Kodak Easyshare Z1285 12.0 MP Digital Camera with 5xOptical Zoom

I have purchased two of these cameras, in hopes of the second one working better than the first. They both had the exact same problem! They will not even stay on, the screen is constantly black! Sometimes I can take about 5 pictures & then it goes black & I have to replace the batteries. I have tried every kind of battery (including lithium & the actual Kodak brand) Nothing works! Kodak is well aware of the problem, yet they will not do anything to rectify the situation. Please do NOT buy this camera. It will only cause you hassle & heartache (constantly losing beautiful pictures of my 7 children - including Christmas morning!!) And by the way, for the couple times the camera actually did take pictures, the red-eye reduction is terrible - does NOT work at all! I sincerely hope I can save you $180 with this review. I wouldn't pay even $5 for this defective model from Kodak!

I first saw this camera when a friend of mine was using it at Sturgis. His pictures, taken under all kinds of difficult conditions, turned out great. Before buying this Kodak 1285 I searched the internet, stores, and websites looking for any camera that may have been a better deal but could not find any! The combination of 5X Zoom (plus an additional 5X digital Zoom) was tops in it's class alone. But when you add the unprecidented 12MP nothing else came close unless you went to a SLR size camera. I already have a fantastic 35mm SLR camera but seldom have it with me because of the size. This camera will fit in a pocket or in a small belt pouch and I have had it with me nearly all of the time since I've purchased it. It also has the advantage of taking AA batteries rather than the rechargeable internal batteries. I use rechargeable AAs and have been using the first pair for a month now without having to replace them. And if I'm ever in a situation where my rechargeables are dead I can always use standard AA batteries which are available everywhere! This camera is easy to use, with several "smart" modes but is still able to be set up manually. It is versatile, easy to use, takes AWESOME pictures under most conditions and, best of all, it's affordable. The only other cameras I was able to find that even came close in features were $50-$100 more costly. BUY IT! YOU'LL LOVE IT!!!

I bought the Kodak Z1285 about 3 weeks ago on Amazon for $149.95 and I was initially skeptical about so many features for such a low price. After shooting about 100 pictures and about 20 minutes of video, I feel that my purchase was a good one. Here's the pro's and con's why... First, the highlights: The 5x optical zoom is wonderful. I have had 3 digital cameras before this and the best of those had only a 3x zoom. So, 5x zoom really gets you up close. This is a real plus when you are taking pictures from, let's say, the back of a school auditorium. Panoramic shooting mode is awesome. I have only played around with this so far, but it would be nice in outdoor shots of nature. There is no shutter lag that I could detect. The camera is compact enough to fit into most pockets. It is not the most compact camera out there, but it is reasonably small. The 12 megapixel pictures are very impressive, sharp and the colors are true to life. The video, whether at 640 x 480, or HD widescreen, is very good for a point and shoot camera. You can also zoom while taking a video (but see my drawback section). I use Pinnacle and Magix to create DVDs and have no problem creating DVDs with the quicktime (.MOV) files this camera creates. I would not throw away my camcorder just yet, but I guess the day is coming... There are plenty of shooting modes, but the camera can be left on automatic which makes it a simple point and shoot process. It takes AA batteries and, with the rechargeables that I use, the life of the batteries is not bad. I know what the other reviews said, but, compared with all of the other digital cameras I have had, this one has the best battery life by far and they are AA! There is only about 2-3 second delay between photos when not using the flash. That's a decent turn around time. There is a "burst" setting if this is a problem for some. The image stabilization mode is helpful. Now, the drawbacks: The camera body is all plastic. This is really not a problem, but it does lessen the "feel factor" that you are holding a quality product or showing it off to a friend. The compression of the JPEG files by this camera cuts the picture down to anywhere from 1.4 to 2.0 megs per shot. This is not necessarily a problem, but it is not adjustable as some other manufacturers make this a user setting. In a side by side comparison of a friend's Canon SD 1100 IS camera, I would have to say that picture quality is roughly the same. I had a difficult time telling the difference between the pictures taken by these two cameras. Keep in mind that the SD 1100 is only a 8mp camera. However, keep in mind that my friend also paid $70 more for his camera. So I am not sure if this one is a "pro" or a "con". There is "noise" in the photos when shooting in the image stabilization mode. This appears to be due to the camera stepping up to a higher ISO. The camera picks up a sound from the data writing to the flash card during the recording of HD video. The sound is not noticeable if, let's say, the video you are recording has a lot of sound already. However, during quiet passages, the camera picks up soft "clicks" that end up on your video. It's not terrible, but just be aware. The camera picks up the sound of the zoom motor if you zoom while recording a video. I guess that's why most every other manufacturer out there does not allow you to zoom while taking a video. The flash could be stronger. It's not bad; I just wish it could go beyond the 12 foot range since the optical zoom gets you out so far. Summary: All things considered, this camera packs a lot of features and quality for the price. The good points far outweigh any drawbacks this camera may have. No, it is not a Canon, or a Sony so your family and friends might not be impressed by the label. However, if you do not want to spend $200+ on a camera with all of these features and you want something easy to use that takes good quality pictures and video, then you will not go wrong selecting this camera. If you can get it at $149.95 like I did, then it is a real bargain.

