Model Design / Appearance (6.0)

The Kodak EasyShare P850 is designed to look and feel like a DSLR while still being as easy to use as a compact model. The camera does have the look with its chunky shape, prominent lens barrel and viewfinder components, and host of on-camera buttons and controls. However, the ease of use is lost in the design. Sure, it has the trademark Share button, but this still isn’t like operating a compact EasyShare camera. The handling is better than most compact models though; the grip is more comfortable with its shapely curves and rubber surfaces. The rubber may feel good to the touch, but it doesn’t look so good to the eye. It acts like a lint roller, attracting any dust and hair within a 3-meter radius. This same rubber material surrounds the lens barrel and viewfinder cup, so the P850 looks hairy much of the time. The hairy rubber isn’t complemented well by the rest of the black body, which is constructed of plastic.

 

Size / Portability (5.5)

At 4.3 x 3.3 x 2.8 inches, the Kodak P850 is much smaller than the Canon PowerShot S3 IS and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5. It weighs less too. Both the Canon and Sony digital cameras run on AA batteries, while the Kodak EasyShare P850 runs on a much lighter lithium-ion battery. Without its battery, the P850 weighs a mere 14.2 ounces. It is light and stable enough to be held with one hand, although two hands are recommended. While this model is compact compared to other ultra-zoom models, it will still require a small camera bag to safely tote it around.

 

Handling Ability (7.25)

The Kodak P850’s SLR-shape lends itself well to comfortable handling. The base of the camera is wide and balanced so users can successfully support the camera from beneath. The hand grip has a nice curve on its front with a chrome lip to keep fingers from slipping back around the camera. Surrounding the lip is a sloped rubber material that makes gripping easy and worry-free. The same rubber material can be found around the lens barrel and on the left side of the camera – just where the left hand supports. The rubber also makes up the cushioned eyecup around the electronic viewfinder. This comfortable eyecup is positioned far enough from the rest of the camera’s back so that there are no major collisions between the user's nose and the LCD screen. The Kodak EasyShare P850 has a few slopes in its plastic housing that are meant to make handling more comfortable. In particular, there is a bump where the right thumb rests with a divot to distinguish the Set button and dial from other controls. For consumers who don’t want to keep two hands on the camera at all times, a neck strap is included in the package.

 

The Kodak P850 has control elements borrowed from both compact and DSLR models. Perhaps to retain users of compact EasyShare cameras, the P850 has similar one-touch buttons for reviewing and deleting photos – and of course the hallmark Share button that streamlines printing and emailing. The Kodak P850 is still a big change from compact models though; its control buttons and dials are more reminiscent of a DSLR. There are more designated buttons to change the flash mode, the display information, the focus mode, burst settings, AE/AF lock, and metering. There is even a Program button atop the camera that is the Renaissance man of the control buttons: it can be set to change just about any option (see the menu section). The grooved mode dial looks like something that could be found on a single lens reflex model, as does the Set button and accompanying jog dial. Many of the buttons are very small, but are spaced far enough apart as to not get pressed simultaneously with neighboring controls.

 

Menu (8.5)
The Kodak P850’s menus have the same design and font as the flagship P880 as well as some of the more compact V-series cameras. Users push the designated Menu button to enter the system, which organizes options into categories. The shooting modes with manual functionality have three categories: Advanced Recording, Basic Recording, and Setup. Scene modes and the auto mode offer only the basics and the setup. The playback menu will be discussed later. The categories are differentiated as tabs across the top of the display screen. The tabs are labeled with a camera icon with a plus sign next to it for the advanced shooting options, a plain camera icon for the basics, and a camera icon with a wrench next to it to represent the setup menu. On the left side of the menu are tiny icons, more for decoration than anything else. Next to them are full text titles of the menu options, with the selected choice on the right.

 

The following menu is the Advanced Recording menu included in the Custom, Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Program modes.

 

 

The following menu is available from every shooting mode and offers only the most basic of options. Sometimes these options are truncated; for example, the RAW and TIFF file types are not available in the auto mode.

 

 

The following setup menu can be accessed from recording or playback modes.

 

 

The setup menu is extremely long and there’s no good way to quickly get to the options that are buried in the middle.

 

The following menu is from the playback mode and includes options on how to view the pictures, manage them, and even edit.

 

 

The next menu is quite short and can be found whenever the ruby Share button is pressed.

 

 

Overall, the tabbed menu system is easy to figure out and navigate with the exception of the setup menu. That particular menu is ridiculously long and should be organized into sub-categories of some sort to make finding certain options simpler.