|
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.
Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (6.25)
 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.
|
Advanced Recording Menu
|
|
White Balance
|
Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Open Shade, Sunset, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Click WB, Custom WB1, Custom WB2, Custom WB3 |
|
Custom White Balance
|
Exit, Compensation, Registration
|
|
AF Control
|
Continuous AF, Single AF
|
|
AF Zone
|
Multi-zone, Center-zone, Selectable-zone
|
|
Sharpness
|
High, Normal, Low
|
|
Contrast
|
High, Normal, Low
|
|
Slow Flash Sync
|
Front Sync, Front Sync Red-eye, Rear Sync
|
|
Set up C Mode
|
Exit, Custom 1, Custom 2, Custom 3
|
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.
|
Image Menu
|
|
| Picture Type |
5.0MP, 4.5MP (3:2), 3.1MP, 2.1MP, 1.2MP |
|
File Type
|
Fine JPEG, Standard JPEG, Basic JPEG, RAW, TIFF
|
|
Color Mode
|
High Color, Natural Color, Low Color, Black & White, Sepia
|
|
Date Stamp
|
Off, YYYYMMDD, MMDDYYYY, DDMMYYYY
|
The following setup menu can be accessed from recording or playback modes.
|
Setup Menu
|
|
| LCD Brightness |
1-5 |
|
Image Storage
|
Auto, Internal Memory
|
|
Set Album
|
(choose from album’s set up with Kodak EasyShare Software)
|
|
Image Stabilizer
|
Continuous, Single, Off
|
|
Red-eye Reduction
|
Preflash only, Preflash & Auto Fix, Auto Fix only
|
|
AE/AF Button Set
|
AE Lock, AF Lock, AE/AF Lock
|
|
Program Button Capture
|
Flash Button, Focus Button, Picture Size, File Type, Color Mode, Date Stamp, White Balance, Custom White Balance, AF Control, AF Zone, Sharpness, Contrast, Slow Flash Setup, Copy to C Mode, Custom Exposure Mode
|
|
Program Button Review
|
View, Album, Protect, Edit, Red-eye Correction, Slideshow, Copy, Video Date Display, Multi-up
|
|
Orientation Sensor
|
On, Off
|
|
Quick View
|
On, Off
|
|
Advanced Digital Zoom
|
Continuous, Pause, None
|
|
Camera Sounds
|
Exit, Theme (None, Default, Fun, Sci-Fi, Music), Shutter (None, Default, Fun, Sci-Fi, Music), Error (None, Default, Fun, Sci-Fi, Music), Self-Timer (None, Default, Fun, Sci-Fi, Music)
|
|
Sound Volume
|
Off, Low, Medium, High
|
|
Mode Description
|
On, Off
|
|
Accessory Lens
|
On, Off
|
|
Date & Time
|
Set Date and Time
|
|
Video Out
|
NTSC, PAL
|
|
External Flash
|
External Flash Only, Internal & External Flash
|
|
EVF/LCD Standby
|
15 Seconds, 30 Seconds, 1 Minute, 2 Minutes
|
|
Auto Power Off
|
3 Minutes, 5 Minutes, 10 Minutes, 15 Minutes, 30 Minutes
|
|
Language
|
English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese
|
|
Reset Camera
|
Continue, Cancel
|
|
Format
|
Memory Card, Cancel, Internal Memory
|
|
About
|
Kodak P850, Firmware Version 1.0000
|
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.
|
Playback Menu
|
|
| View |
All, Selected |
|
Album
|
(choose from albums previously loaded from Kodak EasyShare Software)
|
|
Protect
|
Video/Picture, Exit, All
|
|
Edit
|
Exit, Make Picture, Trim, Cut, Split, Merge
|
|
Slide Show
|
Begin Show All, Exit, Interval (3-60 sec), Loop (On, Off)
|
|
Copy
|
Video/Picture, Exit, All
|
|
Video Date Display
|
None, YYYMMDD, MMDDYYYY, DDMMYYYY, YYYYMMDDHH:MM, MMDDYYYHH:MM, DDMMYYYYHH:MM
|
|
Multi-Up
|
(directs to multi-up viewing mode)
|
The next menu is quite short and can be found whenever the ruby Share button is pressed.
|
Print
|
Tag Picture, Exit, Tag All
|
|
Email
|
Tag Picture, Exit, Tag All
|
|
Favorite
|
Tag Picture, Exit, Tag All
|
|
Cancel Prints
|
Yes, No
|
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.
Ease of Use (6.5)
The Kodak EasyShare P850 is one of the more difficult EasyShares to use. Many shooting settings can only be changed in the menus, which are quite lengthy. Some of the camera’s functions will require a briefing with the user manual beforehand too. Setting the custom modes isn’t entirely intuitive and adding albums to the camera requires hooking up to the included software. Still, Kodak didn’t completely ignore ease of use. The Share button makes printing and emailing simple and fast, while the text mode descriptions help beginners learn the camera and its functions quickly. Overall though, the EasyShare P850 is one of the more painful to use EasyShare cameras.
|
