Kodak Easyshare Z5010 Ultra Zoom Review

Features
Handling
Performance
Verdict
Specification
Kodak Easyshare Z5010 shown above - the shockwave flash rotating view of the camera above was created using EME Digital's 360 photo box, click the magnifying glass to enlarge.



The Kodak Easyshare Z5010 is Kodak's latest ultra zoom camera, featuring a 21x optical zoom lens, 14 megapixel CCD sensor, manual controls, and Kodak's unique share button for easy uploading to Facebook and other social networks.

Kodak Easyshare Z5010 Features

The Kodak Easyshare Z5010 features a Schneider Kreuznach branded wide angle 21x optical zoom lens covering a range of 25-525mm equivalent, with image stabilisation, as well as a 14.1 megapixel CCD sensor, a 3 inch screen, and takes 4 AA batteries. A set of alkaline batteries are included with the camera.

Share button options are to share to FACEBOOK, e-mail, KODAK Gallery, FLICKR, YouTube, TWITTER, ORKUT, YANDEX, KAIXIN001, and KODAK PULSE Digital Frames.

Key Features

• 25mm wide angle 21x optical zoom lens (25-525mm)
• 14mp CCD sensor
• 720p video, mono sound, zoom available
• 3inch screen, 230k
• ISO sensitivity auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
• Image stabilization still: optical, video: digital
• Exposure Lock when shutter button is half pressed
• Smart Capture (integration of face detection, scene detection, optimized auto ISO, broader dynamic range, auto KODAK PERFECT TOUCH Technology, optimized output)
• 2-shots, 0.8 fps, up to 8 frames (Smart Capture mode, 14 MP)
• Face Recognition, Face Detection
• Colour modes high colour, natural colour, low colour, black & white, sepia
• Sharpness sharp, normal, soft
• Orientation sensor

Custom settings include: image orientation, tagging (people, keyword, print, favorite), monitor brightness control, capture frame grid display, red-eye correction, camera sound control, histogram info display.

Kodak Easyshare Z5010 Handling

Ergonomics - The Z5010 is a lot like the Z990 Max and is a large chunky camera with a plastic body and rubberised hand grip. There is a traditional spring loaded on/off switch, a recessed screen, no viewfinder, large mode dial, with M (Manual setting), although no A/S individual dial positions, instead the dial is made up of: Scene modes program AE [P], manual exposure [M], portrait, sport, landscape, flower, sunset, backlight, candlelight, children, bright, stage, fireworks, self portrait, night portrait, night landscape, high ISO, panorama. There is a large hand grip and a bumped thumb grip on the back that works well.

Buttons: Dedicated buttons on top: power, shutter, mode dial, flash, focus, drive. On the back: zoom, delete, menu, info, review, 5-way controller, Share.



Menus - The main options are set using the camera's overlay, these are designed to give you quick access to the most commonly changed options such as flash settings, ISO, and exposure, however these obstruct the view of what you want to photograph until you half press the shutter button.

Battery Life - The camera uses 4x AA batteries and is provided with 4 standard alkaline batteries. We were able to take over 380 shots, although using high power rechargeable batteries should give better battery life. The other benefit of AA batteries is that you can very easily find them if you run out, although using rechargeable batteries would be better for the environment and do add extra cost to the camera.



Speed - Switching the camera off to on and taking a photo is slow at 4.9 seconds. Focus is reasonable at 0.35/0.40 seconds (wide-angle), and shutter response after focusing is very quick at 0.05seconds. Shot to shot is quite slow at around 1.5 seconds. Continuous shooting is slightly better at 1.1 seconds between shots.

Kodak Easyshare Z5010 Performance

Here are several sample photos taken in a variety of lighting conditions, click "Hi-Res" to view full size sample photos, there are more sample photos in the equipment database where you can also add your own photos and review:

Kodak Easyshare Z5010 Sample Photos

These sample photos show good flash performance, with very little to no red-eye visible, although using a lower ISO setting could result in a better image. Detail and colour is reasonable.

Kodak Easyshare Z5010 Lens test images

Lens test images. The camera shows quite high levels of purple fringing with the camera on wide-angle. Using the macro mode better results are available when zooming in slightly, although this is mostly trial and error as there is no indication as to what the optimum zoom position is on the camera.

Kodak Easyshare Z5010 ISO test images

ISO test images show noise is visible at the lowest ISO setting of ISO64, and increases as you increase the ISO setting, with strong chroma noise appearing at ISO400. At ISO800 there are high levels of noise and low image quality. ISO1600 shows the worst results with a serious loss of colour and detail, with black dots appearing. ISO1600 is therefore best avoided or used resized.

Kodak Easyshare Z5010 White-balance test images

White balance images show good results using the auto white balance setting under both tungsten and fluorescent lighting. The fluorescent preset hasn't helped, giving the image a yellow cast to the image.


Panoramic 1/160 sec | f/8.7 | 4.5 mm | ISO 64 - The panoramic mode lets you take three shots, and shows you how to line them up using an overlay of the last photo. The camera stitched them together in the camera.

Kodak Easyshare Z5010 Digital filters

Digital Filters / Colour modes - the camera lets you change the colour modes, letting you select Sepia, Black and White, Low colour, natural colour and high colour.

Video - The video is recorded as an AVI Motion JPEG with 720p (1280 × 720) @ 30 fps and VGA (640 × 480) @ 30 fps available. Continuous AF (Auto Focus) is available during video, and the camera records mono sound. Maximum length: < 2GB or 29 mins; VGA: < 2GB or < 80 mins. The lack of optical image stabilisation during video recording makes using the optical zoom difficult.

Value For Money - The Kodak Easyshare Z5010 is available for around £179. Alternatives available include the Fujifilm FinePix S2950 with 18x optical zoom, Olympus SP-610UZ with 22x optical zoom, Nikon Coolpix L120 with 21x optical zoom, and Fujifilm FinePix S3200 with 24x optical zoom. More ultra zooms can be seen in our Top 10 Best Ultra Zooms.

Kodak Easyshare Z5010 Verdict

The Kodak Easyshare Z5010 is an entry level ultra zoom with a 21x optical zoom lens, 3 inch screen, 14 megapixel sensor and manual controls. Unique to Kodak is the "Share" button on the back designed to let you easily upload your photos to social media sites like facebook and others, as well as giving the ability to share over email or to a Kodak digital photo frame. Other than the share feature there is little else that sets this camera apart from any of the other ultra zooms available, and it's mixed performance when it comes to speed makes it difficult to recommend. There were also concerns about high levels of noise and purple fringing which means you would be better off looking elsewhere if image quality is a high priority.

Kodak Easyshare Z5010 Pros

Good hand grip and buttons
Orientation sensor
Wide angle 21x optical zoom lens
Easy share options

Kodak Easyshare Z5010 Cons

Quite bulky
Sluggish switch on time
High purple fringing
High noise levels even at ISO64

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

Kodak Easyshare Z5010 Specifications

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