Kodak Z740

Reviewed May 2005

Introduction

The top part of the camera, next to the pop-up flash, supports the speaker and the power switch which has 3 positions:

• : allows immediate access to images that have been selected as Favorites.
• OFF: turns off the camera.
• : places the camera in capture mode. Worth noting, whenever the camera is powered on the flash is released, whether or not it is required.

The 2-stage shutter release and three round buttons are grouped in an oval, light silver coloured area on top of the grip. The button closest to the shutter release cycles through three functions:

The middle button selects the focus modes:

	Macro mode allows the camera to focus on a subject that is between 12 and 70 cm (4.7 to 27.6 inches) from the CCD when the zoom is at the wide angle setting; and from 1.2 to 2.1 m (3.9 to 6.9 ft) when the zoom is at the maximum telephoto end.
	Landscape mode sets the focus to infinity, and prevents the AF brackets from appearing either in the EVF or on the monitor.

The third button in the group serves to select the Flash modes, while the flash itself can be released with a small button on the top left side of the camera if it has been closed:

Auto, Forced On, Red-eye Reduction with pre-flashes, Forced Off.

The Z740 is equipped with an electronic Viewfinder (EVF) composed of 201,000 pixels and measuring 5.1 mm (0.2 inch) diagonally. It has no diopter adjustment. In addition, a 1.8 inch LCD monitor composed of 134,000 pixels, is positioned directly the viewfinder's exit pupil. Both monitor and EVF have a refresh rate of 27 frames per second, which provides a smooth and flowing image.

In between the EVF and the monitor two buttons are for:

The other button, at the top right of the monitor, is labelled EVF—LCD and simply serves to choose whether the EVF or the LCD monitor is active.

All the other external controls of the Z740 are on the right side of the monitor. Uppermost is the zoom control which also serves to zoom in (up to 8X) and out of an image that is displayed in playback either on the monitor or the EVF.

Directly below, the Share button switches the camera to Playback mode, presenting the last image captured, and superimposes the Share menu, making it possible to choose how the image will be used. (See the Characteristics section of the review for more detail.)

Next comes the Mode Dial which has settings for 7 different capture modes, with starting at one end, the video mode:

The following two Mode dial positions are access points to other shooting modes, which are themselves selected using the Joystick control in the middle of the Mode dial:

Program lets the Z740 select both aperture and shutter speed, but provides access to all the other photographic settings such as exposure compensation, white balance, etc., and settings remain in effect even if the camera is turned off and back on. Aperture Priority makes it possible to select the aperture, and hence the depth of field, while the camera handles the shutter speed. The available aperture range is a function of the focal length in use: at the wide end, the range starts at f2.8, extending through f3.2, f3.6, f4, f4.5, f5, f5.6, f6.3, f7.1 to f8. While at the telephoto end apertures start at f3.7, also extending through to f8. Shutter Priority provides control over the shutter speed, covering a range of 8 seconds to 1/1000 second while the camera selects the aperture. Manual mode provides complete control over both the aperture and shutter speed of the camera.

The next dial setting is for Scene modes, 14 of which are available. Each is identified by an icon superimposed at the bottom of the EVF or the monitor, while the mode's name is superimposed in the middle of the screen along with a little description of its use: Children: for action pictures of children playing in bright light. The flash and sensitivity (up to 140 ISO) are automatic. Party: uses the flash with red-eye reduction and the ISO and White Balance are both set to Auto mode (up to 140 ISO). Beach: uses the same settings as the Snow scene mode (100 ISO and +1 EV), but adjusts the white balance to Daylight. Flower: the camera is set to Macro mode, uses a large aperture, white balance at Daylight and the ISO is set at 140. Fireworks : the camera must be stabilized on a tripod. The aperture is fixed to f5.6, and the shutter speed to 2 seconds. In addition, the white balance is set to Daylight, sensitivity to 100 ISO, and the focus is set to infinity. Snow: is designed to capture bright snow scenes. Exposure compensation is adjusted to +1EV and sensitivity is set to 100 ISO while the flash is set to Auto. Backlight: this mode uses fill-flash to light the backlit subject, a large aperture and a sensitivity of 100 ISO. Close-up: sets the camera to macro focus and uses a large aperture to avoid the image being blurred by camera shake. Sensitivity is locked at 100 to avoid noise, and focus and metering are set to Spot to ensure the subject is sharp and exposed correctly. Night Portrait : uses the flash with Red-eye reduction to capture the foreground and a slow shutter speed to capture the background. This mode uses multi-pattern exposure metering and a sensitivity of 140 ISO. Landscape: disables the flash, sets the focus to infinity, the sensitivity to 100 ISO, the white balance to Daylight and the metering to multi-pattern. Night Landscape: sets the focus to infinity and disables the flash. Sensitivity is set to 100 ISO. Manner/Museum: flash and sounds are disabled and Auto ISO is used (up to 140 ISO) while the white balance is set to Auto. Text: serves to reproduce documents. The focus is switched to Macro mode, and exposure compensation to +1 EV. Sensitivity can automatically increase up to 140 ISO. Self Portrait : sets the focus to wide angle, moves into macro mode and uses the flash with Red-eye reduction. The camera is set to 100 ISO.

Last are four settings for specific Scene modes:

	Auto: the camera looks after everything but the user can modify some settings (ISO, light measurement and focus). All of these changes are lost once the camera is turned off.
	Sports: this mode automatically controls CCD sensitivity and boosts it if needed to maximize shutter speed and freeze moving subjects. Auto ISO is used, ranging from 100 to 200 ISO.
	Portrait: uses a large aperture (f2.8 to f3.7) to capture the subject clearly while causing the background to blur slightly. As always, the blurring effect is more noticeable if the zoom is used. Auto ISO is used, ranging from 100 to 200 ISO.
	Night: uses the flash set to Red-eye reduction and a slow shutter speed to capture both foreground and background. The sensitivity is set to 140 ISO.

As noted above, in addition to being used to navigate the menus, a joystick placed at the centre of the Mode dial serves to modify settings or even to select a specific mode when the Dial is set to SCN or PASM. Moreover, when the camera is set to PASM the joystick is used to:

• select the aperture.
• select the shutter speed.
• adjust Exposure compensation ± 2 EV in 0.3 EV increments in all but the Manual mode.
• Compensate Flash exposure over ± 2 EV in 0.3 EV increments.
• select the camera sensitivity: Auto ISO (80 to 160 ISO), or 80, 100, 200, 400 and 800 ISO (800 ISO exclusively with an image size of 1.8 MP).

Of course, in the Playback mode the joystick serves to move from one photo to the next, but, in addition it can be pushed towards the bottom to display thumbnails (9 per screen), and pressed towards the top to immediately display a selected image full-screen.

The final three external controls of the Z740 are aligned below the Mode dial. The first is used to delete images when the camera is in playback mode.

The second calls up the Menu (see the Characteristics section for more detail on the menus).

The third button, Review, is the access to the Playback mode.

More economical than the camera from which it is derived, the Kodak EasyShare Z740 still retains much of the ergonomic design of the DX7590, but not all of it as some controls have been redesigned.

Most notably, the functions that were controlled using the Jog Dial embedded at the top of the grip of the DX7590, are now attributed to the joystick of the Z740 which, regrettably, does not offer the same degree of precision. Similarly, it is also regrettable that unlike the DX7590, the EVF of the Z740 does not provide a diopter correction.