P880 User Impressions

The P880 is not your average point and shoot camera. I was looking for a bridge camera that above all would take terrific photos. So you know where I come from, I generally use 35mm rangefinders including Contax G2, Voitlanger Bessa with fixed lenses. I also use a Mamiya 7 (6x7). These cameras and lens combinations are some of the best that exist on the planet and people squabble about the details of each.

I am being particular because I have read every review on just about every camera that I could find. Panasonics and Leica are noisy because of the sensor, but have terrific ergonomics and user friendliness. Nikon does not make a bridge camera anymore, but I do own the 5700 but I don������t like the soft images and purple fringing (CA). Canon does not have a small camera that allows for imaging to be saved other than that of a jpeg. And Canon������s A series is the only ones that have manual controls. I tried the Fuji E900 but it does some strange things like saves all jpegs to a huge size at 72DPI. Very odd in-deed, it also suffers from a lot purple fringing to the point of it being excessively distracting. Sony when you compare side by side with other cameras, you will see it has softness, color rendition and white balance being problems. Use your eyes when you evaluate, just don������t read the reviews blindly.

So every manufacturer has a camera that is good at some things, not so good at others. There is no perfect camera. For me I wanted manual controls, the ability to manipulate the photo and yes the auto-mode when I need it. I also wanted desperately a wide angle camera. Until I discovered the P880, the Panasonic, Fuji E900, Fuji 9100 and Canon are the only players really under 35mm wide.

I studied the test photos in side by side comparisons at digital imaging resources page extensively and quite frankly this P880 bests so many cameras in so many ways including the Canon Rebel. Don������t believe me, just go to http://www.imaging-resource.com/ and use their comparison photos. The way people rate the cameras is unbelievable when you study the side by side comparisons, you will see the crisp accurate color of the Kodak without being washed out and minimal purple fringing, where as the Canon softens the photo so much that color of people look plastic and the fine details are obscured. Yet the Canon gets an excellent image quality rating ������ I don������t get it.

The P880 is very accurate, very clear and performs very well. You can shoot raw and see how amazing your photos can be. Yes it takes time to save a raw photo, the file is big it takes time to write it to the card. A medium resolution jpeg is tiny and much faster. So if speed wins over image quality then this is not your camera. The camera by the way is not all that slow so don������t let this criticism scare you off. Reviewers are obligated to find fault. When the camera processes the photo for you between each shot, it does a very nice job. Image quality is the name of the game here with this camera. The RAW files demonstrate virtually no noise, so you pixel peepers can run you Photoshop navigator up to 300% and be just blown away on how well this camera performs.

Just for the satisfaction of other readers, the E900 when things were enlarged looked like an artist who placed little dots together it becomes very smudgy. The image was sharp for the most part when viewed from afar, so as long as you don������t enlarge the size too much it does have nice detail. But just about everything that has a fine edge, also has a purple cast. White snow on mountain tops in the morning took on a pinkish cast. It also had trouble with metering in tough situations of light and shadow. The old Nikon 5700 was much better then the new Fuji.

I used the Canon A700is (I thought I wanted a pocket camera) this thing is horrible for a quality photo. Great for a point and shoot when you don������t really care all that much about color or clarity. The Canon at least did not have purple casting. Photos with this were bland and soft. I thought it was just me, but after using the compare tool at imaging resource, I knew I was vindicated. The reviews of Canon products just might be driven other interests when you really study image quality.

Finally the wide angle of the P880 is such a winner. I don������t really care all that much about zoom. I care about the wide angle and this camera delivers. No its not as sharp as the Contax 21 mm wide or the Voitlanger 15mm wide but is great for what it is and much better than I have seen on any other consumer digi-cam.

The p880 is awkward in size but amazing in features and image quality, you should not feel that you wasted your money on this camera even if it is a year old in technology.

The kicker here is, I bought this camera from Ritz in Thousand Oaks about a week ago for 299.00 and that my friends is the camera bargain of year. Hooper������s Camera in Los Angeles also has it for the same price, I have used the store in Chatsworth which has some very helpful sales staff. I did not buy the camera from them because they close at 6:00 pm, too early for me to get there when I wanted to buy it. It������s a plug for them because they were very helpful and patient.

That being said no camera outlet had sales staff that knew much about Kodak P880. Don������t go into your local camera shop and expect them to talk intelligently about it. If your looking at a Nikon or Canon, they may be able to help, but on Kodak, your on your own. All sales staff would generally try to push me into a Nikon or Canon, and definitely into the DSLR, which I don������t want, too big and bulky.

The Kodak does delivers on image quality and that for the semi-pro art photographer is where you should spend your time and money. A camera is a photographic tool, when you learn how to use it, you can produce amazing results. This camera offers so much to the user, that it is by far the best bridge camera.