Front (7.5)
The lens barrel dominates the front of the camera, just as the barrel of the higher-end Z740 dominates that frame. On the Z700, the barrel is fatter than it needs to be to accommodate the actual lens — the 5x, f/4.8 zoom on the Z700 is naturally smaller than the 10x, f/3.8 zoom on the Z740.
The optical viewfinder window is on the far right of the camera, above the lens, and next to the flash. This is a bit of a compromise, because the ideal spot for a viewfinder is directly above the center of the lens, where it’s more likely to accurately show the view of the recorded image. Unfortunately for camera designers, that’s also the best place for the flash.
The flash is a small, wide strip of frosted plastic, and Kodak put it directly above the lens. The position is important because off-center flashes cast shadows to the side of the subject. When the flash is centered above the lens, the shadows fall directly behind the subject, and in most cases, the subject hides them. Unlike the Z740, the Z700 flash does not pop up, a disadvantage because the pop-up feature can help prevent “red-eye,” the disturbing glow in subjects’ eyes in some flash pictures. On the other hand, pop-up flashes are often made of delicate moving parts that are susceptible to damage, so this camera may be a bit more durable than others.
Three holes in the front of the camera, between the lens and the hand grip, serve as the microphone, applying audio to video clips. Above them is a small light which signals both the self-timer and the video operation.
The hand grip, wrapped in a substantial rubbery grip, initially looked funny to me, as if Fisher-Price had modeled a toddler toy after a high-end Canon or Nikon SLR. However, in use, the grip seems just right - no larger than it has to be, but certainly supplying additional control and handling to the camera.
Back (7.0)
The 1.6-inch LCD screen dominates the back of the camera, which makes sense, because it provides the great majority of the feedback that the camera offers its user, both in shooting mode and when it’s docked to the printer. Above the LCD, there is a protruding rectangular panel, centered around the optical viewfinder. To the left of the viewfinder window is the ready light for the flash, which is visible when one looks through the viewfinder. As the name suggests, the light indicates that the flash is ready for use. In room light, I didn’t find it distracting while I used the viewfinder, but it may present a problem in darker conditions. On the opposite side of the viewfinder, there is a small adjustment wheel for the viewfinder diopter. It’s a useful adjustment that allows users to keep the small indicators in the viewfinder in focus. It’s not easy to turn the little wheel, which is buried deep in a narrow slot, although that may actually work to the user's advantage - helping prevent accidental changes in the diopter setting, which would skew perspective and be very annoying.
A navigation control dominates the right side of the back. It’s a pretty common format: a central “OK” button is surrounded by a ring that accepts directional input. Press the top to go up, the bottom to go down, left to go left, and right to go right. The ring is a continuous circle and does not contain separate boundaries or directional controls, so the user runs the risk of accidental engagement, although it is a step up from the pseudo-gaming joystick that dresses the back of the Z740.
Above the directional pad and at the far right of the camera is the zoom control, which is both hard to use and too small. The toggle is duel-directional, but like many cameras, the control is formed of a single plastic rocker that moves in either direction and feels quite frail.
An on/off switch for the LCD display sits between the zoom and the top of the screen. Press it once to show the current status and shooting settings on the camera. A second press turns off the display entirely and conserves power.
Below the power switch is the red “Share” button, which initiates the process of tagging an image to print, e-mail, upload, or making a favorite. The “favorite” function is an interesting one for some snap shooters: favorites get stored in the camera’s 16 MB of internal memory. It’s easy to display favorites on the LCD. In effect, the camera has an internal photo album.
The “delete,” “menu”, and “review” buttons sit along the bottom edge of the camera's back face. The delete button is logically set away from the other two, which should help decrease the number of accidental image deletions.
Left Side (7.0)
Along the left side of the EasyShare Z700 is a jack for an optional external power source. The typical user won’t have much need for that — the camera can draw power from the printer when it’s docked, both for printing and recharging.
Other than that, the left side could have been elegantly plain, but the designers choose to print “4.0 megapixels” on it, with the “4.0” in remarkably large type.
Right Side (7.0)
The camera’s lone strap lug is on the right side, at the top. It’s suitable for a wrist strap. The camera isn’t too heavy for that, but when you use one, your right hand is pretty much committed — you won’t be using it to open doors, shake hands, make shadow puppets or whatnot until you peel the camera off. You could attach a neck strap to the lug, but I’ve found that the longer strap tends to get in the way when it’s attached to only the right side of a camera.
A plastic door takes up the rest of the right side of the camera. The door is spring-loaded, rather than latched. I didn’t have a problem with the door in testing, but I prefer latches personally. A spring-loaded door is more likely to open if it snags on the user’s clothing or extraneous object inside a bag. Plastic doors have a tendency of being easy to break and hard to replace. Perhaps a more desirable alternative would have been using a positive closing mechanism, like the one concealing the Z700's battery compartment.
The spring-loaded door on the side covers a USB / A/V port and an SD/MMC card slot. The USB / A/V port is smaller than the typical small USB jack. Kodak informed us that it functions as both an analog jack to run slide shows on a television and as a USB port. In the bundle we’re reviewing, with the EasyShare printer dock, Kodak provides the A/V cord to connect the camera to a television, but not the USB cable.
The SD/MMC card slot is standard, and the camera will accept card capacities up to 512 MB. Unfortunately, a memory card will not be included in the packaged bundle, since the camera contains 16 MB of internal memory, which will only hold about 25 or 30 images at the camera’s highest resolution. Any prospective buyer should factor additional cards into the budget.
Top (7.0)
The top of the EasyShare Z700 scores well for usability: the controls are large and nicely arranged. Just as important, there isn’t anything extra on top to confuse or distract the user.
Out at the end of the hand grip is the massive shutter release. All the way back, along the same side is the mode/power dial, which is also large and well-marked. The flash control and the self-timer/burst mode buttons sit between the mode dial and the top of the flash and will cycle through the available flash settings.
That’s it, except for the pronounced Kodak logo.
Bottom (8.0)
The bottom of the camera has the battery compartment door, which snaps shut securely. It’s a solid protective door. There’s a tripod socket and the ImageLink port, which connects the camera to the EasyShare printer dock.
