Kodak P850

Reviewed January 2006

Introduction

Although smaller, at a glance the Kodak P850 appears similar to the P880. However, the resemblance is only superficial; in fact, the cameras have very different characteristics. The P850 is a 5.1 megapixel camera equipped with a 12X stabilized optical zoom.

A two-stage shutter release is positioned at the top of the grip, and is surrounded by the power switch. As with the P880, the P850 power switch has 3 positions: ON, OFF and "Favorites" — identified by — positioned in a way that tends to cause confusion and leads to the user placing the camera into the Favorites mode instead of turning it On.

And when the camera is powered on, a small green LED, embedded into the top part of the decorative metal strip that runs down the front of the grip, glows green.

Directly behind the shutter release are three small round buttons. The two outer buttons each have a specific function, while the centre one is user-programmable.

Each time they are pressed, the buttons display a short option menu in the viewfinder or on the monitor, making it possible to select the desired mode.

DRIVE	The first button on the left, controls the rate at which images are captured: Single: captures one image each time the shutter release is pressed. 10 sec Self-Timer: provides a 10 second delay between the time the shutter release is pressed and the image is captured. 2 sec Shutter Delay: provides a 2 second delay between the time the shutter release is pressed and the image is captured. First Burst: captures up to 5 images using JPEG Fine and the largest image size. The burst rate depends on the image quality and size selected. Last Burst: similar to the First Burst mode, but the camera only saves the last 5 frames (available in JPEG format only). Exposure Bracketing 3: captures 3 images while bracketing the exposure over a range of ±1 EV in 1/3 EV increments. Exposure Bracketing 5: captures 5 images while bracketing the exposure over a range of ±1 EV in 1/3 EV increments. Time Lapse: captures a specified number of photos (2 to 99) at a selected interval time (10 seconds–24 hours with JPEG; 60 seconds–24 hours in TIFF & RAW).
PROG.	As noted above, this button is programmable and can be used to access specific settings in the camera menu as determined in the Setup menu (see the Interface and Software section for more information about the Setup menu): Capture modes Review Mode Flash button AF control Focus button AF focus zone Picture size Sharpness File type Contrast Colour mode Slow flash setup Date stamp Copy to C Mode White balance Custom exposure mode Custom white balance View Slide show Album Copy Protect Video date display Edit Multi-up (can also be set at main menu) Red-eye correction
	The third button, on the right, serves to select the metering pattern: Multi-Pattern (default): calculates the best exposure parameters using numerous measurements made throughout the frame. Centre-Weighted: meters the entire frame while giving more importance to the metering at the centre of the frame than to what is around it. Centre-Spot: concentrates the metering on a small point at the centre of the frame. Selectable zone: allows metering any of 25 points in the frame, and can be linked to a selectable focus point.

The Mode Dial is to the right of these three buttons, and offers a selection of 10 capture modes:

P	The Program Mode leaves the camera in charge of selecting the aperture and shutter speed, but allows all other parameters to be modified.
A	Aperture Priority Mode provides a choice of apertures from f2.8 through f8 when the zoom is at the wide angle end, and from f3.7 through to f8 at the telephoto end, while the camera selects a corresponding shutter speed. All other parameters are accessible.
S	Shutter Priority Mode provides for the selection of the shutter speed from a range that covers from 1/1000 second down to 16 seconds, while the camera matches the choice to an aperture. All other settings are accessible.
M	Manual Mode provides complete control over the camera, with the same aperture and shutter speed options as detailed above.
C1 C2 C3	The Custom Modes provide 3 distinct registers into which complete sets of preferred camera settings can be saved, including a specific shooting mode (P, A, S, M).
	Video Mode captures video clips at 30 frames per second and a frame size of 640 x 480 pixels (VGA) or 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA). Although the length of the recording is only limited by the capacity of the memory in use, a preset duration can be selected if desired: 5, 15 or 30 seconds. When capturing videos, the zoom is locked at the start of the recording but the white balance and exposure are adjusted as the recording progresses.
	Serves as the access to the P850's 16 Scene Modes which appear on the lower part of the screen or the viewfinder, from which they can be selected with the joystick. Once a mode is selected, the selections disappear, but can be called up again by pressing the joystick straight in: Portrait Self-portrait Sport Landscape Night Landscape Night Portrait Sunset Backlight Candle Light Flower Text Manner/Museum Party Snow Beach Fireworks

Other external controls are positioned on the left side of the P850's top:

Manual: makes it possible to focus the camera manually using the joystick. The camera magnifies the central portion of the image to assist in focusing, and displays a distance scale.

