The following article is a review by FreshDV guest contributor Eugenia Loli-Queru.

Geeks.com sent us over a Kodak Z885 for a review, one of their 8 megapixel digital cameras they carry on to their store.

Description
The Z885 is an 8.1 MP camera, with a 2.5″ LCD screen. It features a 5x optical zoom, 32MB internal flash storage, SDHC support, digital stabilization, JPEG capture, MPEG4-SP VGA capture, A/V output. It uses two AA batteries to power. In the box we found the camera, batteries, a USB cable with a proprietary port on the camera side, a hand-strap, a dock for Kodak’s printers, a CD, and a getting started guide.

The top of the camera has a dial button where you can select between “Favorites”, “video” mode, scene mode, auto mode, manual mode, ISO mode and image stabilization mode. Next to the dial you will find the on/off button, the flash, the burst/timer button and a mono speaker. On the back side you will find the zoom in/out rocker button, a “delete” button, an “info” button, the 5-way operational joystick, menu, review and “share” button. On the side you will find the USB port and the SDHC port. A mono microphone with no windscreen is found next to the 36ñ180 mm (35 mm equiv.) f/2.8ñ5.1 lens and the flash.

Usage
The usability of Kodak’s cameras has been improved a lot in the latest generation of their cameras. It’s very easy to figure out what is what and how to get there. The software allows for presets of white balance (although no custom white balance is possible), several algorithms for focusing and exposure, sharpness levels, redeye removal support, sensor orientation, power management and color mode (high color, natural color, low color, sepia, black and white).

There are over 20 scene modes for those who can trust the camera to pick the right settings, although the true benefit of using the Z-series from Kodak is their manual mode. In it, you can select focusing distance, ISO, exposure, aperture and shutter speed.

HDR photography
My favorite feature of the Z-series is exposure bracketing. With it, the camera captures three images with a single shutter click, but at different exposures. Then, you bring these images to applications like Photoshop or Photomatix and with some lite manipulation you can add new details to your picture. Or, you can artistic with it and create some crazy looking pictures like the one below. I believe that this Z885 camera is the cheapest camera on the market that supports exposure bracketing. You will have to pay $450 to get the Powershot G9 if you want the same feature from a Canon, for example.

Before and after:

Video
The Z885 only shoots VGA video at 30fps, or at QVGA resolution. Quality is not too bad and it has the added bonus to save the video in MPEG4-SP of 3.5mbps instead of MJPEG. This means that you will fit more VGA video with this camera than any other camera in the market that uses MJPEG. Unfortunately, there is no exposure compensation for when shooting video. If VGA is not enough for you, you can consider upgrading to the Z1085 or the Z1285. These 10MP and 12MP versions of the Z-series have all the features of the Z885, plus 720p 10mbps HD recording (the Kodak V-series have a 13mbps high quality HD mode, but they don’t have any manual settings).

Conclusions
The Z885 is a good camera especially for the mere $110 it costs. Picture quality is pretty good, it has manual controls, battery life is acceptable, stabilization, and even exposure bracketing. You can’t go wrong with all that and at that price. The only feature we would have liked added (except HD video with exposure compensation support), would be custom white balance.

Rating: 7.5/10

FreshDV guest-contributor Eugenia Loli-Queru is a Senior News Editor at www.OSNews.com. You can catch up with her online at eugenia.gnomefiles.org.