Is a Kodak Z612, 6 megapixel, 12x optical zoom, a good camera?

Hi Bridget,

The Z612 is yet another entry in a rapidly growing field of SLR-like consumer cameras with extremely long, stabilized zooms. By all accounts it's a fine camera, and most users seem to like it very well.

As to whether 6 megapixels is enough... the answer to that question really depends on what you want out of the camera. Above a certain point (a point somewhere around the 5 megapixel mark), tacking on more megapixels doesn't really matter in terms of how the image looks on your computer. Since most computers have a desktop resolution no higher than 1600x1200 pixels, the images produced by a 5 megapixel camera (2592x1944 pixels) are larger than any consumer monitor can actually display. In other words, they'll always have to be compressed to fit on your monitor. On the other hand, if you want to make large prints of your photographs, megapixels matter very much. The more megapixels, the larger and higher quality the prints you can make. A 6 megapixel camera makes very nice 10x6.5" prints at 300dpi, and you can stretch them another few inches without significant quality loss. This chart shows you what print size each megapixel level will achieve at 300dpi.

As I said, there are lots and lots of ultrazoom, image-stabilized cameras these days. You might want to check out similar offerings from Canon (S2 IS and S3 IS), Panasonic (FZ7), and Sony (H2 and H5) before you settle on the Kodak. Good luck!