Overview
The Kodak Easyshare Z981 is one of the cheaper super zoom digital cameras. The lens offers 26x zoom. This should give you plenty of zoom power to home in on distant subjects. As well as the zoom lens Kodak has equipped the Easyshare Z981 with a set of manual controls. These give you an extra degree of control over the way your photos will look.
This camera lacks some of the most advanced features available from other cameras in this category. That is fair enough as it is also considerably cheaper than the most advanced cameras. This also helps when it comes to keeping the camera easy to use.
Why Buy The Kodak Easyshare Z981
The Easyshare Z981 will be of great interest to anyone who needs a lot of zoom power, but is on a restricted budget.
Main Features
Megapixels:
Zoom:
LCD Screen:
Dimensions:
Weight:
14
26x
3 inches
123.7 x 84.8 x 105mm
519g
Macro:
HD Movies:
Manual Controls:
Batteries:
Memory Cards:
1cm
Yes
Yes
AA
SD/SDHC
Features
With 26x zoom on offer you have plenty of zoom power at your fingertips. With a focal length equivalent to 26 - 676mm in 35mm format you have the ability to squeeze in wide scenes as well as homing in on far off, distant subjects. Image stabilisation is included. This is a feature that is increasingly important with a longer lens, especially in low light.
For composing your masterpieces you have the option of using a 3 inch LCD screen or using a viewfinder. The viewfinder lacks dioptre correction that you see on a lot of similar cameras. Dioptre correction allows you to adjust the focusing of the viewfinder to suit your own eyesight.
To help you get your photos looking just the way you want them to there are a set of manual exposure controls. These are fully manual, aperture priority and shutter priority. If you prefer you can use fully automatic settings letting the camera take control. Photos can be saved in RAW mode. This gives you more options if you choose to tweak your photos with computer software such as Photoshop.
One feature I have not seen before is a vertical shooting mode. When you place the Easyshare Z981 in vertical shooting mode a second, more conveniently placed shutter button becomes active. A detachable vertical grip is also supplied.
The Easyshare Z981 is also capable of shooting High Definition movies.
Handling
One of the extra advantages of the long zoom lens is that it gives you something to get a good hold of when taking a photo. This is a big help in keeping the camera steady for a shot. As is typical of this type of camera there is also a large grip area on the front of the Easyshare Z981 too. There is also a large area on the back of the camera for placing a thumb. Unlike with other cameras there is little chance of inadvertently pressing a button or two with your thumb.
When you want to use flash this pulls up on the top of the camera above the lens. There is no button to make it pop up. It is simply lifted up by hand.
To increase the amount of room on the back of the camera to make room for your thumb extra buttons have been placed on the top of the camera. These are for selecting the flash mode, placing the camera into macro mode and setting the self timer. The shutter button sits towards the front. Turning the camera on and off is controlled by a slider. Another slider is used to place the camera into portrait mode. When this is activated a second shutter button situated on the front of the camera becomes active. A control dial for selecting the shooting mode and a jog dial or selection wheel are also on top of the Easyshare Z981.
On the back of the camera the viewfinder protrudes from the body. The viewfinder is fairly small in size compared with other cameras. Next to the viewfinder is a button allowing you to toggle between the viewfinder and LCD screen. Moving to the right is a button for zooming in and out.
Running down the side of the LCD screen are four buttons. These are for deleting images, accessing the menu, help text and reviewing images. You also have a share button for helping with the upload of photos and video clips plus a button for confirming a setting.
In the menu system there are 13 shooting options and 13 setup options.
On the bottom of the Easyshare Z981 is the door for loading the battery and memory card. On the camera I had for testing I found this very difficult to open. This suggests to me the materials used for building the camera are not of great quality.
While testing the Easyshare Z981 a message came up to say the temperature of the camera was high and it would be turned off. The camera had not been running for long when the message appeared. It is not something I have ever seen before.
Image Quality - See Sample Images Below
Outdoor Scenic Shot 1
The Easyshare Z981 gets off to a good start. The shot shows good levels of sharpness and clarity. Despite the low angle of the sun it also brings out a fair level of detail in the lighter areas of the shot. The camera finds the going a bit tougher in the darkest areas, but it handles light shade well.
Outdoor Scenic Shot 2
Looking at the centre section of this photo the picture quality is good. As you move towards the edges quality starts to reduce quite quickly and definition starts to fade. There is also the merest hint of darkness showing in the top right hand corner of the photo.
Outdoor Scenic Shot 3
I like this shot. Compared to many other digital cameras with long lenses the Easyshare Z981 handles any fringing quite well. The shot is sharp without much evidence of softening as you move out towards the edges of the photo.
Outdoor Building
This shot looks a bit hazy if you increase the print size. Compared with other digital cameras with long lenses it lacks the definition offered by its more expensive competitors.
Outdoor Portrait
I am happy with this test shot. There is not a great deal to add. The photo is sharp and the colours have a touch of warmth to them.
Indoor Portrait With Flash
You can see from the shadow in this photo that the Easyshare Z981 can deliver a strong burst of flash. This lights the face well enough. Another plus point is that colours look natural for a shot taken with flash. There are areas where the light has not really managed to get to. This leaves those areas somewhat dark and underexposed.
Indoor Portrait Without Flash
This picture has gone horribly wrong. There is a very high level of noise in the shot. Although this test does tend to create some noise it is extremely rare to see it showing to this level.
Macro
If you take a look at my macro shot you will see the pencils simply aren't straight. They have taken on a lot of bend. Although many digital cameras do make straight lines look bent from close in the Easyshare Z981 has taken this to the extreme. Sharpness levels are acceptable, but they do not count for a great deal with the problem of keeping lines straight to this degree.
Colours
The Easyshare Z981 is capable of producing strong colours. Blues in particular are powerful. I especially like the colours produced in my outdoor shot with the lens fully extended.
Noise
As you can see from my indoor portrait noise can be an issue with the Easyshare Z981. This is especially the case when lighting levels fall below their optimum.
Picture Quality Summary
The Easyshare Z981 is one of the cheaper super zoom digital cameras. This does show in places with one or two poor photos thrown in with some better efforts. Is this camera right for you? It all depends on the type of shot you will take regularly and the lighting conditions you take your photos in.
Shutter Lag Times
Single Shot
Five Shots
Single Shot With Flash
Five Shots With Flash
Turn on Time
0.37 seconds
39.62 seconds
0.55 seconds
44.39 seconds
3.81 seconds
Ease of Use
Digital cameras with this range of features are not going to offer the ease of use of a typical point and shoot compact camera. The Easyshare Z981 has fewer features than a lot of models in this category and that helps to make it more straightforward and easier to use.
Points I Like
Long lens - general features - lower price
Where it Could Improve
Macro shot - Noise in lowlight - Build quality
Verdict
Perhaps the Kodak Easyshare Z981 does not match up to other cameras with long lenses in all areas, but it is worth noting it is around half the price of some of them. Therefore if a long lens is of great importance to you and you are willing to accept some of the limitations when it comes to picture quality then this camera is one for your shortlist.
Test Shots
Product Shots
Front View
Back View
Top View
Sample Menus
The camera used in this review of the Kodak Easyshare Z981
was kindly provided by UK Digital Cameras
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Related Pages
Kodak Easyshare Z981 Review Kodak Easyshare Z981 Specification Kodak Easyshare Z981 Sample Images
Review Date
November 2010
