Dream on Vacation

We purchased this camera approximately a month before heading to Italy for two weeks. This was not our first digital camera, so I had specific requirements in our search to find the "dream" camera to capture our trip.

The camera may be larger than some but I found this a bonus because I don't like hunting in the bottom of my purse for my camera.

We ordered ours directly from the manufacturer Web site because of an online promotion that gave additional products with the camera. In all, we got a portable tripod, a case, a rechargeable battery pack (other than the one that came with the camera), a battery charger and a camera case.

I found this camera to be not only a terrific value, but also a wonderful camera all around. Originally, I wasn't sure if I wanted a Kodak because I don't care for the Kodak photo software, but my parents has the previous model of the Z650 and found it was extremely easy to use. They purchased it as their first digital camera and had fantastic pictures so my husband and I decided to give it a go.

Do not be intimidated by the amount of scene selections; taking photos in the auto mode is just fine and you will get great shots, but using the scene features will help! We used the museum feature in the darkest of Rome's museums and monuments and had calendar-quality photos. We will gladly print them to display them in larger sizes throughout our home.

The few weeks we had to prep with the camera before we left were a bonus-it has a lot of bells and whistles that a benefit to the photographer and are surprisingly easy to use once you know they're there and what they're for.

My husband may not love the joystick toggle, but I had no problems using it with my small fingers. The lens cap does come off quite easily, especially when sliding it into a case, so I'll be looking into a snap on fit. The large LCD screen is very beneficial, though it can be difficult to see in sunny areas.

The camera is ready to take a picture almost immediately after being turned on, which was a big plus for us after owning a camera that took a few seconds to get into photo mode.

My husband got quite a kick out of the self portrait mode; he enjoys trying to take photos of us together often, to no avail, they usually look terrible, but with this camera they came out like someone else took it for us!

The battery life also impressed me. We took 500 pictures on the battery pack the camera came with on the highest resolution and the battery had not yet died. We did change it then to avoid it dying on us somewhere else. They also charge up quickly.

All in all, I'm very impressed with this camera!