Serves to select the Flash Mode (aside from when the flash is forced off, it opens automatically when required): Auto, Fill-in, Red-eye reduction, First Curtain Slow Synch, Forced Off. In addition, the Slow Synch flash can be set to first (the default) or second curtain in the Capture menu. (See the Characteristics Section of the review for a listing of all the options contained in the capture menu.)

The third button is astride the top and back and acts as a toggle switch between the EVF and the LCD Monitor.

The P850's Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) is composed of 237,000 pixels, and is equipped with a diopter correction wheel on the left side of the rubber eyecup of the exit pupil. The exit pupil extends well past the back of the camera, making it comfortable to use even while wearing glasses. The EVF is able to display the same information as the monitor, but at a higher resolution.

The P850's monitor measures 2.5 inches (6.4cm) diagonally and is composed of 115,000 pixels.

All the other external controls of the P850 are arranged on the right side of the monitor, starting with the Command Dial, which is positioned at the top right of the camera's back and the SET button directly below.

These two controls make it possible to modify settings that are displayed on a grey strip at the bottom of the monitor or the EVF (aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, flash exposure compensation, and ISO setting, depending on the active mode). The dial is used to move the cursor, and the SET button to select the parameter to modify.

In addition, the two controls can also be used to make selections within the function menus associated with the buttons located on top of the camera.

Further to the left is the Zoom Control which not only controls the focal length, but also allows zooming in (up to 10X magnification) and out of an image when the P850 is in Playback.

The AE/AF button, below the SET button, can be used to lock either the exposure parameters, or the focus or both, its precise function being determined in the Setup menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review for more information about the Setup menu).

The next control is further down the P850's back, and is used to control the level of information displayed on the monitor or the EVF:

Under the button the REVIEW button serves to start the Review (Playback) mode, displaying the last captured image first.

The joystick, unlike the other controls on the back of the P850, is silver. It is used primarily to navigate the menus, and make selections when pressed straight in vertically. It also has three additional functions, depending on the active mode.

With the P850 set to a capture mode, it serves to move the spot metering point freely all over the image. Similarly, when the AF is set to Selectable-zone, it can be used to move the AF point to any part of the image. Finally, as the Spot metering and AF point can be linked in the menu, the joystick can be used to move both simultaneously to any 1 of 25 positions in the frame.

Three more buttons, arranged in an arc below the joystick round out the external controls of the P850.

Starting on the left, the DELETE button, to delete one or more images, is useable during the Quick Review mode — when an image is being shown immediately after capture — and when the camera is set to the Playback mode. In the middle, the MENU button displays the menu that corresponds to the active mode (see the Characteristics section of the review for more details). Finally, on the right the SHARE button presents a special menu composed of 4 options:

• Print serves to select images that will be printed and the number of prints to make of each image, either when the camera is connected directly to a PictBridge compatible printer, or when images are sent to DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) service or printer.
• Email marks images with an e-mail destination selected from an e-mail address book that has been previously exported to the camera using the EasyShare software.
• Favorites tags images as a "favourite" so that when they have been downloaded to a computer where they can be processed by the software included with the camera, EasyShare, and then uploaded back to the camera so they will become available when the power switch is set to the position.
• Cancel Print serves to delete all print orders.

The P850 is equipped with a built-in pop-up flash that is opened automatically. At 140 ISO, the flash has a range of 4.7 m (15.4 ft) when the zoom is at the wide angle end, and 3.6 m (11.8 ft) at the maximum telephoto setting.

The P850 is also equipped with a flash shoe placed directly above the viewfinder. It can be used to mount a third party flash unit, or Kodak's P20 flash which has a zoom head covering a focal length range of 24 to 80mm. The P20's maximum range is approximately 13m (43 ft) when the zoom is at the wide angle setting.

While it needs approximately 3 seconds to power up — most of that time being taken up by the deployment of the lens — it reacts quite quickly to its external controls and has little shutter lag.

In fact, the ergonomics of the P850 are quite good. In part this is due to the fact that many settings are made in a similar fashion using buttons on the outside of the camera, giving the P850 a relatively short learning curve. For another, the high resolution EVF is particularly helpful outdoors, when it is clearly superior to the monitor.