end, it comes down to how you plan to use your photos. If they're only destined for the Web, a digital photo frame or to be printed at or below 5 by 7 inches (with the occasional print of 8 by 10 inches), then the photo quality should suffice.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Casio Exilim EX-H10

1.8 

3.3 

0.4 

0.2 

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H20

2.8 

2.1 

0.7 

0.4 

Fujifilm FinePix F70EXR

2.1 

1.5 

0.7 

0.5 

Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

2.5 

2.6 

0.7 

0.6 

Kodak EasyShare Z950

3.2 

3.5 

0.7 

0.6 

Conclusion
Overall, the Kodak EasyShare Z950 is a solid compact superzoom. It has a narrower lens than newer models, but does give you manual and semi-manual controls, which are lacking on much of the current competition. Outside of its smart-capture system, the camera lacks gimmicks, which is refreshing. And, as long as you're okay with the performance issues and photo-quality limitations, then by all means, pick one up.

Additional editing by Charles Kloet