While the Kodak
EasyShare P712 bears an uncanny resemblance to the P850,
this new model has some important internal differences. It
has a 7.1 megapixel resolution, a 12X stabilized zoom and
a 2.5-inch LCD monitor in addition to the electronic viewfinder.
The 2-stage shutter release,
which activates the auto focus and locks it when held a mid-course,
tops the grip. It is surrounded by the power switch, which
has three positions: On, Off, and Favourite,
the latter activating the camera in a Playback mode that only
presents photos previously selected and marked as “Favourites”.
Three clearly labelled buttons are positioned behind the
shutter release:
DRIVE
On the left is a button that
serves to select the Drive mode, offering 9 possibilities:
Single: captures a single image each time
the shutter release is pressed.
10-second Self-timer: provides a ten-second
delay after the shutter release has been pressed.
2-second Self-timer: provides a two-second
delay after the shutter release has been pressed.
Self-timer 2-Shot: set the camera to capture
the first image after a 10-second delay, and a second
after an 8-second delay.
First Burst: the camera captures up to 4
RAW format images or 8 JPEG Fine at the largest image
size.
Last Burst: the camera captures photos while
the shutter release is pressed, but only saves the
last 4 images when set to RAW format, or the last
5 images when set to JPEG Fine.
Exposure Bracketing 3: captures 3 images,
bracketing the evaluated exposure with one overexposed
and one underexposed image, over a range of ±1
EV in 1/3 EV increments.
Exposure Bracketing 5: captures 5 images,
bracketing the evaluated exposure with two overexposed
and two underexposed images, over a range of ±1
EV in 1/3 EV increments.
Time Lapse: captures a specified number of
photos, from 2 to 99, at a specified interval that
ranges from 10 seconds to 24 hours for JPEG images,
and from 60 seconds to 24 hours with TIFF and RAW
formats.
PROG.
Is a programmable
button, which, using the camera menu, can have a function
assigned to it when the camera is set to a capture mode
and another when it is set to the Playback mode. (See
the Interface and Software section of the review
for more information about the functions that can be
assigned).
Last, on the right, is a button
which serves to select the metering mode:
Multi-Pattern (default): evaluates the entire
frame.
Centre-Weighted: evaluates the entire frame,
but gives more importance to the reading obtained
near the centre of the frame.
Centre-Spot: evaluates the centre of the
frame only.
Selectable Zone: allows moving the metered
area to any one of 25 areas in the frame using the
4-direction control on the back of the camera.
The Mode Dial is closer towards the electronic viewfinder
of the P712. It has 10 positions:
Auto allows the
camera to make all decisions when it comes to photographic
settings, and images can only be recorded in JPEG format.
It is still possible however, to choose the level of
compression applied to the images, select the flash
mode, the drive mode, and the metering pattern.
P
Program leaves
the camera in charge of selecting the shutter speed
and aperture, but gives control over all other photographic
parameters.
A
Aperture Priority allows
choosing an aperture from f2.8 trough f8 when the zoom
is at the wide angle end, and from f3.7 through f8 at
the telephoto end while the camera matches the selection
to a shutter speed. All other photographic parameters
remain available.
S
Shutter Priority allows
setting the shutter speed using a range that covers from
1/1000 second down to 16 seconds, while the camera selects
a matching aperture. All other photographic parameters
remain available.
M
Manual gives the user
complete control over the camera, offering the same range
of apertures and shutter speeds that are available in
the Priority modes.
C1, C2, C3
The three C positions
offer access to the Custom Modes. Up to three
sets of personalized settings can be saved and recalled
by selecting one of the three positions, avoiding having
to reconfigure the camera.
Video captures
animated sequences with sound at 30 frames per second.
The frame size can be selected as 640 x 480 pixels
(VGA) or 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA). The length
of the recording is only limited by the capacity of
the memory but, if desired, it can be preset to 5, 15,
or 30 seconds. During the recording the optical zoom
remains useable, and the white balance and exposure
as adjusted automatically as needed.
The Scene position
is the access to the P712's 18 scene modes. The modes
are presented as icons aligned on the lower part of
the viewfinder or the monitor, along with a short text
description when the mode's icon is highlighted:
Portrait
Panorama Left-Right
Panorama Right-Left
Self Portrait
Sport
Landscape
Night Landscape
Night Portrait
Sunset
Backlight
Candle
Flower
Text
Manner/Museum
Party
Snow
Beach
Fireworks
In addition to its 2.5-inch (6.4cm) monitor composed
of 115,000 pixels, the P712 also offers an electronic
viewfinder (EVF) composed of 237,000 pixels. It is
designed to be useable with glasses, but also offers a dioptre
correction, making it possible to adjust the viewfinder's
image to one's eyesight.
The top of the viewfinder provides a flash hot shoe,
making possible to use the optional P20, which features
an adjustable zoom head and has a Guide Number of 10 m at
100 ISO.
Moreover, the P712 is equipped with a built-in pop-up
flash whose range is indicated to be from 90 cm to 5.3
m (2.9 to 15.4 ft) when the zoom is at the wide angle end,
and 2 to 4.7 m (6.6 to 11.8 ft) when the zoom is at the telephoto
end and sensitivity is set to 100 ISO.
