Why Buy An 8 MP Camera In A 12 MP World?

Recently I transferred my digital SLR and a zoom lens to a compact camera bag, and now I can't locate it. It is tucked away somewhere in my office and (hopefully) will show up.

Temporarily (I hope!) lacking my 80-300mm zoom lens, I needed a camera with a longer "super zoom" range. This would be handy, as my work sometimes demands a last-minute tight shot, and I do not always tote the large SLR. “Superzoom” models offer the range of an SLR system with much less bulk and expense.
 
Many places offered a largish Kodak Point and Shoot 8 MP camera with a 12X Schneider Variogon zoom. This optic is the 35mm equivalent of a 36mm to 432mm zoom lens on a film SLR! There is some optical stabilization built in to help with such high magnification coupled to such a lightweight body.

Offered originally in May 2008, the Kodak Z8612 IS was $250 but now is half that on clearance, and only about $95 on the "refurbished" market. Refurbs come with free shipping, plus a 2 GB card and a few added extras (card reader, useless flimsy tripod and OK cleaning kit.) Not bad if you wished to gamble. I did.

[As a quick aside: Refurbished cameras generally are those returned by a purchaser to a store or manufacturer and are retested, recertified, and resold by the manufacturer with a warranty. Consumer protection laws prohibit refurbished items from being sold as new. In most cases, these returned cameras are unused or hardly used, often victims of “buyer’s remorse” or an unwanted gift.]

The Kodak Z8612 IS (the black one on the right side of the picture) is a fistful, reminiscent of larger 35mm point and shoots from the mid 70’s such as the Olympus on the left. With a body easily 1/3 larger than my Panasonic Lumix, additional bulk and weight is added by the substantial lens.







Reviewers have not been kind to this camera, but many users like it.

Some reviewers find the performance sluggish when compared to a similarly equipped SLR. Of course it is! It’s a consumer camera with a huge lens attached! Others found the body to feel too “plastic” and flimsy.  I am reminded of a camera from the 70’s, the Canon AE-1 that was given similar criticism. Many are still operating today, while their metal competition are long gone.

One legitimate gripe is that the Kodak Z8612 IS eats AA batteries at a rapid rate. A lithium battery pack (CRV3 type) works best, and rechargeable packs are also good. Using common “AA” cells can be frustrating.

[I found a third party maker in Hong Kong (!) that ships two rechargeable packs and charger to the USA for about $17 postpaid. The seller is found on eBay by searching for “Kodak Z8612 battery.”]

Aside from the long zoom, the Kodak Z8612 sports a fairly common feature set with full auto, program with overrides, and the semi-auto modes of aperture priority, shutter priority and then full manual operation. There are also the ubiquitous “scenes” and movie mode, but no face recognition or smile and blink detection. (No big loss in my book!) Again, the main reason for owning this camera is the long zoom lens.

But It's "Only" 8 Megapixels.

If you need to get really close and don't want to spend a lot of money doing so, the 432mm optical setting on this 8 MP camera will deliver a better image than, say, the 200mm setting on a 12 MP camera with a shorter zoom.  That’s because you will have to crop away half the image from the 12 MP camera to “enlarge” the subject to match the 432mm lens.

Cropping image area in a 12 MP camera cuts resolution, resulting in the equivalent of an image taken with a 6 MP camera. (These figures are approximate.) Below is a 5x zoom at maximum range vs. a 12x zoom. I've drawn a red box to show all the area that would need to be cropped away to get a similar image.



  Sooner or later I'll find my SLR!  Until then, this Kodak Z8612 IS will keep me shooting those long shots!