Kodak Zi8 pros:

+ Available in three colors
+ Good noise performance
+ Smooth motion
+ Good low light performance
+ Standard definition recording as option
+ 5 megapixel still photos
+ Good connectivity

Kodak Zi8 cons:

- Lens has poor focal range
- Colors not accurate in bright light
- 20 MB of built-in memory
- Poor sharpness for an HD camcorder
- No size options for still photos

Performance:
The little Kodak Zi8 can record Full HD videos with a 30p frame rate, but when you decide to record in 720p you may do so with 30p or 60p.the camcorder uses the H.264 compression. Since the camcorder has only about 20 MB of built-in memory you will have to purchase a memory card. The camcorder has a 3.5mm external microphone jack which is a rarity in compact camcorders. You also get the option to manually set audio levels.

Kodak EasyShare Z950 pros:

Kodak EasyShare Z950

+ Nice design
+ Good color accuracy
+ Low noise
+ 3-inch LCD screen
+ HD video recording
+ 10x zoom
+ Good image stabilization
+ Good overall image quality

Kodak EasyShare Z950 cons:
- Videos are a bit fuzzy
- Slight problems with reds and yellows
- A few buttons feel flimsy
- limited slideshow options

The design:

Kodak EasyShare Z950 measures 4.3 × 2.6 × 1.4 in. And weighs 223 grams. The front of the camera is dominated by the 10x zoom Schneider-Kreuznach lens, but it also features the flash, microphone and the AF illuminator. The back houses the 3” display with good direct sunlight legibility, the 4-way controller and a few other buttons, such as delete, info, play and menu button. The left side is completely bare, whereas the right side houses the ports hidden under a cover.  The bottom features the battery and memory card compartment, as well as the tripod mount. Last, but not least, the top, which features the mode dial, power button, delay button, zoom controller, shutter and flash button.

Performance:

The Kodak EasyShare Z950 is a quite fast camera so you will not get bored waiting for it to get ready for taking photos. The menus structure is straightforward and it looks nice. There are some in-camera editing features, but the 3” display is too small for anything serious. The camera can also print photos directly through PictBridge, or DPOF.
The camera lacks viewfinder, but the 3-inch display does a really good job. Both the viewing angles and the screen resolution are more than sufficient.

Image quality:

The camera has more than decent image quality. The Kodak EasyShare Z950 captures color very accurately. In fact, considering that the camera (sometimes) had problems with reds and yellows it is a very good score for a point and shoot camera. Kodak Z950 has 5 different color modes so it will surely suit all occasions. The noise is very low no matter the lighting conditions. Also, the ISO ranges are very good, from 100 to 1600 and if you decide to limit Th. Image size to 3 megapixels you can even shoot photos at ISO 3200. Unfortunately, the images taken with the Kodak EasyShare Z950 tend to suffer from some chromatic aberration, and sometimes they lack details. The optical image stabilization found in the camera does a really good job so you don’t have to worry that your images will be blurry.
The Kodak camera can take up to 12 megapixel photos which result in 4000 x 3000 resolution images.
The camera can also record videos in 720p resolution and record them as MPEG-4 files. Although there are plenty of features and settings for video capture the camera slightly disappoints. The videos are frequently not sharp enough and the color accuracy is somewhat worse than in still photos.

Conclusion:

Kodak EasyShare Z950 is quite a good digital camera for amateurs. It takes high resolution photos and is easy to use so even newbies should not have problems with it. However, if you know, that you will need to record videos with it, or take macro photos you’d better look for a different digital camera.
Selected Kodak EasyShare Z950 features and specifications:
Sensor type
1 / 2.33 type
Effective pixels
12 MP (4024 × 3012)
Lens
35–350 mm (35 mm equiv.) f/3.5–f/4.8 SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH VARIOGON Optical Zoom Lens
Zoom
10X optical, 5X advanced digital, total zoom range 50X
Image stabilizer
optical
Shutter speed

1/8–1/1250 sec. (auto)

Monitor
3 in. high resolution (230K dots), 5 level brightness adjustments
Storage
32 MB internal memory[1]available, SDHC/SD card expansion slot
Auto focus
Focus Type
TTL imager AF system
Modes
normal, macro, infinity, manual
Focus range

wide standard: 0.5 m–infinity
tele standard: 1.2 m–infinity
wide macro: 0.12–0.6 m
tele macro: 0.6–1.3 m

Auto focus control
single, continuous
Auto focus zones
TTL multi-zone, center zone AF
AF (Auto Focus) assist light
yes
Exposure control
ISO sensitivity
auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200[2]
Metering modes
multi-pattern, center-weighted, spot
Compensation
±2.0 EV with 1/3 EV steps
Bracketing
±1.0 EV with 1/3 EV steps, 3 images
White balance
auto, daylight, tungsten, fluorescent, open shade
Flash
Range

5.4 m (@ wide, ISO 400)
3.9 m (@ tele, ISO 400)

Modes
auto, off, fill, red-eye reduction
Compensation
±1.0 EV in 1/3 steps
Shooting specifications
Drive modes
single shot, first and last burst (up to 3 images), self-timer (10 sec.), delay shutter (2 sec.), 2-shot self-timer
Shooting modes
Smart Capture, high ISO, sport, P (program), A (aperture priority), S (shutter priority), M (manual), panorama (left–right, right–left), video, SCN (scene modes)
Scene modes
portrait, night portrait, landscape, night landscape, flower, sunset, backlight, candlelight, manner/museum, text, beach, snow, fireworks, children, self-portrait, stage
Click to capture
< 0.3 sec.
Shot to shot
< 1.5 sec

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