Digital camera superstar!

Author's Rating:

Pros: 10X optical zoom, video with sound, easy to use, packed with features

Cons: A bit expensive but I think it was worth it

The Bottom Line: 
Great value for the quality of the pictures and packed with features that let you customize shots.

Author's Review
Let me begin by suggesting that you click the link above that says “View Details” if you are looking for a comprehensive list of the features on the Kodak Z740. I won’t be listing all the features in my review since they are so readily available above. This camera is so packed with features that I don’t want to bog you down with all that anyway – it would take up too much space. I want to talk about what I like about the camera and my experience with it so far.

This camera was incredibly easy to set up to start taking photos. I opened the box, inserted the battery pack, set the date and time using the menu button and I was ready to go. You can ‘point and shoot’ or use manual settings. I mostly point and shoot as I don’t have the patience to adjust multiple settings. I do like that I have that option though in case I ever get more ambitious.

I was already a fan of the Kodak ‘ultra zoom’ line of cameras before I decided to purchase the Z740. My mother got a DX6490 as a gift a few years ago and I had been coveting it ever since. The feature that really gets me is the 10X optical zoom. I LOVE that zoom!! 10X optical zoom on a digital camera is equivalent to 380mm zoom on a 35 mm camera. The camera that I had only recently purchased before she got hers was an Olympus that had 3X optical zoom and I’ve noticed that the 3X optical is pretty standard with most digital cameras out on the market. There are a few manufacturers making the ‘ultra zoom’ digital cameras and Kodak is just one of them but they are not as easy to find. Next time you are in your local favorite electronics store, take a stroll through the digital cameras and check the optical zoom capacities – you will see what I mean….

OK – Optical Zoom vs. Digital Zoom is confusing to some people. Here are the basics about the differences between the two types of zoom as I understand it. (I am sure that someone will leave me a comment if I am incorrect.) Optical Zoom uses the camera lens to magnify the image and you are not losing any megapixels in the process. This means that you can zoom in and not lose any quality. Digital Zoom on the other hand reduces the quality of your image as it is enlarging the image digitally. If you have ever used your photo software to crop a photo and blow it back up to size and have noticed that the photo becomes more ‘grainy’ then that is basically the exact same thing that is happening with Digital Zoom. Personally I never bother with the digital zoom as I know if I want to get a crop of whatever I am taking after I have exhausted my Optical zoom capacity then I can crop it on my computer and get the same results that I would using digital zoom. This way I have more options later…..

In my humble opinion, if you want a digital camera with the ability to get great shots when you zoom in on your subject, you want to look at the Optical Zoom capabilities of the camera. This is an important feature to me because I like to get close shots. I can not tell you how many photos that I have from a trip to the zoo that were a disappointment to me. The animals were in a “natural habitat” setting so they weren’t hanging out by the barriers waiting for me to come and photograph them. Some of the animals were back in fields etc., and my old camera just didn’t do them justice in photos. We also have bird feeders in our backyard and I like to snap shots of the birds at the feeders but I needed a camera that could zoom in far enough to actually be able to tell that there were birds in the photo. My brother teases me and says that I just want to see up a gnats butt and I laugh back and say that I probably can with the Z740. I haven’t been back to the zoo with this camera but I have snapped shots of the birds – not only can I tell that the birds are there, but I can’t actually see enough detail to identify the bird species as well. Not too shabby if you ask me!

Another cool feature of the Z740 is that the video feature has sound. Depending on the size of the memory card you are using, you could take up to a one hour video (highest resolution using a 1GB memory card – even longer videos can be shot using the lower resolution setting) using this camera and the quality isn’t too bad. My problem is that I forget it is there….. I am holding a camera so I am thinking “picture”. I have played with the video feature just to test it and have taken several videos that are between 1 and 4 minutes only but I was very pleased with the results. The microphone picks up the sounds of the other people in the room and you can distinguish the other noises. I will be using the video camera for occasions whenever I remember it is there…..

The Z740 has a bunch of scene settings for different situations that has preset settings. These include: Children, party, beach, flower, fireworks, snow, backlight, close-up, night portrait, landscape, night landscape, museum/manner, text, self portrait, portrait and sport modes. I’ve had fun trying to find situations to use each setting to check it out and I have been very happy with the results.

The Z740 didn’t come with a memory card and has a 32MB internal memory. This will take about 17 photos at 5.0MP to 43 photos at 1.8MP. The camera default is 5.0 MP and personally I don’t bother with the lower resolutions. I can change them later if I want to email a photo, but I want to be able to print and frame professional quality shots and I can do that with the 5.0 MP. The first thing that I did was buy a 1 GB memory card. I can take 632 photos at 5.0 MP with the 1GB card. This gives me the ability to snap as many shots as I want. I can delete the ones I don’t like after I download them to my PC. This is probably my favorite feature of taking digital photos – the freedom to take so many shots. With film cameras, I was always too frugal – I always wanted to make sure that I had film left in case a “Kodak moment” happened. As a result, I let a lot of possibilities pass by without snapping them. I am no longer a prisoner to the restrictions of film!

The 32MB internal memory will also let you take a 1 min 47 second video at 640 x 480 (VGA) or 3 min 23 second video at 320 x 240 (QVGA). The 1GB card increases this to about 64 minutes at 640 x 480 and 2 hours 30 seconds at 320 x 240. Don’t forget – that includes sound!!

The camera takes either rechargeable, AA or CRV3 batteries. It comes with one CRV3 battery and I am still on it after taking literally THOUSANDS of photos and a few short videos. I also use the 1.8” display on the camera to take the photos and review them on it frequently before I get to download them on my PC. I have a couple spare CRV3’s that I have thrown into my camera bag “just in case”.

Mine didn’t come with a printer dock but it did come with a dock adapter and custom dock insert so that I can use it with other Kodak camera docks – including the dock my mom has for her DX6490. She actually gave me the dock that came with her camera as she got the Kodak Printer Plus last Christmas. (Yes – I am coveting that now as well..) I do like the dock features – set the camera on the dock, press a button and your pics are instantly transferred to your PC.

The camera comes with the Kodak picture software but I haven't downloaded it as I use Picasa2 that is available for free from Google. I am so happy with Picasa2 that I wasn't even interested in checking out the software from Kodak.

Overall I am extremely satisfied with this camera and I take it with me wherever I go. I would recommend it to anyone. The camera is easy enough to use for beginners yet it has so many advanced features that it will keep advanced users happy as well.