Kodak Z650 Optics

Zoom
A 10x optical zoom range, with good performance.

The EasyShare Z650 zooms over the equivalent of a 38-380mm range, a little spare on the wide-angle end, but plenty long at full telephoto. The 5x digital zoom takes it out to 50x total, albeit with the loss of quality that digital zoom creates.

Macro
A small macro area with good detail and high resolution. Flash can't see over the long zoom, though, so plan on using external flash for macro shots.

The EasyShare Z650's macro setting performs well, capturing a small minimum area of 1.76 x 1.32 inches (45 x 34 millimeters). Detail is strong and resolution high, with only a moderate amount of softening in the corners from the lens. (Most cameras have some softening in the corners in macro mode.) The flash casts a shadow of the zoom lens at close focus, however: Plan on using external lighting for your closest macro shots with the Z650.

Distortion
Lower than average barrel distortion at wide angle, no distortion at all at telephoto.

Distortion 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 Z650's 0.57% barrel distortion at wide angle is lower than average. At the telephoto end, the Z650 shows no measurable distortion at all. All in all, much lower distortion than we're accustomed to seeing in digital camera lenses, particularly long-zoom models.

Chromatic aberration
Moderate to high chromatic aberration.

The Kodak Z650's chromatic aberration is moderate at wide angle and high at telephoto focal lengths, showing about 6-8 bright pixels of coloration. (This distortion is visible as a colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.)

Corner Sharpness
Better than average corner sharpness. Lower right corner was soft at telephoto, but rapidly improved away from the extreme edges.

Corner sharpness with the Kodak Z650 was generally pretty good. At telephoto focal lengths, the lower right corner of our test sample became rather soft, but the softness didn't extend too far into the image. Other corners looked better, and all corners were quite sharp at wide angle.

Coverage
Electronic viewfinder and LCD monitor (which it replicates) are both very accurate.

The Z650's EVF and LCD both showed essentially 100% frame accuracy.