Techie419
12-07-2005, 01:09 AM
I have owned the Kodak P850 for about a month now. It was the 4th Kodak camera that I have purchased in recent years. I do not endorse Kodak, nor am I employed by them or any other camera manufacture.
With that said, I would like to comment that I found the Kodak P850 review here to be rather disappointing. The review created little if any excitement about this product and it provides information that does anything but misrepresent it in my opinion. (no disrespect to the reviewer intended, it was a well done review...I just disagree with some of it)
There are comments about poor ISO performance (400) low light focusing, battery life, LCD/EVF quality, manual focus, the dial setups, and USB.
Also, the P850 was not favored when compared to other cameras in the same class. That's fine, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And maybe that is what a review is, an "opinion". But i felt the negative qualities about the camera are overrated, and the positive qualities are underrated.
This is an excellent camera. It is easy to use, has a LARGE high quality LCD (yes high quality), takes crisp photos, and provides excellent pictures for a UZ camera in it's price range. Compared to the other models on the market, it blows them away. Yes, I said it. Again, it blows them away. This was not covered in the review. It was portrayed as an "average" camera with mild pros and cons.
Remember, no one camera is perfect. And the competitive models have their own flaws too (perhaps I should read the reviews on them). But for a camera that is now running about $320 with decent software, image stabilization, a hot shoe, tons of scene modes, AND a wide selection of custom accessories, what else is there in the same league? NOTHING!
(Seriously, show me one! please and I will just go away quietly)
Just recently a forum user posted this in the Kodak area:
"The 850 is just not up to par with the competition in the crowded UZ market. The review on this site criticizes its 'fuzzy' images, poor high ISO performance (unusable 400/800), below average battery life, poor LCD resolution, poor low light visibility on LCD and EVF, poor low light focusing, poor manual focus, poor handling, loud zoom, painfully slow startup time (3.5 seconds!), min. focus distance in macro mode (10cm!), etc."
As a user of this camera, this is SAD!!!
It's really too bad that someone would be steered away from owning this camera based on the review here.
Therefore, I felt it necessary to post a response in that forum about those "issues". There are also included below:
1) Fuzzy images
This could happen with a subject very close to the camera when not in macro mode... or if the focus is not aimed or locked on the subject. But in my experiences with this model I did not find a serious problem with images being "soft focused". The image stabilization made images more crisp than ever.
2) Noise in ISO 400
There is not one UZ camera that has low noise in this ISO. The Panasonic has got reviews at epinions which users complained about noise in that model. Seriously,, this is a sub $500 price point camera, what do you expect? If you want to get low noise in ISO 400/800 then step up to a Digital SLR like the Canon Rebel or Nikon D70. I wonder what a user/reviewer of this camera expects it to do.
3) Battery Life
It was ranked #3 on the list when compared to other competitive cameras. And that makes the battery life bad? Myself, I took hundreds of photos with this camera at a time and it lasts and lasts. The battery life is not at all below average.
4) poor LCD resolution, poor low light visibility on LCD and EVF
Personally, I found 2.5 inch LCD to be a great feature and also of good quality. It did not have poor resolution in my opinion (compare it to the small little tiny LCD in the Canon IS). This is a great feature of this camera, and the largest LCD in its class - why was that left out?.
The EVF too. Good quality. What is the problem?
5) poor low light focusing
its better than the kodak z740 even without the AF lamp. If you want great low light focusing then you have to get a camera with a laser or infrared senor, and pay a much higher price for it. You wont get much better than the P850 in low light focusing.
6) poor manual focus
It's the first Kodak that even has manual focus. It works if you know how to use it. And if manual focus is that important than you need an SLR.
7) poor handling
no problems in that category
8) loud zoom
finally something I can agree with. It does have loud zoom, especially compared to other competitive models. And with my P850 I didnt get the movie mode to "silence" the zoom motor (it can be heard well) so that is another dissapointment I had.
9) painfully slow startup time (3.5 seconds!)
3.5 seconds is painfully slow? not in my opinion. How fast is the fastest? 2.5 seconds? Is this even a consideration for a serious photographer? Come on!
