Performance
The price of a longer lens can be some barrel distortion at wider focal
lengths, when straight lines appear to curve towards the edge of the
frame. The ZD710 barely exhibits this at all. Colour is vibrant, and
skin tones good. Purple fringing on the boundary between light and dark
areas was more of an issue than we'd like, but didn't impact too badly
on prints.
The ZD710's burst mode offers the option of saving the first two or last two images from a sequence of images, which we didn't find especially useful.
This superzoom isn't the fastest camera out of the gate when starting up, taking 2
seconds simply because the lens has to spin out. Our model also seemed
determined to pop the flash up when turned on, even if the flash had
been disabled. Another minor quirk is that pressing the flash mode
button doesn't pop the flash up; a separate switch opens the flash.
These functions could have been integrated into one button for quicker
and easier operation.
Image quality
Images
are gritty from ISO 200 upwards, but it isn't until ISO 800 that images
become unusable. As on most compacts, the maximum sensitivity, ISO
1,600, is pebbledashed by noise speckles. In low light the ZD710 copes
reasonably well, with the long zoom holding up to fast shutter speeds
for capturing action in darker situations.
Conclusion
The Kodak EasyShare ZD710 is a basic superzoom, but a well-designed one
nonetheless. It is simple to use and presents a step up over most
compacts in terms of manual control. In the superzoom stakes, cameras
like the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H7
offer more bells and whistles. The ZD710's small screen, jerky
viewfinder and clunky zoom may frustrate a seasoned photographer, but
as a back-up camera -- or a first camera for would-be enthusiasts --
the relatively petite size and price and the simplicity of operation
are endearing.
Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters
User reviews1
Add your review
Daniel Mitchell 3 September 2010
Good: Small and light, and very straight forward in use.
Bad: Proprietary USB port, small screen, annoying flash popping up all the time, horrible zoom control button
Comment: I purchased this camera today, and so far my first impressions are quite good.
Having previously used the Fuji Finepix S5700, which in my opinion is a far superior camera, I feel the ZD710 is a little light and small even for my relatively small hands, however this is also a plus point as it makes the camera far more portable.
The proprietary USB port is the most annoying 'feature' of the camera though. I cannot comprehend why manufacturers feel the need to use anything other than a standard mini USB port on their products, other than to make even more money by selling their own cables.
See all user reviews