The mega-zoom market is hot. The cameras that feature high optical zoom numbers (e.g. 10x or 12x) are very popular. After trying out the popular Kodak EasyShare Z740, I decided to get a slightly more expensive Kodak EasyShare Z7590 with a 10x optical zoom Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon lens, 5-Megapixel resolution and a 2.2-inch LCD display to see how it stacks up against competition and the Kodak Z740.

The Z7590 is relatively cheap comparing to the other mega-zoom cameras I used recently: Panasonic DMC-FZ5 and Canon S2 IS. I bought mine for $302, whereas the FZ5 cost me $383 and the Canon S2 IS was $448. But it was about $30 more expensive than the Kodak Z740. Turns out, it is a much better camera than the Z740.

Pictures

The pictures of the Kodak Z7590 as well as sample photos I took using it are available at the address below:

Click here to see the sample photos I took with this Kodak Easyshare Z7590 5MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Zoom and photos of the camera

What Is Kodak EasyShare Z7590?

The Kodak Z7590 is a 5-Megapixel digital camera that has a 10x optical zoom (38-380 mm equivalent focal length), stores images in the internal 32 MB of flash memory or on the SD/MMC memory cards. It has a USB port for transferring your images to your computer or printers and a EasyShare dock connection.

The camera runs on a supplied rechargeable Li-Ion battery (the charger/power adaptor is supplied). The camera has automatic, scene modes and manual modes such as Aperture, Shutter Priority and Manual.

The camera has ISO range of 80-400, shutter speed range 16-1/1,700 sec. and aperture ranges of f/2.8-8.0 at wide angle, f/3.7-8.0 at telephoto.

The camera features a large high-resolution 2.2-inch LCD monitor and an electronic viewfinder.

Build Quality and Ergonomics

I was surprised how much better the Z7590 is, comparing to the Z740. The materials, fit and finish as well as design of the camera seem to be much better and actually able to compete with other camera manufacturers, unlike the Z740, which was not up to par. The Z7590 is has pleasant heft to it, and is made of plastic that seems durable. The handgrip is soft and has good friction coefficient.

The camera has a convenient handgrip and the shutter release has reassuring feel to it. The controls are located within easy reach and require the right amount of effort to operate.

The camera uses a small joystick for menu navigation and as an OK button when pushed. Although I dislike it just as I disliked it in the Z740, it seems to be better calibrated now. Also, a lot of functions are now adjusted by a wheel in the front of the handgrip instead of the joystick. I find it a much better idea. Overall, the Z7590 is much better made and resigned than the Z740,

The menu system uses large icons and is relatively easy to use. The camera lets you select parameters (aperture, shutter speed, etc.) directly on the screen in the manual modes (Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual) as well as exposure compensation without using menus by just using the wheel, the part of which sticks out ih front of the handgrip. You rotate the wheel to select the parameter you want to adjust (e.g. aperture, shutter speed, ISO), then push it in to select the parameter, then rotate it to change the selected item.

Blurry Pictures

The camera has a 10x optical zoom lens, which means you can zoom in 10x without loosing any resolution. This is good news. The bad news is not all potential buyers of monster-zoom cameras know that if you this kind of magnification, sometimes you cannot get sharp pictures at full magnification (telephoto) if the camera is handheld and the subject is not brightly lit.

The Z7590 has a zoom, equivalent to 38-380 mm, which means at full telephoto shooting handheld, the shutter speed should be no longer than 1/500 or 1/350 sec. (if you hold camera relatively well). I discovered that in cloudy daylight, focusing at full telephoto, the camera needed to use 1/100-1/150 sec. shutter speed (at its widest aperture of f/3.7 but lowest ISO of 80). If you use the LCD screen and hold the camera in outstretched hands, this shutter speed causes some blurriness - images may be usable at small print sizes, but look slightly blurry at full resolution. Therefore, I used the electronic viewfinder while bracing the camera against my forehead and bracing my elbows against my body. The camera is also not very light, which is good for blur reduction. This way, I was able to get some usable pictures at 1/100-1/150 (see the samples). They are not sharp at full resolution, but look good when printed at 5x7 or 4x6 inches.

So the bottom line here is in less than bright daylight, if you want to use the camera's full zoom potential, you either have to use a tripod, a higher ISO sensitivity setting or use the EVF (electronic viewfinder), brace the camera against you, hold your breath and don't print enlargements. Whereas you can use a camera with an optical image stabilization while holding it in your arms outstretched in the same conditions and still have sharp pictures.

This is the reason Canon, Panasonic, Sony, Konica-Minolta and others use optical image stabilizers in their monster-zoom cameras. And that is one of the reasons those cameras are more expensive than this Kodak Z7590.

I use a Panasonic FZ5 (12x optical zoom) and it lets me take sharp pictures at full telephoto at speed as slow as 1/100-1/60 handheld using LCD with no blur.

Aside from this issue, the camera produces sharp pictures throughout its zoom range with only slight blurring in corners at telephoto end.

Shooting Speed

I have to say that just as the Z740 and Z700, the Z7590 is very slow in processing images and writing them to a memory card (or to internal memory). The same happens with a regular-speed and a fast SD memory card or when writing to the built-in flash memory. I used both a fast Kingston Elite Pro 512 MB SD Card and a regular-speed Kingston 512 SD Card.

