Kodak EasyShare Z710

Guide price: £199.99

Compact 'SLR' Style 7.1 megapixel,10x Optical zoom digital camera. This camera is not small, it is chunky but cute, very like a mini Single Lens Reflex camera, (but the 10x zoom lens is not removable) and would definitely appeal to someone who likes looking through a viewfinder and not a screen. This camera is made mostly from siver coloured plastic, but the bits that matter are reinforced with stainless steel- like the lens throat, the top plate(with the shutter release) and the tripod bush. I am not usually impressed with metal 'looking' plastic but the construction is solid and tough.

Start-up is quick, but you have to remember to remove the large lens cap manually and that the cap is the only protection for the expensive, substantial glass lens at the front! Switching the camera on also activates the large 'pop-up' flash (if needed) and you can either use the EVF or the LCD screen (sadly only 2")by means of a button. The EVF is reasonable, if a little grainy and the LCD is rather small,(by current standards at only 2") but clear and useable indoors and out and both feature full information, including a histogram display.

This camera has lots of creative controls including full manual control, aperture priority, shutter priority, program, Auto and 18 Scene Modes. All these features and facilities such as the 10x (Shneider-Kreuznach lens) zoom, the electronic viewfinder and all the user enabled camera controls, point towards this camera suiting more the enthusiast photographer than the beginner. Also Kodak already has another 10x zoom enabled ultra--compact camera the EasyShare V610.

Of course the most important feature of this camera is its ability to take excellent, detailed and natural looking photographs and the fact that it can also record good quality Video with sound, is probably not that important to the photographer that chooses this camera over the Kodak V610.

Conclusion: For the enthusiastic amateur photographer who needs megapixels, a powerful zoom, lots of creative control and demands excellent results! On these counts this camera delivers!