Kodak Easyshare 14MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom

Deal Chatter Daily Deal
21

Optical zoom is ‘real’ zoom.
digital ‘zoom’ is actually more like a “cropping” feature. Useful to tighten in your auto-focus points, if you shooting something quite distant, with an assortment of closer objects … but not a ‘true’ zoom.

More optical zoom, is always the important number, in terms of ‘zoom’ … however, more optical zoom requires more “stabilization” inside the camera.

As far as mega-pixels … on a pocked sized point-and-shoot … everything above about 7MP is actually ‘computer generated’ inside the camera. The “sensor plate” (“electronic-replacement-for-film thingee” is the technical term)can only be ‘so big’ to fit inside that little bitty box … so, the rest of the pixels are … sorta ‘guessed at’ … guessed at very well, mind you … but if you really want/need 14MP, because you’re going to be printing professional posters or wall-sized murals … you need a DSLR.
14MP in a pocket-point-and-shoot, is pretty much lots. The size of those files will actually send you to the software, to make them smaller so you can send more than one at a time to Grandma.
(none the less, always shoot at your highest … or you’ll get your ‘shot of a lifetime’ on some small setting and kick yourself.)

22

Yes, optical magnifies the image using the lens, digital crops and enlarges, effectively reducing resolution.

23

I’ve not reviewed this particular camera, however this ‘data’ applies:

Important note: with Point-and-shoots there are two theories of “push-the-shutter-take-the-picture”
Theory 1) camera programming is set up, to minimize the focusing-time delay between pushing the shutter and taking the focus. So it will take its fastest guess at focus, and shoot the shot, before that ice cream drips off of Junior’s nose. … but not in the best possible focus or light-settings.
Theory 2 Camera programming is set up to take what ever time needed to get exact focus … then shoot the picture. Sometimes a fairly notable delay between push and picture, however, if you’ll hold fairly still, and depress the shutter, (rather than poke at it and jerk your finger away)you’ll get the best focus the camera can deliver, every time.

Of course, the ‘Preferred’ method of using a point-and-shoot, is to pre-focus the camera:
aim the camera at your subject (or something in the same lighting, at the same distance as your subject)
demi-depress the shutter, and hold, giving the camera time to fully adjust all of it’s parameters, then Spot your moment and push the shutter the rest of the way down. Getting immediate response, with no focus/adjustments delay AND the best focus/adjustments the camera can deliver.
(/end point-and-shoot photo lesson)

According to the head of the Point-and-shoot department, Kodak, point-and-shoots, (at least 2010 and forward)are 100% committed to theory #1- close-guess on focus fastest speed of response. Not a bad deal, since, when you Want best possible focus, you can just ‘pre focus’ and when you want to grab the camera and catch ‘that moment’ … you’re getting a pretty well engineered guess at the settings.

(And, according to the same manager, Kodak totally renewed their dedication to the quality of their consumer-end cameras, so the comments from Kodak engineers about issues I had with a 2009 series review model, “This is just a Consumer End camera, you can’t Expect real quality pictures out of this thing …” … no longer apply.
I’ll probably go back to adding Kodak into my reviews, in the fall … )

24

It’s a good camera for that price.

I prefer the Kodak Easyshare C183.
Half the price and with 4xAA rechargeable batteries you won’t be left with a flat camera.

The M52 has 5 x optical zoom which beats the C183 3 x optical, but apart from that I see no advantage.

25

http://cgi.ebay.com/Kodak-EASYSHARE-M522-14-MP-Digital-Camera-Red-/200626140174?pt=Digital_Cameras&hash=item2eb63ff40e $79.99 with FREE Shipping over on Ebay

26

Optical is better than digital. Megapixels is how many millions of “dots” are in the picture, digital zoom is “stretching” out those dots. The more megapixels you have, the bigger the picture and the more “stretching” you can do before your picture gets pixelated (think Big Foot photo). Optical zoom is all in the lense, and allows your camera to zoom in without losing any picture quality. Think of optical like a telescope and digital as like what you can do on a computer. That being said, 5x optical zoom isn’t that good if you really want to get in close to something that is far away, but for everyday pictures it is alright. If you are interested in quality, the Canon Digital Rebel cameras are very good, but be prepared to spend 500-700 on just the camera and a basic lense.

edit: also, one of the main reasons the digital SLR cameras are preferred is because they take pictures in RAW format. You can chang lighting, shadows, and a bunch of other stuff after you take the picture. It’s a really flexible format that gives you more power to edit and make your picture really stand out the way you want it to.

27

anyone else want to weigh in on how optical is better than digital zoom??

oh, that was everyone?

:stuck_out_tongue:

also, one note: instead of worrying about what size image the camera can take, you’d be better off worrying about how good of a picture the sensor can take.

would you like a 50 pound sack of dog turds, or a 10 pound sack of chocolate truffles? bigger does not mean better. you need to be more concerned about the quality of the picture, not the amount of space it will take up

28

Hi experts! How does this camera compare to the Sanyo VPC-PD2BK Full HD Pocket Movie Dual Camera with 10 MP Digital Photos (http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-VPC-PD2BK-Pocket-Digital-Optical/dp/B003ZYEKJ0/ref=lh_ni_t) which has been on woot.com before?

I’m going out of town, will be taking a netbook to download photos onto, and need to buy a new camera…these both look good - suggestions?

comparing the two cameras (Sanyo VPC-PD2BK) and this one (Kodak Easyshare 14MP), which one would you choose? and what should I remember to consider re: pros/cons?

thank you!

29

I bought one of these for about the same price. Nice cameras, good battery life. Kinda hard to work with SLR accustomed hands tho. Much better than the proprietary crap they were coming out with… and spare batteries are actually reasonably priced.

30

Learned the hard way - always google for reviews before buying a camera.

31

Just like most consumer electronics it is made under contract overseas. I can’t speak to their reliability, but if you search the web for ANYTHING you will find a lot of disgruntled humans. I’m in for one.

32

Is the AC Adapter 110V/220V? I need a camera for use in the Philippines.

33

Optical zoom is the zoom cabability of the lens itself. It’s the best. Digital zoom is no where near as good.

34

The one on the Walmart site for $80 is the C195 which I got from Woot a while back. I liked the camera but had to send it back to Kodak for repairs which they did at no cost but it broke again and I haven’t bothered to get it fixed a second time.

35

Well then, they might almost be worth buying. The last Kodak digital I bought was a long time back but it had an unbelievably primitive (and convoluted) interface and terrible ergonomics. Never again.

36

Optical is better than digital.

37

Kodak has been improving the consumer experience lately, and their cameras are getting better, about the same time they started making some worthwhile printers. I have a slightly older 12.1 that has been serving as a backup.

It was pressed into emergency duty for a vacation trip to the Outer Banks. The trip featured a wedding, and the pics drew rave reviews. They became the main album. It also got me a top 6 finish in a 3200+ entry photo contest.

38

How does this compare against the Kodak Easyshare C195? They seem very similar except about a $50 difference.

39

DO NOT get this. You’re wasting your money. If you like crisp, clear pictures, Kodak is NOT for you.

My wife was given a Kodak Easyshare a few years ago for Christmas. I replaced it with a real brand within a year because if found that we’d leave the camera at home because the quality was so bad.

Consumer Reports confirmed my thoughts on Kodak cameras when I replaced mine. The margin between Kodak (at the bottom) and the rest of the cameras was astounding. Not just the best cameras, all of them!

40

I use this camera for work [possibly the model down but yeah, this camera]

Great for outdoor shots or anything with enough lighting. Dont expect to use it in doors at. all. and get something decent.