Using the standard JPEG compression mode, after I take a picture, I can take the next one about 2-3 seconds later, but since the first picture is still being written by the time the second is taken, the camera eventually slows down to one picture every 7-8 seconds. I find the performance in the area of shot to shot delay acceptable, but keep in mind that the camera takes about 7 seconds to write every image on the memory card, which means after you take a series of photos in rapid succession, the camera will be writing to the memory card for up to 40 seconds. You will probably not notice, because you can do other things (zoom, use menus or take more pictures) while this is happening. But make sure you do not remove the memory card while the camera is writing onto it!

One positive aspect is that the camera, although its screen goes blank for a couple of seconds after the shot is taken), can still focus in the meantime. It is rather strange the screen is blank, but if you half-press the shutter release button, you can hear the camera make its mechanical noises and focus.

The camera has a burst mode and advertises it. In this mode, I was able to take five photos at two per second (which is good), but then the camera slowed down and was only able to take pictures at 8-9 second intervals. And it takes it 25-35 seconds for it to clear the buffer and write all images onto the memory card or internal flash memory.

Focusing

The camera focuses very fast in all light conditions and all zoom levels! This is something I cannot say of such worthy competition as Sony H1. The camera has a built-in active focusing system in front of the flash compartment, above the lens and I guees it works well.

The LCD and EVF screens gain-up (increase brightness) in the darkness/dim light very well to help you confirm focus and frame your shot better. A very impressive performance, which is better than even my Panasonic FZ5!

Shutter Lag

The camera takes the picture almost instantly if pre-focused. Including autofocus, the shutter lag can be as short as less than a second to about a second if the camera struggles with focus.

Zooming

The camera zooms somewhat slowly (about 3 seconds from end to end), but the zooming is precise and has more than 20 steps, letting you frame the shot the way you like it.

Startup and Shutdown

The camera takes about 3 seconds to start up and extend its lens. The shutdown takes also about 3 seconds, but if the buffer is full, it may take up to 38 seconds for the camera to flush it to the memory.

Manual Control

You can control the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance and more in the camera's different modes (A, S, M, etc.) There are also pre-programmed scene modes (landscape, portrait and more).

Battery

The camera uses a proprietary compact rechargeable Li-Ion battery. The battery was charged when I received the camera. The battery should be sufficient for more than 300 shots, which is very good.

LCD and Viewfinder

The camera has a large 2.2-inch LCD screen and an electronic viewfinder (EVF). Both offer close to 100% coverage, are fluid and have excellent resolution. They are fluid even in dark environments and gain-up (increase brightness) in the dark, helping you frame the shot better.

Computer Connectivity

I did not have to install any drivers on my Windows 2000 SP4 computer and could use the supplied USB cable in a matter of seconds. The transfer speed was reasonable at about 800 KB/sec. I also used my memory card reader with SD cards.

Resolutions

The camera lets you select between several resolutions: 5MP, 4.4MP (3:2 aspect ratio, perfect for 6x4 prints), 4MP, 3.1MP, 1.8MP.

Movie Mode

You can select one of two resolution modes: 640x480 and 320x240. The video at 640x480 was jerky (low refresh rate of 12 fps), whereas at 320x240 it was more fluid (20 fps), but still not to the digital camcorder level. The zoom does not work in movie mode (supposedly to avoid noise of the zooming motor).

Image Quality

The camera has a wide range of adjustments, but out of the box produces images that are sharp, have good contrast and nice colors. The camera came pre-set to Natural color, but you can select higher saturation or lower saturation mode as well as black and white. The lens produces some chromatic aberration (not much), which I don't find too bothersome. The lens also has some blurring in corners at telephoto, but nothing too noticeable and not more than the competitors.

Sample: Wide angle (click for full-size image)

Sample: Full Telephoto (10x) from the same location (click for full-size image)

Noise

I found that the camera produces very low noise levels at higher sensitivity (ISO) settings, but at the expense of the picture detail. The image gets softer as the sensitivity increases. Overall, I think that the at 5MP resolution the ISO 80-100 images are good up to 11x14 or even 13x19 (slightly soft), but the ISO 400 is only good for sharp 4x6 prints.

Competition

The mega-zoom cameras I have recently reviewed were Canon S2 IS and Panasonic FZ5. Obviously at $60-150 more than the Z740, they are not similar in price. But they do provide much more: optical image stabilization is essential if you intend on shooting handheld at large zoom levels. They also provide 12x optical zoom versus 10x of the Z740. And their operation is faster.

Pros

Low price for a 10x optical zoom. Good optics, features, fast lens (f/2.8 at wide angle, f/3.7 at telephoto), good battery life, built-in 32 MB memory, fast focusing, large 2.2-inch screen.

Cons

Slow writing to memory, large, no image stabilization.

Bottom Line

The Kodak Z7590 is a good budget mega-zoom camera. It does its job well enough, but if you intend on shooting a lot of pictures at high optical zoom levels with no tripod, a camera with an optical image stabilization (e.g. Canon PowerShot S2 IS or Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5) may be a better choice, at $70-150 more.

Recommended
Yes

Product Rating
(Excellent)

This review is also available at Epinions.com: Kodak EasyShare Z7590 Digital Camera Review on Epinions.com

My Reviews of Other Digital Cameras