Kodak EasyShare Z950

	Noise
	Color	Page 4 of 16	Resolution

Noise (12.14)

The Z950 did an impressive job of keeping the noise in images low. Even at the higher ISO settings, we didn't see too much of the speckling that often comes to dominate the images that many cameras take in low light. However, this good noise performance does come at a cost; the Z950 is doing some processing to remove the noise, which gives higher ISO images a flat, almost watercolor look. See below for examples.  Click here for more on how we test noise.

Light Level Noise Comparison

To test the low light performance of cameras, we take a series of photos at different ISO levels in both bright light (3000 lux, about the same as a typical sunny day) and in low light (about 60 lux, equivalent to a typical indoor light level). As you can see from the graph above, the noise is a little higher in the low light situation, but in both tests, the amount of noise stays relatively low as the ISO increases.

Noise Comparisons

If we compare the Z950 to other cameras, we can see that it has much lower noise than most; some cameras (such as the Panasonic ZS3) show much more noise at higher ISO levels, but the Z950 stays significantly lower.

	ISO 100	ISO 400	ISO 800	ISO 1600
60 Lux
3000 Lux

Noise Score Comparisons
		Compare to Canon SX120 IS
		Compare to Nikon L100
		Compare to Panasonic ZS3

ISO (6.00)

The ISO range of the Z950 starts at 100 and goes up to 1600 at full resolution. If you don't mind limiting yourself to a resolution of 3.1 megapixels, you can increase this up to an ISO setting of 3200.

	ISO Examples
	Kodak Z950	Canon SX120 IS	Nikon L100	Panasonic ZS3
ISO 80
	Kodak Z950	Canon SX120 IS	Nikon L100	Panasonic ZS3
ISO 100
	Kodak Z950	Canon SX120 IS	Nikon L100	Panasonic ZS3
ISO 200 (215 for the Nikon)
	Kodak Z950	Canon SX120 IS	Nikon L100	Panasonic ZS3
ISO 400 (329 for the Nikon)
	Kodak Z950	Canon SX120 IS	Nikon L100	Panasonic ZS3
ISO 800
	Kodak Z950	Canon SX120 IS	Nikon L100	Panasonic ZS3
ISO 1600
	Kodak Z950	Canon SX120 IS	Nikon L100	Panasonic ZS3

NOTE: The images above are not used in our testing or scoring, but are included here to show real-world examples of the differences between cameras at the various ISO settings.

See how the competition stacked up against the Kodak Z950
Canon SX120 IS	Nikon L100	Panasonic ZS3