Kodak Easyshare Z950 – A classic “Kodak Color Science” Digi Cam

Geoff Chaplin, a long time 35mmc contributor and probably the only member who takes the time and effort to kindly comment on every post here wonders how many cameras I’ve had! Hehe! I’ve whored myself out to a lot of camera brands, but for some reason have avoided Pentax, Nikon, Canon, Leica, Hasselblad amongst many others, and apart from a Nikon D200 I’ve owned for a while (with no lens) I thus haven’t ever shot a single frame from either of these most popular of makes (that’s a camera I’ve owned, I have of course taken pictures with these  (apart from a Leica) which belonged to others and have a Pentax lens on a Chinon).

I could never work out why a Leica M costs how much it does and why Leica R lenses cost more than a set of Leica R bodies combined. Leica seems to be a Rolex thing, a status symbol. My level is Seiko Yashica!

My ‘dream camera collection’ would be a Leica S series (not SL mirrorless) S1 or S2, a large DSLR with a lovely Kodak sensor but one which used to cost as much as a car! Others probably a Mamiya 6 and 7 in RF’s, a Contax 645 and a Contax TVS III (again). Then I’ll be content..until then I’ll make do with cheapo jumble sale stuff.

I have a soft spot for, amongst a handful of other brands (Olympus, Yashica Contax, Konica, Minolta and of course Kodak)

The first camera I ever bought for myself was a Kodak APS camera something in 1998, that’s now probably languishing forgotten somewhere or dumped in Spain (I left it with an ex girlfriend). The first Digital compact camera I bought was a Kodak DX7630. I’ve owned several Kodak digicams and keep coming back to them. There’s something about the colour. When shot in sunny conditions the colours just look nice – exactly as I’d want them to (most of the time, unless I shoot in “high saturation” when they can start to look a bit OTT.

Browsing the DPReview forums is a user known as ‘Hike Pics’ He seems to be the resident fountain of knowledge of all things Kodak Digital Cameras.

He has tried or owned almost every single Kodak digital and suggested three models to look out for which excel at the classic Kodak Color Science CCD cameras. One being the odd looking P880 (2006), the P850 and the other being this Kodak Z950. Now I have two of these and can back up what Hike Pics states, if it’s colour you want, in good light and low ISO – these two are very good.  In 2006 Kodak released the P712 and Z612, both decent bridge cameras. If you would like something more compact, the C875 would be a great choice. Around 2006/2007 Kodak changed the JPG colour palate to a slightly warmer tone so there are differences. The Z990 I reviewed Here has a CMOS and a different colour palate. The P880 is a bridge camera shaped one but this Z950 is a small compact with a 10x Schneider lens. It has a mostly metal body with a good heft. No EVF but features a decent LCD which is good on bright light, a PASM dial including A and scene modes.

its not a pretty camera but the good rubber grip combined with the metal body inspires some confidence.

In use it has the usual features including histogram and various focus modes including face detection. I always use it ISO 100 and standard colour in P mode.

It, along with the P880 and other Kodak digicams are best shot with exposure compensation set to -0.7. This accentuates the colour and keeps highlights under controls – generally. Of course the compensation needs to be tweaked when required but I find the lower compensation works very well.

It takes about 1 second to turn on and extend the lens. Just around 2 seconds to extend the zoom fully.

The Z950 is a strange one as the ‘wide angle’ is only 35mm extending to 350mm. Restrictive some say but I now hardly ever feel the need to shoot small cameras wide at say 21-28mm. And the 35mm makes it an ideal snapshot camera as soon as it’s switched on.

Focussing in decent light is relatively good and quick and it makes a funky noise as it locks on.

To be honest, it’s not the quickest camera shot to shot. Unlike my Casio ZR800 which is rapidly fast with instant lock and shot.
but that’s not what I use it for. I use it for snapshots when the vibrant lovely colour is required, and for that this excels, giving pleasing contrast and a heart warming white balance which I must say is perfect. Mine has a mark on the front element so I know not to shoot into the light!

A half press also locks exposure along with focus, and in use it is continently confidence inspiring, at full zoom the results are detailed and relatively sharp.
Put the JPegs through Light Room and you’ll be treated to a file which can be nicely manipulated with enough shadow detail. The -0.7 standard exposure I set is also very good to work with afterwards. Images take minimum tweaking.

It has a good contrast sharp and again relatively high resolution lens.

The colours are more saturated as standard than the P880 and make for a nice camera to snap family holidays and trips with in the summer,

I don’t use this as a street shot camera or when out and out speed is a priority – for that there’s the Casio. I just like the colours and the look hence I’ve been using it on and off for well over 18 months and here are some snaps to demonstrate the colours and the look (some vignetting applied in places as I think it gives compact camera images a little depth and reminds me of light fall off with some Film cameras when shooting slides).

Keep within its limits and use it carefully as you shoot film you’ll be treated to a nice ‘CCD’ look, probably the best from any digital compact camera (bar the P880 which is a tad less saturated but pleasing in other ways plus a larger sensor and RAW mean more detail and resolution) that I’ve tried.

I’ve had this for about 18 months and it’s a camera I’ll always use as and when required. Certain times call for this to be used. The LCD is much better than the one in the P880 (that’s has an average EVF and I’ll review that old classic digicam soon). Needless to say it’s one I’ll keep as I sometimes feel like using it for what it has to offer.

If you’re on the look out for pretty colour and a CCD look on an old compact then get one of these, if you can find one as they seem to be quite rare.

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