I purchased this digital camera around Christmas time. Up until that point, all my digital cameras were all HP. I always likes the ease of use with HP but this camera was on sale at Wal-Mart for such a great price, I decided to switch brands.

The Kodak Easy Share ZD710 has tons of features. Some of them I have never used. This camera offers digital image stabilization which in layman’s mean if you shake or the subject moves while taking the picture, the camera will compensate for that to give you clear pictures. Other features include 16 scenes/ 5 color modes, built in flash, digital view finder plus a 2″ screen for playback or live view, ISO up to 3200, and much more.

The camera has many features of a SLR with a much lower price. I paid $149.99 for the camera. Of course the main draw to this camera for me was the zoom lens. It has a 10X optical zoom and a 5X digital zoom and 7.1 MP. For those who know nothing about digital cameras, the optimal zoom is the real zoom that you can zoom in on a subject without affecting the quality or MP of the picture. The digital zoom also zooms in but the more digital zoom you use, the lower the quality or MP of the picture.

On top of this feature mentioned, this camera shoots clear perfect videos with ease. However, this is one of the drawbacks I found to the camera. The video is saved as .mov which is a Apple based file. In order to view the video on your computer, you have to download a special viewer. In order to send the video to other, you have to convert it which will mean purchasing additional software. You can upload directly to many video sharing sites like You Tube without any problems or additional software. The other drawback is that the software that comes with the camera is crap. I have not used it much because it not as good as my HP Image software or my Photo Shop Elements.

Besides the two drawbacks I mentioned, I love this camera. It is to date the best digital camera I have ever owned. I have tried many other cameras and the ease of use and the multiple features makes this the best digital camera under $500 that I have ever tried. I do not hesitate giving a 100% recommendation to anyone looking for an affordable digital camera that will do it all. To top it all off, I have taken about 30 videos and a countless number of pictures and I am still using the same Kodak CRV3 battery that came with the camera. I have never had another digital camera battery that lasted that long.

I think you will fall in love with picture taking by using this wonderful digital camera.