Kodak C875 Optics

Zoom
A nice 5x optical zoom range, with very good performance. Digital zoom is also well done.

The Kodak EasyShare C875's 5x optical zoom lens covers the equivalent of a 37-185mm range, which is quite generous among consumer digital cameras. Results at wide angle were good, with minimal coma distortion and blurring in the corners. The 5x digital zoom performed surprisingly well, though the image size is limited to 1,024 x 768 pixels, which helps reduce the loss of detail and resolution here.

Macro
A slightly large macro area, though with excellent detail and high resolution. Flash exposure was very uneven up close.

The Kodak EasyShare C875's macro setting performed well, though it captured a slightly large minimum area of 3.50 x 2.63 inches (89 x 67 millimeters). Detail and resolution were both excellent, however, with only a small amount of softening in the corners from the lens. (Most cameras have some softening in the corners in macro mode.) The flash produced a very uneven exposure here, partially blocked by the lens with a strong overexposure in the top of the frame. Plan on using external lighting for your closest macro shots with the C875.

Distortion
High barrel distortion, and moderately high pincushion as well.

This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel -- usually at wide angle) or inward (like a pincushion -- usually at telephoto). The Kodak EasyShare C875's 0.9% barrel distortion at wide angle is slightly higher average among the cameras we've tested, and noticeable in its images. At the telephoto end, the C875's pincushion distortion was also on the high side, at 0.3%.

Chromatic aberration
Moderate though somewhat bright at wide angle, noticeable in a few shots.

Chromatic aberration is low pixel-wise at wide angle, showing about 3-4 pixels of coloration on either side of the target lines, though the pixels themselves are quite bright. At telephoto, the pixel count is higher (about 6-7 pixels), but the effect is not as bright. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.)

Corner Sharpness
Some softening in the corners of the frame at wide angle, with the strongest effect at telephoto.

The Kodak EasyShare C875 produced slightly soft corners in a few shots, with the most noticeable effect at full telephoto. At wide angle, corners were only slightly soft compared to the center of the frame, and mainly on the right side. At telephoto however, stronger blurring appeared in all four corners.

Coverage
Very good accuracy with the LCD monitor.

The Kodak EasyShare C875's LCD monitor produced good results here, with about 100% accuracy at both zoom settings. Good results overall.