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5 Responses to “Kodak EasyShare Z981 14MP Digital Camera with Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 26x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Lens and 3.0 Inch LCD”
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Picture is very good, indoor and low light.
Zoom good but never close to movie (by Z981) that someone put on youtube.
No Date Imprint ON/OFF
No Image View ON/OFF , it always on and it will take 2-3 seconds before I can take another picture.
No Image Stabilizer ON/OFF
Manual and Technical support say Z981 has Date Imprint(DateStamp) ON/OFF, Image View(quickview) ON/OFF and Image Stabilizer ON/OFF but in the product itself does not have these options.
Kodak should take responsibility to rewrite the manual.
I do not think it will take more than 15 minutes to correct the manual and spec in their web site.
But it’s sill there.
How can Kodak claim something that they do not have? What else that does not have in Z981?
Is it special Kodak marketing tactic?
Misleading and I think it is not fair for buyer.
If you can live with these, buy it.
If you can not, consider to buy another camera.
Rating: 1 / 5
Kodak EasyShare Z981 14MP Digital Camera with Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 26x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Lens and 3.0 Inch LCD
I own the Z981is and just sold the Z1015 to buy this one. So far not as impressed with it as with the Z981. Problems as follows:
1) can not shutoff auto preview!!! holding the button helps but not a fix! Very slow between pictures. could be fixed with a firmware update but tech support likes the feature as it is!
2) Digital zoom is non-selectable in some modes and can not configure it anywhere. Could also be fixed in a firmware update but again tech support likes it as it is.
3) date and time stamp has to be turned on for EACH picture. Could be fixed in a firmware update but guess what? tech support likes it as it is!
4) For me so far, seems to have trouble auto-focusing and many times will not let you take a shot while it decides what to do.
5) The batteries are not my first choice! The last two I owned used one lithium ion battery which was a proprietary battery BUT went 300 plus pic’s with no problems. This one is back to the old NIMH AA’s and requires 4 battery’s. So if you like spares, you could be carrying a dozen battery’s.
6) the zoom is very fast in and out, wish the would include a half speed option.
Rating: 2 / 5
I am very impresed by this camera: it is easy to use and takes great pictures! I wanted a long zoom and am not disappointed. You do not seem to be able to turn off the quick view even though the manual says you can but if you press the shutter button part-way the quick view will end and you can take another picture very quickly. I took some pictures at full telephoto on a very windy day and they came out fantastic because of the image stabilization. I also took a short video on the same day and tried to hold the camera steady in my hands and you can see it move around so the image stabilization on the stills is excellent. The video quality was also excellent.
Rating: 5 / 5
I got this as an upgrade to my z612. I haven’t used it much yet, but so far I love it! The zoom is fantastic and so is the flash.
I zoomed into a table in a room that was 20 feet away and dark. The flash lit the entire image and worked great!FROM 20 FEET AWAY!
Image stabilization is great and so is image quality. I am very happy with the speed of the camera. Much faster than the z612 and I really like to burst feature (1 per second or 8 per second (might be 9 there)).
No problems with the battery compartment opening. It is tight, but do you want it too loose?
They seemed to have dumbed down settings on this camera also. Only those that effect the mode for shooting you are in are available to change. So in automatic mode very limited settings for the camera are accessible, but in other modes you can access quality and more.
Two things I don’t like: 1. I had to print the “real” manual from a download. I want a small manual from kodak to keep with me in case I have to look something up. They have an onboard help system, but I want a manual.
Also, the on/off switch is very close to the mode dial. It is usable, but my z612 had some more space and was easier to access.
Overall, I am very pleased.
Rating: 4 / 5
My wife and I finally decided to upgrade from our point and shoot camera. We wanted to get a camera that would take great pictures of our 10 month old son. We consulted my wife’s sister who owns a Nikon D700. Of course she suggested that we purchase a Nikon D5000, or at least the the D3000. I am so glad that we purchased this camera which is far less complicated and in my opinion took just as incredible pictures as the more expensive DSLR cameras.
We’ve had the camera for about a week now and have had a chance to load the pictures we took from our trip to Vegas onto our computer. Boy are the pics STUNNING. We were able to take over 900 pictures on a 8 GB HC memory card(which also includes more than a few videos). The pics on the computer come out in 420 dpi and the clarity is jut amazing. Portrait pics of my son (especially the ones taken in black & white) come out looking like they were taken by a professional photographer (something we could not get from our point and shoot). The batteries lasted us the whole weekend, and when they finally did need to be recharged, it only took about an hour to get a full charge.
We absolutely love the high-speed burst feature. We used the feature while taken pics of the Fountains at the Bellagio. It’s fun to hold down the left or right button while viewing taken pics on the 3 inch lcd, it almost looked like we were watching a slow motion video of the fountains. Even though it was night time, the pictures still came out incredible (again something you can’t get on a point and shoot)
There are a lot more options I have to play with to familiarize myself more with the camera. Like any guy, I have not read the manual at all yet. This speaks volumes for this camera. Its easy to take amazing pictures without having to take classes or read an outrages manual. I recommend this camera to anyone who is wanting to take better pictures without having to spend an entire paycheck to do so.
Rating: 5 / 5