Kodak's latest announcements are right in line with the direction that consumer photography is moving. Take for example the Easyshare Z812 IS Zoom Camera. It's compact enough to fit in your jacket pocket, but captures stills and video in 16:9, and includes all of the bells and whistles that you'd expect from a state of the art digicam.
In my Podcast #96 on 16:9, I talk about how this aspect ratio can shake up your still photography and energize your videos. The Kodak Z812 is the perfect tool for this type of work. You can capture video in HD 1024x720 at 30fps using advanced QuickTime Mpeg 4 compression with stereo sound. If you want to shoot stills, then you have the 3264x1836 option, which is 16:9 at 6 megapixels. If you get the HDTV accessory dock ($100 US), you can connect it to your HDTV and playback the content in full resolution. (My guess is that you don't need the dock to do this because A/V cables are included with the camera, but it is a convenience.)
Other impressive specs include the 12X SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH VARIOGON optical zoom lens, optical image stabilization, face detection, high ISO (up to 3200), 2.5" LCD, advanced program modes, and plenty of setting controls.
On the negative side, I don't see a custom white balance option nor Raw format. But everything else looks pretty good. The Kodak Z812 is both Windows and Mac compatible, and according to the Kodak web site, is available now for $299.95 US. This is a camera to keep your eye on.
Technorati Tags: digital photography, equipment, The Digital Story
Derrick, how does this work optically? Seems like this would leave a greater area of the lens unused, wasted space as it were.
It's true that when this camera captures in 16:9, part of the sensor is not used. That's why the resolution dips from 8 megapixels to roughly 6. You could go through and crop all of your full resolution images to 16:9 and achieve the same final product. But that isn't the point. What I like about the Kodak Z812, Panasonic FZ8, and other similar models, is that you "see" the world in 16:9 during capture, and that is what adds excitement to the experience.
How does this compare to the Kodak Z712?
basically - everyone above is retarded or has an agenda.
A)1024*720 is not 16:9, it is (1024/720) or 12.8:9 while still a great resolution and I love that this is at 30fps... it is most decidedly NOT 16:9 NOR 720P.
B)how retarded is this 16:9 thing anyway? Why not stay standard, use the camera to it's fullest and take the damn 8mpixel, then cut off accordingly if needed in post proc?
Sounds like an awesome camera... but maybe wait for the kinks to be worked out with a z912 IS
~my two cents.
AND also, by the way - the reason the dock sounds wicked is because the AV cable for the camera is composite which is NASTY and weak, interlaced, chroma and lumina thrown together in one channel, and resolution SEVERELY limited on the order of 100kilo pixels (about the res of the lcd on the camera) versus the orders of magnitude better HD output of the HD dock which could be up to 2 mega pixels.
Seriously though... just connect your computer to your HD, and display that way. Then no need to spend $100 for dock.
HDTV at best has a 1920*1080 = 2 megapixel or more likely 1280*720=1 megapixel output.
Hey,
You are spending like $260.00 bucks, including Next Day Delivery if you shop online, and what do you get??? An awesome little powerpacked camera.
I use to shoot canon, and hell, 1 lens was like $1500.00 for just the lens!
Now, her I go with a camera, hd video and still that is under 300 bucks! Who could complain, unless you really can not afford a gallon of gas, then you should not be out wasting money on a camera any ways!
I have this camera, and it rocks to a degee, sure it is not a heavy, digital slr like the 20 D or some thing, but for 300 bucks! Again, who could complain???
Hey,
You are spending like $260.00 bucks, including Next Day Delivery if you shop online, and what do you get??? An awesome little powerpacked camera.
I use to shoot canon, and hell, 1 lens was like $1500.00 for just the lens!
Now, her I go with a camera, hd video and still that is under 300 bucks! Who could complain, unless you really can not afford a gallon of gas, then you should not be out wasting money on a camera any ways!
I have this camera, and it rocks to a degee, sure it is not a heavy, digital slr like the 20 D or some thing, but for 300 bucks! Again, who could complain???
The Z812 IS records in 1280x720 (16:9)not 1024x720 (4:3).
If you don't feel like editing photos then use the 16:9 6MP feature. Otherwise set it to max and crop the image later. The view finder being acurate to the ratio is a bonus.
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