The Kodak EasyShare Z700 digital camera grabs your attention first with its boxy look and sturdy right-hand grip area. At 2.2 inches in thickness, this camera doesn't offer the ultra-thin bodies of many new models, but it does represent a good value for beginning photographers.

First, the EasyShare Z700 has a 5X optical zoom lens, which is better than the industry standard of 3X zoom lenses found on many models. This is a very handy feature rarely found in sub-$300 cameras, and it will allow you to successfully shoot some mid-range-distance photos you can't shoot with many other digital cameras. The performance of the lens is very good, too, yielding sharp, vibrant photos.

The EasyShare Z700 is easy to use as well. Beginning photographers will appreciate the automatic point-and-shoot capability of this camera. If you want to move beyond the basics, this camera includes a few special features and a few manual settings for controlling exposure. It won't appeal to intermediate or advanced photographers, but for a beginner-level camera, the EasyShare Z700 has a surprising number of manual-control features.

As part of Kodak's EasyShare line of cameras, the Z700 offers one particular feature that will make it easy to organize and send photos. This feature, called the EasyShare system, helps to organize images and is another very handy feature for beginners. You may want to purchase a docking station (around $50) to further simplify the process of downloading and organizing photos.

The camera's 4.0 megapixels of resolution should meet the needs of most beginning photographers, allowing very sharp prints up to 8x10 inches. If you're shooting at the maximum resolution, the EasyShare Z700's 16MB of internal memory won't last long. However, if you're shooting low-resolution photos, the internal memory is a very handy feature.

Some of the EasyShare Z700's other features aren't quite as impressive, unfortunately.

You'll have to wait 4-5 seconds after turning on the camera to shoot your first photo, which may cause you to miss some photos. However, shutter lag is not noticeable with the EasyShare Z700, and it does offer a continuous-shoot mode of three photos per second.

The EasyShare Z700's LCD is a little small at 1.6 inches, and its display isn't as sharp as we'd like to see. The LCD also doesn't have an extra-bright capability, meaning it can be difficult to see in low light conditions. This camera's autofocus feature sometimes won't work well in low-light conditions, either.


Pro: Good value, extremely easy to use, 5X optical zoom lens is a great feature
Con: Power-up time is a little slow, LCD is not as sharp or large as some others, camera body is larger than many other models

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Eastman Kodak Co.
343 State St.
Rochester, NY 14650
http://www.kodak.com
585-724-4000

Warranty
1 year