Customer Reviews:
 Excellent quality and best for the price November 17, 2008
T. Stone (Madison, WI)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have had the Kodak Z1085IS for 3 months now and have been very satisfied with my choice. This camera replaced my walk-around film camera that I used for 20 years. I looked for small size, light weight, quality optics, and manual controls which this camera had. The automatic settings are reliable and easy to use so my other family members can pick it up and get great results.
There are more expensive brands but unless you need raw files, and lots of add-on accessories, stick with this camera for the money and enjoy the quality.
Make sure that you use only lithium batteries in this camera. Kodak states that on the battery cover, in the manual, and on the box but I constantly see people complaining about burning through tons of AA alkaline batteries or about how the camera keeps locking up. I get hundreds of shots on a Kodak rechargeable lithium battery or disposable lithium AA batteries. NiMH rechargeables WILL NOT WORK!
The high ISO feature is the only weak point. I does get you a photo in very low light but it gets you an ugly, icky blob of color photo (I'm only exaggerating a little). All of the small cameras that try this are in the same boat so Kodak isn't any worse than the competition. If you need really low light photography, get a full sized dSLR.
 Great pics for a great price. June 18, 2008
D. Bratcher (Clearwater, Fl United States)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
After reading several mixed reviews, I was a little reluctant about purchasing this camera. So far, I have been extremely impressed with it. Pictures come out great even in low lighting thanks to the strong flash and high ISO. The panorama stitch mode is a really cool feature. It works best with a tripod but even without one, it still works well. The macro mode has some issues focusing if you are too close but with 10 megapixels, you can just back away a few inches and crop the photo. For the price, you get great performance and a lot of great features (high ISO, HD video, 5x zoom, panorama, etc...) in a very easy to use camera. Highly recommended!
 A disappointment May 3, 2008
S. B. Colby (Fargo, ND USA)
10 out of 17 found this review helpful
I had high hopes for this camera, but I'm returning it. The camera locked for reasons that I cannot pin down: occasionally on startup, occasionally after taking a picture and infrequently for no apparent reason. My camera switched modes, perhaps based upon lighting levels, for example, from auto to a landscape mode, as I panned around a room. This did not really inspire much confidence in the camera, but I might have been willing to live with the very obvious quirks if the images had been good. Having said that...
The camera did a poor job of selecting the technical exposure factors, even with pretty easy shots. The still images that I took were blurry (even with very little subject motion) and noisey in almost every instance. The video mode was much better, but it was not enough to convince me to keep the camera.
I understand that this is a $200 camera, but mine performed more like a $50 camera. Color me disappointed.
Great Camera May 1, 2008
Kimberly A. Mundall (Phoenix, AZ)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I have the big brother (Z712 IS)to this camera and wanted something smaller that would be easier to carry around. My kids have one of the smaller versions of the kodak and I wasn't crazy about it. It was slow to start-up and the pics weren't very good. I deceided to give this camera a try and love it. The HD pics are crispy clear and it starts up very fast. The only problem I have found so far is the lense cover sometimes gets stuck and wont close. The battery has lasted a long time. I am very happy with it.
I love it! April 14, 2008
M. Reid (Louisville, KY)
28 out of 28 found this review helpful
This camera is a relatively new entry, so there are not many reviews out there. I bought it based largely upon the hype of it's low noise high ISO performance - and I'm glad I did. The camera's large sensor (.61") and superb image processor allow low-noise photos up to about ISO 1250. And the optical image stabilizer works very well in both single and continuous modes. Another selling point is the fact that you have three battery choices. A non-rechargeable CRV3 lithium, a rechargeable DLK-8000, or two non-rechargeable AA batteries. The camera comes with the CRV3 only (the reason I deducted one star). The CRV3 seems to last forever, but it ain't cheap. I picked up a Lenmar DLK-8000 and charger for $40 and will use the CRV3 as a backup. The menu system is so intuitive, I have yet to read the user guide. And for the first time ever I actually use the scene modes, since there are clear on-screen explanations of each icon's meaning and its function. Other things I love about this camera: face detection, very intuitive program and manual modes, automatic in camera red eye reduction, 720p HD video mode, wide screen capture mode, sound tag recording capability, in camera cropping and slide show/multimedia sideshow playback capability. All at a great price point. I love this camera. I think you will too.
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