10) min. focus distance in macro mode (10cm!),
If macro is what you need a camera for than you have the wrong camera.
It is a HIGH ZOOM camera. They are not known for great macros.
With that said, I would like to comment that I found the Kodak P850 review here to be rather disappointing. The review created little if any excitement about this product and it provides information that does anything but misrepresent it in my opinion. (no disrespect to the reviewer intended, it was a well done review...I just disagree with some of it)
There are comments about poor ISO performance (400) low light focusing, battery life, LCD/EVF quality, manual focus, the dial setups, and USB.
Also, the P850 was not favored when compared to other cameras in the same class. That's fine, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And maybe that is what a review is, an "opinion". But i felt the negative qualities about the camera are overrated, and the positive qualities are underrated.
This is an excellent camera. It is easy to use, has a LARGE high quality LCD (yes high quality), takes crisp photos, and provides excellent pictures for a UZ camera in it's price range. Compared to the other models on the market, it blows them away. Yes, I said it. Again, it blows them away. This was not covered in the review. It was portrayed as an "average" camera with mild pros and cons.
Remember, no one camera is perfect. And the competitive models have their own flaws too (perhaps I should read the reviews on them). But for a camera that is now running about $320 with decent software, image stabilization, a hot shoe, tons of scene modes, AND a wide selection of custom accessories, what else is there in the same league? NOTHING!
(Seriously, show me one! please and I will just go away quietly)
Just recently a forum user posted this in the Kodak area:
"The 850 is just not up to par with the competition in the crowded UZ market. The review on this site criticizes its 'fuzzy' images, poor high ISO performance (unusable 400/800), below average battery life, poor LCD resolution, poor low light visibility on LCD and EVF, poor low light focusing, poor manual focus, poor handling, loud zoom, painfully slow startup time (3.5 seconds!), min. focus distance in macro mode (10cm!), etc."
As a user of this camera, this is SAD!!!
It's really too bad that someone would be steered away from owning this camera based on the review here.
Therefore, I felt it necessary to post a response in that forum about those "issues". There are also included below:
1) Fuzzy images
This could happen with a subject very close to the camera when not in macro mode... or if the focus is not aimed or locked on the subject. But in my experiences with this model I did not find a serious problem with images being "soft focused". The image stabilization made images more crisp than ever.
2) Noise in ISO 400
There is not one UZ camera that has low noise in this ISO. The Panasonic has got reviews at epinions which users complained about noise in that model. Seriously,, this is a sub $500 price point camera, what do you expect? If you want to get low noise in ISO 400/800 then step up to a Digital SLR like the Canon Rebel or Nikon D70. I wonder what a user/reviewer of this camera expects it to do.
3) Battery Life
It was ranked #3 on the list when compared to other competitive cameras. And that makes the battery life bad? Myself, I took hundreds of photos with this camera at a time and it lasts and lasts. The battery life is not at all below average.
4) poor LCD resolution, poor low light visibility on LCD and EVF
Personally, I found 2.5 inch LCD to be a great feature and also of good quality. It did not have poor resolution in my opinion (compare it to the small little tiny LCD in the Canon IS). This is a great feature of this camera, and the largest LCD in its class - why was that left out?.
The EVF too. Good quality. What is the problem?
5) poor low light focusing
its better than the kodak z740 even without the AF lamp. If you want great low light focusing then you have to get a camera with a laser or infrared senor, and pay a much higher price for it. You wont get much better than the P850 in low light focusing.
6) poor manual focus
It's the first Kodak that even has manual focus. It works if you know how to use it. And if manual focus is that important than you need an SLR.
7) poor handling
no problems in that category
8) loud zoom
finally something I can agree with. It does have loud zoom, especially compared to other competitive models. And with my P850 I didnt get the movie mode to "silence" the zoom motor (it can be heard well) so that is another dissapointment I had.
9) painfully slow startup time (3.5 seconds!)
3.5 seconds is painfully slow? not in my opinion. How fast is the fastest? 2.5 seconds? Is this even a consideration for a serious photographer? Come on!
10) min. focus distance in macro mode (10cm!),
If macro is what you need a camera for than you have the wrong camera.
It is a HIGH ZOOM camera. They are not known for great macros.