I purchased a Kodak Z7590 5.0 megapixel 10X Zoom camera in Yr'2005 for about Rs. 23, 000/-(not the current price) with a 1GB card at Hyderabad. . The camera has been used by me in atleast 6 to seven holiday outings apart from Indoor use. This is a good, mega zoom camera for those looking for ease of use while still having plenty of features to fiddle and experiment with.
The kit contains USB cable, AV cable, battery, wall charger, original instructions and software CD. The Kodak easyshare software is to load and has very good and user friendly editing options which can be used not just for pictures from this camera but on any photos already with you or taken thro your Cellphone etc which donot give such powerful software.
The equivalent Cannon and Olympus cameras with 5-7 MPixel resolution and 10x-12x Zoom was costing me about 50 to 100% higher.(Pl check the current prices of equivalents and features, even a small difference like giving AA batteries instead of Li-Ion batt would make diference to prices. Also see whether your camera is amenable to attachments such as wide angle lense, filters etc)
Here's the nitty gritty about the camera if you're interested.
Camera Overview : Boasting a 5.0-megapixel CCD(2, 576 x 1, 932 pixels), a full range of exposure control, and a compact body style, theKodak EasyShare Z7590 updates the EasyShare line that's proven so popular among consumers. Similar in style to a traditional point-and-shoot 35mm film camera, the Z7590 measures 3.9 x 3.2 x 3.2 inches(100 x 81 x 80 millimeters), without the lens extended and weighs about 380 gmswith the battery and memory card loaded.
It is not exactly a portable camera and is not meant for a novoice but at the same time it is easy to pickup the features.
The 5.0-megapixel CCD captures high resolution, print quality images(up to 8x10 or 11x14 with good detail, even allowing for some cropping), as well as smaller image sizes better suited for distributing via email.
Built into the Z7590 is a 10x zoom lens(top notch Shneider- KRUEZNACH lens), equivalent to a 38mm-380mm zoom on a 35mm camera, . The camera's autofocus mechanism uses a multi-zone system to "find" the primary subject closest to the lens. The AF area is highlighted in the LCD display with a set of brackets. You can change the AF area to read only the center of the frame through the Record menu, or choose Selectable AF, which lets you set the AF area at center, or to the left or right of center. Additionally, you can choose between Continuous and Single AF modes.
The Z7590 has a maximum aperture ranging from f/2.8 to f/3.7, depending on the zoom position.
The cam offers 10x optical zoom, the Z7590 and as much as 3x Advanced digital zoom, which effectively increases the camera's zoom range to a total of 30x. Keep in mind though, that digital zoom decreases the overall image quality, since it just stretches the center pixels of the CCD image.
For composing images, the Z7590 offers both a real-image optical viewfinder(for high intensity daylight photography since you may not be able to see the LCD display clearly in daylight) as well as a generous, 2.2-inch color LCD monitor.
The Z7590 offers optional full manual exposure control, as well as a range of partial manual and automatic exposure modes.
The Mode dial on the rear panel offers options of Scene, Action, Portrait, Auto, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Custom, and Movie exposure modes, as well as a Favorites setting for viewing images saved as "Favorites".
While Auto mode is best for general use, leaving all of the exposure decisions up to the camera for true "point and shoot" photography, the Program mode lets you control options such as white balance and exposure compensation while the camera handles the basic aperture and shutter speed settings. Aperture and Shutter Priority modes let you control either aperture or shutter speed, while the camera selects the appropriate corresponding variable.
As you'd expect, Manual mode provides complete user control over the exposure, with shutter speeds ranging from 1/1, 000 to 16 seconds. The camera is capable of up to 1/1, 500 second in auto modes, but only when the aperture is set between 5.6 and 8.0. Finally, the Custom mode lets you save a group of exposure settings that can be instantly recalled. For example, if you frequently shoot indoors under a specific lighting setup, you can save the exposure settings for that exposure situation.
The (SCN) Scene exposure mode offers no less than 16 preset shooting modes, including Landscape, Close-up, Night Portrait, Night Landscape, Snow, Beach, Text, Fireworks, Flower, Manner/Museum(for indoor settings without flash or sounds), Self-Portrait(for pointing the camera back at you), Party, Children, and Backlight. The available scenes appear at the bottom of the LCD display upon entering the mode, and the Multi-Controller selects the scene.
The Z7590 employs a Multi-Pattern metering system, which bases the exposure on several light readings taken throughout the frame, taking into consideration both brightness and subject contrast to arrive at the optimum exposure.
A 10-second Self-Timer so you can get into your own shots.
In addition to its still photography modes, the Z7590 also offers a Movie recording mode for capturing moving images with sound. Movies can be recorded at 320 x 240 pixels at 24 frames/second. However you cannot use zoom-in-out during any given shoot(afterall it cannot replace a handycam)
A Burst photography mode lets you capture as many as four frames in rapid succession
In addition to its normal camera-related functions, the Z7590 offers a unique "Favorites" feature that Kodak pioneered relatively recently. In practice, the Favorites function works in conjunction with Kodak's EasyShare software, installed on your computer.
The Z7590 is compatible with Kodak's EasyShare camera and printer docks, which offer hassle-free image downloading and printing.
The camera comes with a battery charger in case you don't have the accessory dock. Also packaged with the Z7590 are USB and AV cables, as well as a software CD loaded with the EasyShare software for downloading and managing images.
Camera can be directly connected to TV with AV cable to view large size photos with family and also full videos which is a good feature.
The camera doesnot have image stabilization and hence pictures in moving condition and close Zoom photos need a tripod or an extremely stable hand for satisafctory results.
