9 out of 10 - Spectacular Dynamic, full-colored photos
When I bought the 1012 I thought it would be simply an evolution of the 812, a very fine camera ...
When I bought the 1012 I thought it would be simply an evolution of the 812, a very fine camera in itself. Its controls are the same; workings are the same--fast, accurate focus, excellent image quality--but I soon found out that the image quality was very different--much more full-color and dynamic. The 812 is somewhat reserved and needs a bit of tweaking to perfect the photos. The 1012 needs very little post processing: The image is much more full colored and 3-dimensional right out of the camera. The dynamic range also means that you must watch the exposure more--a brightly-lit subject can easily look overexposed unless you turn the exposure down some. Fine detail seems to be superior to the 812 and 712, probably because of the extra megapixels. Low light performance is very good--fast, accurate focus, low noise pictures. Write times are neither fast nor slow, just middling, but this is not so much of a problem because the buffer seems to be large enough to permit you to take many pictures in succession before filling up and preventing you from taking more pictures while it is processing--this never has happened to me in close to 500 pictures. One problem I have had comes from buying an 8 gig card and trying to use it with the camera. The camera is set up to take a 4 gig card maximum; here Kodak deserves brickbats for not making this fact more easily accessible. Anyway, the 8 gig card does work but with erratic write times that vary from normal to 3 times normal. In practical terms it has never stopped me from taking pictures because it is processing a shot slowly. What does happen is that if you turn off the camera at one of these slow-processing moments it will continue processing until it is done (the ON light stays lit during all this time) and you can't turn the camera back on until it finishes processing and the light goes out. Battery life is quite good. I got 300 shots off one CRV3 non-rechargeable battery with heavy use of the flash and the LCD, meaning 400 shots or more under normal use. I have posted a large number of 1012 photos with large size photos at http://www.pbase.com/tgaf/kodak_z1012is. They will give you a good idea of what this camera is capable of. I recommend it wholeheartedly--with an appropriate size SD card!
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by Masino (see profile) -
July 3, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Fast, fun, affordable!
This is my 3rd digital camera. I took my neice's jr. prom and used the zoom and then cropped ...
This is my 3rd digital camera. I took my neice's jr. prom and used the zoom and then cropped the pictures and they looked like I was 4 feet from her with no drop in picture quality. the only reason I did not give this camera a ten was the lack of a flash shoe. Kodak had it on the 6490 but with its newer cameras has dropped that feature, bring it back! Would really help the red eye problem. Lastly, get it on line I saved $100 dollars over the store price.
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by mombo18 (see profile) -
May 27, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Great bang for the buck
First day with my new camera was great. Got a smokin deal on it from newegg at $218 ( possible pricing ...
First day with my new camera was great. Got a smokin deal on it from newegg at $218 ( possible pricing error ). Really love the zoom. It focuses well even in dim light. In the office today it took photos with good saturation with no flash at all.
The Kodak software is a bad joke.. don't install it. If you just plug the camera in ( using Vista ). Windows will pick it up, install the drivers and let you use windows explorer to copy photos and videos anywhere you please and edit with the program you choose.
The camera is smaller in the hand than it appears in the photo. Of course still a little bulky because of the 12x zoom.. But surprising small enough to be pushed into a jacket pocket.
The previous reviewer was correct about the lens cap coming off easily. But, on the upside if you turn on the camera it will pop the lens cap off while extending the zoom. Would be nice to have the end of the lens threaded to accept a uv or polarizing filter.. Maybe on the next revision.
The external LCD could be brighter for outdoor use but the eyepiece finder works well and is easy to switch to.
The only real disappointment is that Kodak chose to ship the unit with a normal non rechargeable battery. Also, no charging base or adapter is included. A insert for a Kodak charging base is included and can be swapped to some bases for previous Kodak models.
On the bright side, I ordered 2 rechargeable batteries and wall charger from a e-bay merchant for less than $20 delivered.
All in all I am very happy so far and am impressed with how in full auto mode the camera selects and changes the scene setting as you compose your shot.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Great, versatile camera for the money.
Took this to 5 national parks in California and every picture was a postcard. Simple to use for my wife ...
Took this to 5 national parks in California and every picture was a postcard. Simple to use for my wife in auto mode, plenty of manual controls for someone getting into photography like me. Was considering getting a DSLR, but opted for this instead. Much cheaper, lighter, kodak-simple, and takes HD video. Focus rectangle stays on your subject if they move. Panoramic stitching is awesome. Comfortable, solid grip.
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by drr3761 (see profile) -
May 20, 2008
2 out of 10 - Terrible Frustrating "processing" time
I loved my last Kodak camera so this one caught my eye at Best Buy. I noticed right away that ...
I loved my last Kodak camera so this one caught my eye at Best Buy. I noticed right away that I could only take 3 pictures with this model, and then the camera went into "processing time", a full 7 to 10 seconds (which is a really long time if you count it out slowly), then the camera can take only 1 more picture before "processing" again. I inquired about this and was told that it was because the display model contained an old memory card. So I bought the camera with a new 4gb SDHC card. I got the camera home and to my surprise it could still only take 3 pictures before processing (and during processing time my kids stopped doing the cute thing every time!). I also tried lowering the megapixels which didn't improve things. I just got off the phone with Kodak and I was told that this is normal for this camera. I still can't believe it, who would want a camera that can only take 3 pictures? I would be open to any ideas otherwise I am taking this camera back tomorrow. I really love Kodak cameras, I am so dissapointed, but I have 2 kids and I don't want to miss their special moments.
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by saricooper (see profile) -
May 29, 2008
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