I have it narrowed down to these 2 cameras. I have read about some problems with the battery on the Kodak but it is cheaper and it is faster. Is the Kodak a good quality camera?
4 Responses to “Which is a better camera Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8K or Kodak Easyshare Z712IS?”
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well I have no experience with both but I haven’t heard bad words about a Panasonic while some people have complained about the quality of certain Kodak camera.
Basically Kodak made a good camera – as long as they’re in the professional level. Otherwise… I think you’d better stick to a Panasonic. And from the look of it… the Panasonic does looks like to be a nicer camera – although upon reading on some article they do have some noise issue.
Still, if I have to pick between the two, I’d pick the Panasonic.
If I have to choose something else, I’d probably get a Canon Powershot S5 IS over both of them.
I would go with the Panasonic. Panasonics have historically been (in my opinion) of higher construction quality versus anything from Kodak- those feel cheap and I worried constantly that I would break the body in half if I even tapped it against anything.
The Panasonic can create higher resolution video clips than the Kodak- 848×480 (good for widescreen, HDTV) versus 640×480.
The Panasonic has greater flexibility when it comes to manual setting of the shutter speed- longest shutter speed of 60 seconds (1/2 second on Kodak) to 1/2000 (1/1000 on Kodak). The maximum shutter speed will really make a difference if photographing sports or any fast-moving objects.
If you’re into macro photography or getting closeups of anything, the Panasonic can focus in macro mode down to 5cm (~2 inches), while the Kodak requires 12cm (~5 inches).
The other poster mentioned noise in the images, and that’s pretty much standard for any camera whose sensor is smaller than that of a digital SLR, so I wouldn’t consider it to be that much of an issue.
We are pretty much in the same boat as far choosing the right camera is concerned. From my knowledge the Kodak Z712 IS has better image quality while the panasonic has more features. I really have not heard one negative review of the Kodak Z712. While, for the Lumix, I have heard a slew of negative and positive reviews, the primary concern being its noisy images. Given the two options, I would go with the Kodak because it is cheaper and takes better quality images.
I had never heard of any problems with the Kodak battery. The camera does not use regular alkaline batteries (neither does Lumix) but works best with the rechargeable CRV3 battery. To buy it directly from kodak is expensive ~$60 but I have seen it on ebay for less than $30. It takes up to 500 photos per charge which is really good. However, there are equally good substitutes out there that are even cheaper. I found that most of these midrange cameras are battery hogs and require special batteries to function.
A useful website is Flickr to find photos taken by each camera.
The Panasonic cameras are very good but BAD with shutter lag. I would go with the Kodak.