Kodak Z650 Performance

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Kodak Z650 Performance

Timing and Performance

EasyShare Z650 Timing
Good to average speed for a long-zoom consumer camera.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	3.5 seconds	Time it takes for LCD to turn on and lens to deploy.
Shutdown	3.4 seconds	How long it takes to retract lens and stow in your pocket.
Buffer clearing time	35 seconds (Four Large/Fine JPEG shots, continuous mode)	Worst case buffer clearing time.* This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.
Mode switching
Play to Record, first shot	1.1 seconds	Time until first shot is captured
Record to play	2.5 seconds	Time to display a large/fine file immediately after capture
Display recorded image	1.0 second	Time to display a large/fine file already on the memory card.
Shutter response (Lag Time):
Full Autofocus Wide	0.61 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position.
Full Autofocus Tele	1.37 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.
Prefocused	0.08 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Cycle time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large Fine JPEG	2.61 seconds	Time per shot (four shot maximum)
Single Shot mode 640x480 JPEG	2.14 seconds	Time per shot (four shot maximum)
Early shutter penalty?	Yes	Some cameras won't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.
Continuous mode Large Fine JPEG	0.57 second (1.76 frames per second); Four shots; ~35 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first
Continuous mode 640x480 JPEG	0.57 second (1.76 frames per second); Four shots; ~30 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first
Flash recycling	6 seconds	Flash at maximum output
Download speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	626 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-770=USB 2.0 Low; 771-4000=USB 2.0 High
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Kingston Ultimate 133x SD memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode.

The Kodak Z650's performance ranges from the slow side of average to very good for a long zoom, depending on what you're trying to do. Start up falls in the average range. Shutter response when the lens is set to its wide angle position is better than average, but at maximum telephoto, it's decidedly slow. If you "prefocus" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure, it's very fast, with a shutter delay of only 0.08 second. Shot-to-shot cycle times are average, at 2.61 seconds for large/fine JPEGs. Continuous-mode speed is average, at 1.76 frames/second, for up to four shots in succession before the buffer has to written to the card. The most notable slow point for the Z650 though, comes when it's writing images to its memory card: It can take 30+ seconds to completely clear the four-shot buffer, even with a fast memory card. The flash takes about six seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, about average in terms of time, but better than average when you take the power level of the Z650's flash into account. Connected to a computer, download speeds are fast enough that you probably won't feel a need for a separate card reader, but nonetheless aren't as fast as many cameras currently on the market. The convenience of using an EasyShare camera or printer dock greatly outweighs the file-download speed hit, though. Bottom line, while not a first choice for sports or other fast-paced action, the Kodak Z650 is responsive enough (particular at wide angle lens settings) to handle most family photo opportunities. If you need quick shutter response at long telephoto focal lengths though, the Z650 could be frustrating.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery
Short battery life with the LCD on, very good when LCD is switched off.

Battery Type	Battery Life
CRV3 Lithium (1 cell)	348 - 391 shots
AA Lithium (2 cells)	248 - 348 shots
AA NiMH (2 cells) (2300 mAh capacity)	236 - 265 shots

The Kodak Z650 uses two AA batteries for power. The table above shows the number of shots it can take with either Lithium or NiMH batteries, based on the CIPA battery-life standard. A CIPA rating of 236 - 265 shots on 2300 mAh NiMH cells (with the LCD display enabled) is pretty good, but as always we strongly recommend that you purchase a couple of sets of high-capacity NiMH rechargeable batteries and a good-quality charger, as they'll save you many times their cost over the life of the camera.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The EasyShare Z650 has 32MB of internal storage, a good digital wallet to store Favorite images in. Expanded, working storage is provided by an SD memory card slot, but no card is included.

Image Capacity with 28-MB SD Memory Card		Fine
2,832 x 2,128	Images	14
2,832 x 2,128	File Size	1.9MB
2,304 x 1,728	Images	21
2,304 x 1,728	File Size	1.3MB
2,048 x 1,536	Images	26
2,048 x 1,536	File Size	1.0MB
1,496 x 1,122	Images	46
1,496 x 1,122	File Size	615K

We strongly recommend buying at least a 128MB card, preferably a 256MB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings.

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Kodak EasyShare Z650 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!