Had a hard time getting the camera to turn on --- took about 10 trys to get it on. Took some great pictures. Truned it off. came back later to take more pictures and finally got the camera on again after 10 or 15 attemps. It kept getting worse untill it will not turn on at all.

I recently bought this to replace a Z1285 I bought a while ago directly from Kodak. I loved that camera for years and years. Raved about it. Well, I go to use it a month ago, and the view finder is pink - and all the photos are pink. I assume it's the camera so I purchase ANOTHER one the same model because I loved it so much. Well guess that? Same problem. I'm pretty disappointed. I should have purchased a better camera. If you don't have this problem - GREAT! If it wasn't for something being off somewhere where all my picture are pink - this is a fantastic camera. If anyone has an idea let me know, because I really did love this model for many, many years.

Background: This is my 3rd Kodak camera. I wanted this to complement my Z612 which is too big to put comfortably in my pocket- This is supposed to be my portable solution. I do a lot of amateur photography and have had a few photos used in publications. First, there's not many menu picks. The last two Kodak cameras had an ability to disable digital zoom, for example. There's just not many fine-tuning options in the menu. I took the same picture at 12MP and 9MP 16:9, and they were about the same. (I have an ultrasharp LCD, btw). Actually, I slightly prefer the 9MP shot. There's no need to get into CCD and pixels and whatnot, but you might be better off with this lower setting. I can fit 2777 photos on an 8gig card. General photos: I took random shots inside and outside. Some while walking, driving, standing/sitting still, and even with the camera on a flat surface. Almost all of the photos are either grainy, blurry, or off-colored. I also tried various scene options like Macro (flower), Text, Panaoramic, landscape, night portrait, etc.. Funny, the panoramic shot is the clearest- even compared to the same subject as a standard picture. It's neat- but it's definitely not flawless in matching up seams. When I zoomed in the max optical zoom (5x), most of the time I could not get a clear picture without putting the camera on a level surface. I'm a fairly steady handed person, too. Even general zoom there's a lot of blurriness. If I wanted photos like that, I would have borrowed my wife's panasonic lumix. The camera does very poorly in low light situations- far far worse than my z612. I was hoping the lower MP setting would help a bit, but no. Video: even worse then the z612 which is pretty bad to start with. The shot is jittery (not shaky and in handheld, but back-and-forth digitally jittery), there's also flashes of light that happen for no reason. The audio is poor, and just like the Z612, if you zoom in/out or the autofocus happens, you can hear it on the final video- it sounds like gears grinding. The only places this camera excels is well-lit portraits and landscapes. I would not use it for video, macro, action, or low light situations. This will probably be my last Kodak. I'd return it, but I want it for an upcoming trip. Plus it's a secondary camera meant to be easy to tote around. I would not recommend this for anyone's primary camera.

This camera takes excellent pictures. Learning the differences between the settings is very important though. I tested all the settings in multiple lights and scenarios when I got the camera and when it came to using the camera at work, it was easy to take fantastic pictures. I received a lot of compliments for the pictures but it was mostly the camera. I let 5 to 10 year old students take pictures with the camera on smart scene and most came out pretty good! It was also very easy for them to use the zoom as well. Cons: I do sometimes get blurry pictures. On smart scene it takes a few seconds for the camera to get ready for the next shot. I definitely recommend this camera for the beginner or average user.

Runs batteries down after only a few pic.