Kodak Easyshare Z980

[Alan T]

ac.smith wrote:

....The difference f/4.8 and f/5 is more like 1/6th of a stop

In fact it lets in 8% less light. (4.8/5)**2=0.9216, but it's neither here nor there, especially when none of us were good enough at our 'square root of two times' table to notice.

It wasn't the the loss of a bit of aperture that bothered me. It's the fact that for a given movement of the lens, the image will blur about 1.5x as much at 620mm (Z980) as at 396mm (Z1012). I'd love the wider and longer zoom lens (assuming reasonable image quality), but I doubted my ability to use the long, longzoom end on a 980, hand-held at its full aperture, without going to rather high ISO.

Anyway, I hope someone here will be demonstrating the possibilities soon!

[ac.smith]

Alan T wrote:

It wasn't the the loss of a bit of aperture that bothered me. It's the fact that for a given movement of the lens, the image will blur about 1.5x as much at 620mm (Z980) as at 396mm (Z1012). I'd love the wider and longer zoom lens (assuming reasonable image quality), but I doubted my ability to use the long, longzoom end on a 980, hand-held at its full aperture, without going to rather high ISO.

Anyway, I hope someone here will be demonstrating the possibilities soon!

If we combine our two rules of thumb; 1) sunlit exposure =f/16 @ 1/ISOand 2) mimimum hand holding = 1/focal length we do arrive at f/5 @ roughly 1/600 sec. at base ISO which suggest that the Z980 can be hand held at max tele even without IS. IS should give us a bit of leeway to operate into cloudy bright conditions without resorting to a tripod.

It takes some mental prep. but I have hand held my Z612 at 588mm and 756mm equiv. See http://forums.steves-digicams.com/fo...light=ac.smith

A. C.

[BigCTM]

Here's a coupon good for 20% off most items at the Kodak store, including the Z980. I believe it's good until the end of the month. Man, this forum is dead. Posted mainly to get another post on the Kodak forum...

Coupon code 1d3c99fe8 (one time use only I believe)...

[ac.smith]

BigCTM wrote:

Here's a coupon good for 20% off most items at the Kodak store, including the Z980. I believe it's good until the end of the month. Man, this forum is dead. Posted mainly to get another post on the Kodak forum...

Coupon code 1d3c99fe8 (one time use only I believe)...

I think the info about the coupon has been posted before in this thread. You can see early user reports over at DPReview. Those who bought it as a video camera are already disappointed and have returnedthe camera. When will they learn. Those who bought it as a still camera seem reasonable pleased and have posted samples.Inconsistancies in resizing seem to have introduced enough artifacts that it hard to evaluate.

A. C.

[BigCTM]

ac.smith wrote:

The coupon code is a new code that is different from the one posted earlier. Only one person has returned the camera due to the video issue based on what I have read on dpreview.

Overall the impressions of the Z980 are very positive on that forum.

I think the info about the coupon has been posted before in this thread. You can see early user reports over at DPReview. Those who bought it as a video camera are already disappointed and have returnedthe camera. When will they learn. Those who bought it as a still camera seem reasonable pleased and have posted samples.Inconsistancies in resizing seem to have introduced enough artifacts that it hard to evaluate.

A. C.

[ac.smith]

BigCTM wrote:

I'm inclined to agree that most of the comments are favorable.Part of my comments were as a warning to those who insist on buying a still camera to use as a video camera. If one wantsto a cameraprimarily as avideo camera one should buy a video camera.

A. C.

[jcotton55]

ac.smith wrote:

I have a Canon S2, shoots good pictures and good video.

My next camera will shoot good pictures and good video.

It will keep subject in focus while zooming in video as my S2 does.

The only reason for me to buy a new camera is HD video, seems the Kodak

fails at this, hope the Sony HX1 does better, otherwise I may have to buy

a Canon SX1. I will have a multi function camera ! My pickup is also

multi function, transports me in comfort and tows my cattle trailer.

Just depends on what you need and expect from your tools I suppose !

James

[ac.smith]

jcotton55 wrote:

I have a Canon S2, shoots good pictures and good video.

My next camera will shoot good pictures and good video.

It will keep subject in focus while zooming in video as my S2 does.

The only reason for me to buy a new camera is HD video, seems the Kodak

fails at this, hope the Sony HX1 does better, otherwise I may have to buy

a Canon SX1. I will have a multi function camera ! My pickup is also

multi function, transports me in comfort and tows my cattle trailer.

Just depends on what you need and expect from your tools I suppose !

James

If video in a still camera is your requirement then the SX1 may be a winner, I provided the link to their review. I just don't want the still function compromised no do I particularly want to pay extra for that function.

I not quite sure why someone thought it was neat that the HX1 did in camera panoramasthe Z series Kodaks have been doing that for the last five models.

My car is also more fuel efficient than most trucks.

A. C.

[jcotton55]

ac.smith wrote:

If video in a still camera is your requirement then the SX1 may be a winner, I provided the link to their review. I just don't want the still function compromised no do I particularly want to pay extra for that function.

I not quite sure why someone thought it was neat that the HX1 did in camera panoramasthe Z series Kodaks have been doing that for the last five models.

My car is also more fuel efficient than most trucks.

A. C.

I understand your preference, if I was of the same inclination I'd buy a DSLR.

The panorama stuff doesn't interest me, my S2 can stich togetter pictures,

never used it that way. I sure wish the Z980 was better at video, I like

Kodaks color in pictures, canon in vivid comes close to it, for me anyways.

Yep, my old truck only gets 20 to 24 on the highway, about 15 with a trailer

full of cattle or in town.

Still gonna buy me a Kodak one day !

The M1033 looks good as well as the V1073 for a pocket camera.

Does Kodak make a camera like the Panasonic TZ5 ? Canon does but they crippled

it with no zoom in video.

Though I really need a Viewfinder as I'm old school and wear reading glasses.

James

[ac.smith]

jcotton55 wrote:

I understand your preference, if I was of the same inclination I'd buy a DSLR.

The panorama stuff doesn't interest me, my S2 can stich togetter pictures,

never used it that way. I sure wish the Z980 was better at video, I like

Kodaks color in pictures, canon in vivid comes close to it, for me anyways.

Yep, my old truck only gets 20 to 24 on the highway, about 15 with a trailer

full of cattle or in town.

Still gonna buy me a Kodak one day !

The M1033 looks good as well as the V1073 for a pocket camera.

Does Kodak make a camera like the Panasonic TZ5 ? Canon does but they crippled

it with no zoom in video.

Though I really need a Viewfinder as I'm old school and wear reading glasses.

James

DSLRs don't fit my space, time or budget at the moment, a good versatile super-zoom does and my Z612 works at the moment. I do panoramas with it like you do, external software. The Z980 looks interesting to me for wide-angle and extended telephoto capability as well as the external flash capability. I'd use the pano because it's there but video just doesn't sway me one way or the other.

The closest Kodak to the TZ5 in my opinion is the Z1085 and it's not really that close as it is only a 5x zoom which give it neither the W/A nor the tele capability of the TX5. The zoom is however useable in video including the HD video. It hasthe largest sensor in any of the Z series cameras.