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The Kodak Z950 is a 12-megapixel compact camera aimed squarely at the photography noob. Kodak claims that its Smart Capture mode takes the tricky stuff out of snapping, adjusting “focus, flash and exposure” so that all you need to do is point and shoot. Does it deliver on this promise? Read our full Kodak Z950 review to find out.
The Kodak Z950 is trying hard to be all things to all photographers. Packing a 10x zoom, it has more focal range than most £200 cameras, and can switch from wide angle (35mm equivalent) to telephoto (350mm equivalent) in a matter of seconds. There’s the Smart Capture, but alongside it are full manual, shutter, aperture and program modes to appeal to the more experienced photographer.
Optical image stabilisation is squeezed in to help prevent camera shake from affecting the sharpness of your shots, and there’s also a 720p HD movie mode. On paper, the Kodak Z950 looks like a serious challenger to the Canons, Nikons, Sonys and Olympuses of this world.
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Take the camera out of its box and things don’t seem quite so nifty. The Kodak Z950 seems unnecessarily chunky (it won’t fit in most jean pockets) and its buttons feel plasticky and cheap. The zoom rocker, for instance, is loose and a tad unresponsive.
The 3-inch screen on the Kodak Z950 is more of a disappointment. While we can’t quibble about the size, the clarity is lacking in comparison to rival cameras, meaning you often have to load up pictures on your computer (or zoom right in on the LCD) to get an accurate idea of how sharp and crisp they’ve actually turned out.
Chances are, they’ve turned out very sharp and crisp indeed, because the Kodak Z950 turns out great results in the right conditions. We found the noise reduction on high ISO, no flash shots a little destructive, and there is a lot of barrel distortion in wide angle shots, but neither of these will be deal-breakers for most users.
The Smart Capture mode works well too, apparently also adjusting the dynamic range to boost clarity and brightness in dark areas of the shot. This sometimes results in a strange halo effect around objects though, so again it’s not perfect.
Lastly, the HD video on the Kodak Z950 is nothing but a disappointment. Image quality is grainy and the camera frequently drops frames when panning or zooming. If you fix it to a tripod you might get decent results, but we wouldn’t recommend this camera if you plan on filming crisp, smooth HD home vids.
All in all the Kodak Z950 is a decent enough compact snapper, but it doesn’t really excel in any way, and the design and screen feel outdated.
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