Kodak EasyShare Max Z990: Video and Image Quality

Video Quality
Videos shot by the EasyShare Max Z990 were smooth and had good color. The camera's use of continuous auto focus and the optical zoom were very handy. The stereo sound was well done.

HD videos can be up to 29 minutes long, with a maximum file size of just under 4GB.

Image Quality
The EasyShare Max Z990 produced good looking images with strong but realistic colors and little distortion (other than the chromatic aberration noted above). I rarely observed instances of excessive overexposure.

I enjoyed using the camera's macro mode, though I found it odd that in Smart Capture mode, the camera could only be brought to as close as 10cm to the object. To get any closer, it was necessary to put the camera in program mode and press the focus button to get into super macro mode.

I enjoyed using the various classic film effects mode, which simulates Kodacolor, Ektachrome, Kodachrome, T-Max, Tri-X and Sepia. It's a neat way for Kodak to pay homage to its history as the premier producer of high quality film for 35mm cameras.

Normal	Kodacolor
Ektachrome	Kodachrome
T-Max	Tri-X
Sepia

One feature of the camera that I did not find particularly enjoyable was its implementation of auto panorama. Unlike the other cameras I've used that had a similar feature, I was never able to determine how much of the image would be in my panorama shot. The camera's User Guide says that the panorama image should cover about 180 degrees. Even though I tried to sweep 180 degrees each time, sometimes the image would cover all 180 degrees, and other times it would not.

The camera's auto white balance setting worked well. White balance can also be manually set to daylight, tungsten, fluorescent and open shade. The image below shows auto white balance using the fluorescent setting:

Auto White Balance 5500k fluorescent light

The camera's flash can be set to auto, fill, red-eye reduction and off. Kodak claims a flash range, in Smart Capture mode at ISO 100, of 8.9 meters (29.2 feet) at wide angle and 4.4 meters (14.4 feet) at maximum telephoto. This is a very powerful flash but it operated intelligently, using just enough power that was necessary to give to sufficient light to the subject.

The ISO table below shows that the new back-illuminated sensor in the EasyShare Max Z990 has greatly improved the camera's low light ability. Image quality looks virtually the same at ISO 800 as at ISO 100.

ISO 125	ISO 125, 100% crop
ISO 200	ISO 200, 100% crop
ISO 400	ISO 400, 100% crop
ISO 800	ISO 800, 100% crop
ISO 1600	? ISO 1600, 100% crop
ISO 3200	ISO 3200, 100% crop
ISO 6400	ISO 6400, 100% crop

Even ISO 1600 produces a fairly good image. Image quality is much worse at the very high ISO settings of 3200 and 6400 but they could be useful in when no other shot is possible.

Additional Sample Images