kodak P712

[powder11]

Ive been searching for a point & shoot with some advanced features to replace a crappy old sony cybershot that broke awhile back. Im an amateur at best and know enough about photography to be dangerous, but dont have the time or money to play with a DSLR.

recently, I was browsing the digi cams at futureshop and saw a bunch of stuff either way out of my price range or peices of crap within my price range. the clerk pulled out a kodak P712 that had been put on layaway, but never picked up. I guess they have the right to sell them if one year passes and you dont work something out. the box had been opened, but the camera looked like what I was looking for at a reasonable price. since the layaway customer had put some $ down and the box was open, the camera was on sale for $279; regularly $479. I bought it and am relatively pleased so far. does anyone have experience with these "wanna be DSLR" type point and shoots? the zoom and manual setting features seem pretty kick ass, but I dont know if the camera really is any good. I have 2 weeks to return it, so any feedback would be awesome.



link to a decent review:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/P712/P712A.HTM

a couple pics I took with the camera

fully zoomed from about 10 miles away



up close



playing around with manual settings

[shirk]

When you posted the Peak pic in that other thread I was wondering if that was from that old cam you used to carry or something new. Now I know.

You have probably already looked at dpreview.com, but if not have a look for a review of the camera there. They usually do a comparison to other camera in that same class/price range.

I'll slut it up for the camera on a tour Saturday so you can take a billion test pics.

[Tippster]

Looks fine to me - do you like the way it interfaces? The way it handles? Is it user friendly? Suck power?

Images are subjective - if you like them then you like them.

[powder11]

thanks for the feedback. great site shirk, I lost an hour or so on that one Im still trying to dial it all in, but Im pretty happy with the images because I know I can do better once I figure out the manual settings. one thing I would chnage is that ISO should be in numerical values rather than the goof proof "bright sun" or "indoor night time" gets kind of confusing to have to scroll through a bunch of digital menu options with little icons I can barely see, when it should just be a dial on the body. oh well, for the price I cant complain too much. I just hope it can handle skiing/mtn biking trips without breaking.

btw shirk, the only prerequisite for you to be my photo slut is to rip the shit out of that spine on disease... from the top. this saturday when its all nice and sunny

[shirk]

btw shirk, the only prerequisite for you to be my photo slut is to rip the shit out of that spine on disease... from the top. this saturday when its all nice and sunny

game on.

Are you sure thats the iso and not white balance that has all the goofy icons?

In the manual setting can you adjust the iso? Some menu options are specific to setting. If in auto you can't manually control the iso, but in manual setting then it shows iso control in the menus.

[powder11]

game on.

Are you sure thats the iso and not white balance that has all the goofy icons?

In the manual setting can you adjust the iso? Some menu options are specific to setting. If in auto you can't manually control the iso, but in manual setting then it shows iso control in the menus.

yes, after talking to grapedrink, reading the manual and online tutorial Ive found the manual settings allow iso control, but it only goes up to 400. you can switch it to 1.2 mp and get an iso of 800.

[grapedrink]

yes, grapedrink figured it out and found the manual settings for iso control, he's a genius, but it only goes up to 400. you can switch it to 1.2 mp and get an iso of 800.

point and shoots have very noisy high iso, for most iso 400 is barely usable and anything above is garbage anyways. thats one of the biggest benefits of dslrs, usable iso as high as 3200.. 6400 on the latest and greatest. you're better off using your flash in lowlight situations than bumping your iso too far up to get faster shutter speeds (less blur). or if you're trying to capture a landscape in low light, just set the camera on a table or rock and let the shutter takes as long as it needs (you may need to turn IS off). there is one exception to the rule, fuji, they make point and shoots with usable iso up to 1600 so if you take a lot of indoor/party/family shots, thats the way to go.