The price of digital SLR cameras (dSLRs) continues to fall, but Kodak reckons there's still a niche for a semi-pro compact. The EasyShare P880 can be used as a point-and-shoot camera or switched to semi-auto or manual modes.
A Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon zoom lens offers a 24mm wide-angle, quite a bit wider than you normally see in this class of camera. The 5.8x optical zoom and manual focus adjustments are controlled using rings around the lens column, which are easier to use than a wide-angle / telephoto toggle.
There are lots of different exposure modes in the EasyShare P880, so you can choose everything from full auto, through aperture and shutter priorities, to full manual control, with AE bracketing thrown in, too.
For the first time, Kodak has decided to include RAW support within the camera, so if you want to develop your post-processing skills you can do so here. You'll need an SD or MMC card memory to supplement the 32MB of internal storage, as RAW images from its 8-megapixel sensor take nearly 14MB each.
In use the EasyShare P880 produced generally well-balanced images, though there was some fringing. Shot-to-shot times are below average, too, particularly if you shoot in RAW or TIFF. True, this is an 8-megapixel sensor, but convenience of use is still important.
Ergonomically, the EasyShare P880 isn't great. The right-hand grip is too close to the lens barrel for most people's fingers and there's no convenient space to rest your right-hand thumb. There's a total of 15 buttons dotted around the back and top panels, as well as a mode selector dial, a four-way jog-dial and a three-way power switch; photo, off, replay.
While most of these single-function buttons, like the one to switch between the electronic viewfinder and the large, 65mm LCD display, are welcome, they do make the learning curve steeper. Balanced against this, the wide range of controls gives you plenty of scope for setting the EasyShare P880 up exactly as you want it. It has a Program button, too, to which you can assign a set of user parameters.
The EasyShare part of the camera's name shows it's compatible with Kodak's printer port plus series 3, a thermal dye printer which can produce 15 x 10cm (6 x 4-inch) prints directly from the camera. The adapter plate is supplied with the camera and, when clipped onto the top of the printer, enables you to plug the EasyShare P880 in directly and use its monitor screen to select and perform simple edits on your images, before printing them.
