Kodak P880

Reviewed December 2005

Characteristics

Using a 1/1.8 inch CCD with 8.3 million pixels and an aspect ratio of 4:3, the P880 is able to capture a maximum image size of 3264 x 2448 pixels.

While CCD sensitivity is automatically controlled by the camera in the Auto and Scene modes, with P, A, S, and M modes, the user can either set the P880 to Auto ISO or select and ISO value directly. A range of 50, 100, 200 and 400 ISO is available at all image sizes, and settings of 800 and 1600 ISO are available when the camera is set to the 0.8 MP size (1024 x 768) although only Auto, 400, 800, 1600 ISO can be selected directly at that resolution (see further).

Schneider-Kreuznach supplies the lens for the P880, a Variogon 5.8X zoom lens equivalent to a 24 to 140 mm. Its apertures start at f2.8 when the zoom is set to the wide angle end and f4.1 at the telephoto end, closing down to f8 and has a 52mm filter thread.

This aperture range is coupled with a shutter speed that covers from 1/4000 second down to 16 seconds, and which includes a Bulb mode with a maximum exposure time of 60 seconds in the Manual mode.

Five image sizes are available on the P880, but as noted above, only the 0.8MP size can be used with 800 and 1600 ISO, the others being limited to a maximum sensitivity of 400 ISO:

• 8.0 MP: 3264 x 2448 pixels
• 7.1 MP: 3264 x 2176 pixels (3:2 format, designed to match 4 x 6 and 5 x 7 prints)
• 5.0 MP: 2560 x 1920 pixels
• 3.1 MP: 2048 x 1536 pixels
• 0.8 MP: 1024 x 768 pixels

Photos can be saved as JPEG, using any one of three compression levels: Fine, Standard, and Basic, or as TIFF, or in a RAW format at the highest resolution. The image quality settings are part of the menu, which, when the camera is set to a mode such as P, A, S, M is composed of 3 sections. In these modes, the first section of the menu, called Capture +, provides settings for the following:

• Custom White Balance provides two options:
  • Compensation: allows the white balance to be adjusted by using cursor (white square) that can be positioned at any point in a coloured square that shows the primaries.
  • Custom WB Source: allows selecting a current settings as a white balance, or the setting used in the last captured image, or exiting, which backs out of the operation.

• AF Control provides a choice of:
  • Continuous AF: the camera adjusts the focus constantly as the subject moves.
  • Single AF: focuses only when the shutter release is pressed halfway.
• AF Zone has three settings:
  • Multi Zone: evaluates 9 zones to find the focus.
  • Centre Zone: focuses at the centre of the frame.
  • Selectable Zone: allows using the joystick to move the focus point to any of 25 focus zones in the frame.
• Sharpness controls the sharpening applied to images prior to being saved: High, Normal (default), Low.

• Contrast adjusts the contrast, providing three settings: High, Normal (default) and Low.
• Slow Flash Sync controls at which point during the exposure the flash fires when the slow sync mode is used:
  • Front Sync (default) fires the flash at the beginning of the exposure.
  • Front Sync Redeye: fires the flash at the beginning of the exposure and uses pre-flashes to minimize the red-eye effect.
  • Rear Sync: fires the flash just before the end of the exposure, and is intended to capture more natural looking moving subjects.
• Setup C Mode saves the current camera settings to any one of three Custom modes that can be recalled when the Mode Dial is turned to the C position.
• Custom Exposure Mode (only available when the camera is set to the C mode): allows selecting from Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Manual shooting modes.

The second section of the menu, Capture, is common to all still image capture modes:

• Picture Size: selects the image size, as detailed above.
• File Type: selects the image quality (Fine, Standard, Basic, TIFF, or RAW).
• Colour Mode serves to choose how images are recorded:
  • High Colour: increases saturation.
  • Natural Colour: the default colour saturation.
  • Low Colour: decreases saturation.
  • Black and White
  • Sepia.
• Date Stamp: Off (default), YYYY/MM/DD, MM/DD/YYYY, or DD/MM/YYYY. Permanently superimposes the date on the image.

The third section of the menu is the Setup menu, and it is detailed in the Interface and Software section of this review.

Set to the Auto shooting mode, or any of the Scene modes, the menu is abridged to 2 sections, the Capture menu, and the Setup menu.

Likewise, with the P880 set to capture video, the menu is composed of 2 sections, Video and Setup (common to all modes and detailed in the Interface and Software section of the review):

• Video Size selects the frame size for the video recording:
  • 640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per second (VGA).
  • 320 x 240 pixels at 30 frames per second (QVGA).
• Video Length determines how long the camera captures video:
  • Continuous: captures video until there is no more space in memory.
  • or a preset time: 5, 15, or 30 seconds.
• AF Control: decides whether the focus occurs only at the beginning of the video (Single) or Continuously.

Set to Review mode, the menu only presents 2 sections the first containing the playback options the second section being once again the Setup menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review):

• View: serves to select or view pre-selected sets of images that are part of the Favourites
• Album: requires first using the EasyShare software included with the camera to create up to 32 album names and install them in the P880's internal memory. Then, images or videos can be moved into any of the albums, and in turn ensure that they are transferred to the corresponding album when images are downloaded to the computer.
• Protect: allows tagging images as "protected" so they cannot be accidentally deleted. Nevertheless, protected images can be erased when the memory is formatted.
• Edit (shown only when a JPEG image or a video clip is on the screen): provides options to Crop, or Resize the image, or Exit without making any changes. With video clips, the choices become Make Picture, to create a 640 x 480 still image from a frame of the video;Trim, to cut-off a section at the beginning or end of the clip;Cut, to cut a middle section of a video; Split, to cut the video clip into two segments; and Merge, to combine two clips into one. Finally, an Exit option is also available to back out of the process without editing.
• Redeye Reduction (only shown with JPEG images): automatically applies a red-eye reduction program the result of which can be cancelled, kept as a new image, or used to overwrite the original.

• Slide Show: starts a slide show of the images in memory. The interval between images can be preset to be between 3 and 60 seconds in 1 second increments, and the slide show can be preset to loop back to the beginning at the end or not.
• Copy: serves to copy one or all images from the internal memory to a memory card, or vice versa.
• RAW File Develop (shown only when a RAW format image is on the screen): makes it possible to create a TIFF or JPEG copy of the RAW image, adjusting the copy's picture size, file type, exposure compensation, colour mode, sharpness, contrast, white balance, and white balance compensation.

• Video Date Display (only shown when there is a video on the screen): allows displaying the date/time stamp on the image while the video is playing.
• Multi-up: presents the saved images as thumbnails, 9 per screen. The same function can be called up by pressing the down arrow of the 4-direction controller while the camera is in Playback.

The Kodak P880 is equipped with a 32 MB internal memory, and with a memory slot that is compatible with both SD (Secure Digital) or MMC (MultiMedia) memory cards. In North America the camera is not normally retailed with a memory card, but in view of the 8-megapixel resolution of the P880, and the limited number of images that can be stored in its internal memory, the purchase of a memory card should be considered simultaneously when the camera is purchased.

The chart below provides an estimate of how many photos can be stored in the P880's internal memory, and, as a guide, the number of photos that can be stored with a 1 GB SD memory card:

In addition to the external flash connector located at the top of the left side, the P880 has two external connections hidden away behind a tight-fitting soft cover on the lower part of the same side.

At the top is a dual function connection for USB (2.0 High-speed), or A/V (Audio Video) out which can be set to either NTSC or PAL in the Setup menu.

The second connection is on the lower left side of the camera, and serves to connect the optional AC-DC adapter which can be used to powered the camera directly from household current.