Kodak EasyShare Z712 IS

Front
The Kodak EasyShare 712 IS takes on the form of a standard digital camera in the sub-DSLR class, with its big, bulky handgrip/battery compartment, wide lens mount, and overhanging flash/viewfinder with "Kodak" printed on the front. The camera’s front façade is dominated by these elements, with the silver lens housing standing out against the black plastic of the rest of the body. The lens name and specs are printed on the front of the housing, and the words Image Stabilizer are on the top-facing part. Between the lens and the handgrip, on the upper left, is the self-timer/video/lowlight assist light. Between this and the lens is the one-hole microphone for sound recording.

Back
The back of the camera is busy. The viewfinder sits at the top, fitted with a square, black rubber eyecup that surrounds the round glass element. The LCD is directly below the viewfinder, with the camera’s name emblazoned in white below. To the left of the viewfinder, above the upper left corner of the LCD, is the EVF/LCD switch that allows the user to switch back and forth between the two. At the upper right, the mode dial’s edge protrudes above the zoom toggle switch which lies to the left of the jog dial. The jog dial can be turned to scroll through and select the exposure settings in manual modes. Directly below the zoom toggle switch are two buttons, stacked one atop the other. The first is the information/help button, symbolized by a small letter i. The second is the review button, which controls the record/playback selection. To the right of these buttons is the 12-dot thumb pad. Centered below these items is the circular 4-way controller, with each of the four arrows serving simply as directional controls for the screen views and the central OK button. Below this, at the bottom right of the camera back, are three buttons—menu, delete, and share, which allows users to tag pictures for printing, e-mail, and the favorites menu.

Right Side
The right side of the Z712 IS has just two items of note. The clip for the camera strap sits near the top of the side. The port door is a soft rubber cover hinged on the bottom that pulls back to reveal the DC/AV/USB connections.

Left Side
The left side of the camera contains only the clip that anchors the wrist strap and lens cap. Visible from this angle are the printed words "12x IS" on the lens barrel and '7.1 megapixels" on the camera body.

Top
The flash cover dominates the center of the EasyShare Z712’s top side. The left side contains no controls. The right top side holds six main control elements. The On/Off switch sits just to the right of the flash housing toward the front of the camera body. Directly behind this is the mode dial which contains a mix of letters and symbols to indicate the various shooting and playback modes. To the right of these are the controls that run along the battery grip. At the very front is the square-shaped, chrome shutter release button. Three small rectangular chrome buttons sit behind this—the flash, focus, and drive buttons.

Bottom
The door concealing the battery and media card slots is on the bottom beneath the camera grip. The camera’s tripod mount is to the right of this, and the camera dock connection is below that.