Three other buttons are arranged to the left of the viewfinder's
exit pupil:
FOCUS
The first button serves
to choose the Focus Mode:
Normal AF is the default auto focus mode.
Macro AF: allows focusing on a subject that
is between 10 and 90 cm (3.9 and 35.4 inches) when
the zoom is at the wide angle end, and between 90
cm to 2 m (35.4 inches and 6.6 ft) when the zoom is
at the maximum telephoto setting.
Landscape: locks the focus at infinity.
Manual: allows manually focusing the camera
using the joystick. The camera automatically magnifies
the central part of the frame to help focusing, and
displays a rough distance scale.
Serves to select the Flash
Mode, which deploys automatically: Auto, Fill-in,
Red-eye Reduction, Slow Front Sync, Off. Worth noting,
a Slow Sync with a Rear curtain can be selected in the
menu, as well as a Slow Front Sync mode with Red-Eye Reduction.
(See the Characteristics section of the review
from more detail on the contents of the menus.)
EVF LCD
The third button serves to
select either the electronic viewfinder or the monitor.
The remainder of the external controls of the P712 are grouped
on the right side of the camera's back.
Uppermost is the Command
Dial and the Set button. These controls have a
use that is often combined and are used to select shooting
parameters (aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation,
flash exposure compensation, ISO sensitivity) or to make selections
in the menus of the camera.
The Command Dial serves to move from one of the displayed
parameters to another on the monitor — or the EVF —
and the SET button selects it for modification. The parameter
is then modified and the new setting confirmed using the SET
button.
Directly below is the AE/AF
button. While the way it operates can be modified in the P712's
Setup menu, its primary function is to lock the focus
and/or the auto exposure, making it possible to maintain
these values and recompose the shot without having to keep
the shutter release held at the halfway point.
To the left is the zoom control, which also serves
to zoom into parts of an image under review up to 10X and
return to a full-screen display.
Two round buttons are next, stacked next to the monitor:
The top button controls
the information superimposed on the monitor or the EVF.
With the camera set to a capture mode, the default
presentation shows: the capture mode, the flash mode,
the image size and quality setting, the remaining number
of shots that can be captured, the type of memory in
use (internal or card), the state of the battery's charge,
the image stabilization mode, the AF mode, the AF brackets,
the aperture and shutter speed, the exposure compensation
value, the flash exposure compensation setting, and
the ISO sensitivity.
Pressing the button once
adds a real-time histogram to the display, showing the
distribution of brightness in the frame. A second press
of the button removes most of the information superimposed
on the image, leaving only the AF brackets, the battery
state. A third press of the button removes the remainder
of the superimposed information, but when the the shutter
release is pressed halfway, the aperture and shutter
speed selected are displayed nevertheless.
Set to the Playback mode, the default display
only shows the Playback mode icon, the frame number
and the battery state. Pressing the button once superimposes
all the shooting parameters, arranged into two columns.
Pressing the button a second time replaces the left
column of shooting parameters, replacing it by the image's
histogram. A third press of the button removes all superimposed
information, but makes potentially overexposed areas
of the frame blink yellow, while those that are potentially
underexposed blink blue.
Below, the REVIEW button serves to enter the Playback
mode, presenting the last captured image.
The next external control is the joystick. It serves
to navigate the menus, and select images when the camera is
in Playback. In addition, pressing it in confirms selections
made in the menus.
The joystick also offers additional
functions, depending on the camera's mode. In the capture
modes when the auto focus is set to Selectable Focus Zone,
the joystick serves to move the AF point to any 1 of 25 possible
positions. And if Spot metering is active, the joystick
allows moving the metering point, which, if both the Selectable
AF Zone and Spot metering are active, will link the metering
to the focus position.
In the Playback mode, moving the joystick towards
the bottom displays thumbnails (9 per screen), making it possible
to show the next or previous 9 thumbnails using the up and
down directions.
Three more buttons, located below
the joystick, complete the external controls of the P712.
On the left, the DELETE button serves to eliminate
unwanted images, be it one at a time, or all at once. In the
middle is the MENU button which displays the menu appropriate
to the current camera mode. Finally, on the right, is the
SHARE button which displays a menu composed of four
options:
Print allows tagging images for printing on a PictBridge
printer, and specify the number of prints to make.
E-mail allows selecting images that will be sent
via e-mail.
Favorite allows selecting a particular image, or
all of the images in the memory so that a small copy of
these images will be stored in a special folder in the camera's
internal memory. These can then be viewed by setting the
power switch to .
Cancel Prints clears all printing tags.
At first the use of the Command
dial and of the SET button appears a bit daunting, but after
a bit of practice the system turns out to be less complex
than it seemed at first blush.
The ergonomic design of the P712 is well thought out, the
placement of the controls works well, and the camera responds
relatively quickly to its controls. The high resolution of
the EVF helps to frame images accurately, and the fact that
both monitor and EVF have a 60 frames per second refresh rate
makes them them very fluid while following a moving subject.
Less practical, however, is the comparatively slow start of
the camera, the lens taking nearly 3 seconds to deploy.
Ergonomics
.
