Kodak EasyShare P880 Digital Camera Review
By Melissa Robotti
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
September 05, 2007
The Kodak EasyShare P880 was one of two cameras announced in August 2005 that began Kodak’s Performance Series of high-end compact digital cameras. The P880 and competing cameras such as the Panasonic FZ8, Canon S3 IS, and Olympus SP-550UZ blend automatic and manual controls that give users the simplicity of a point-and-shoot and the control of an SLR. The P880 has an 8-megapixel image sensor, 5.8x optical zoom, and a 2.5-inch, 115,000-pixel LCD monitor. The P880 had an initial $599 retail price, but now sells for about $400.
We put the EasyShare P880 through a series of tests to see how its pictures fared against the competition. The Kodak P880 produced fairly realistic colors. The camera renders subtle colors while some of its competitors oversaturate reds, blues, and greens to enhance landscapes and skin tones.
While the colors look good, the images are slightly soft and speckled with noise. Ideally high-end compacts will produce detailed images without applying too much sharpening, allowing users to make adjustments in software programs. In this area, the P880, Canon S3 IS, and Olympus SP-550UZ are average, though the P880 applies less sharpening than the others. The Panasonic FZ8 is the best performer in the group, allowing users to manipulate images in software without wreaking havoc on the image quality.
Noise, the colorful speckles typically seen in dark images, affects the clarity of an image and is most often present in images shot using high ISO sensitivities. Of concern is the presence of noise at the P880's low ISO 50 setting, which would be used in well lit scenes. This means even some details in sunny vacation photos, for instance, will be lost to noise. As with most point-and-shoots, the P880's noise levels climb as ISO increases. With the exception of the Canon S3 IS and Olympus SP-550UZ, which produce clean images at low ISO settings, the Kodak P880 and its competition struggle in this test.
Users may be disappointed with the P880's stunted ISO range. The camera caps it at ISO 400 for full-resolution images, which is archaic even for a camera released in 2005; the ISO 800 and 1600 settings can only be used at a much reduced image size. Many of its competitors such as the Canon PowerShot S3 IS reach at least an ISO 800 setting. High ISO settings are desirable because they give the user the option to shoot in low light situations without the use of a flash.
With its protruding grip and sea of buttons, the P880 looks like a miniature DSLR. Like an SLR, the P880 has full Manual, Aperture and Shutter Priority modes, a manual white balance setting, and the ability to shoot RAW files.
Though the Kodak EasyShare P880 has many manual features, it is still designed to be easy to use for point-and-shooters. It has an Auto mode, a Help Guide and 12 Scene modes, four of which are located on the mode dial. The P880’s Movie mode is a standout; it doesn’t disable the optical zoom or the autofocus system like many other point-and-shoots do. The Olympus SP-550UZ has problems in this area: it either records audio with videos or allows users to optically zoom – not both at once like the P880.
The 24-140mm, f/2.8-4.1 Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon lens has a nice reach, both at the wide angle and telephoto ends. It can extend even further with Kodak telephoto conversion lenses. Its telephoto f/4.1 aperture is on the small side though. It can be manually focused, but it is hard to gauge because of the low-resolution 115,000-pixel LCD; some competing ultra-zoom cameras also have sub-par screen resolution, but some cameras like the 12x Sony H5 have superior 230,000-pixel LCDs. The lens is not optically stabilized, an all-pervading feature in newer digital cameras, including the 12x optical zoom EasyShare P712, and the Panasonic FZ8, Canon S3 IS, and Olympus SP-550UZ.
The Kodak EasyShare P880 is out-featured by newer, less expensive models. The EasyShare has been on the market for two years - a really long shelf life for a camera - and its price is still pretty high, considering the competition. Overall, the P880 is average, but past its prime. You'll get more camera bang for your buck from another manufacturer.
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