Kodak EasyShare P880

Kodak EasyShare P880 front view

The EasyShare P880 was a high-end bridge digital camera from Kodak. It was announced August 2, 2005, within the Performance series. Its siblings are the P850 and the P712. The P880, however, possesses the largest optical sensor of all three models, with a size of 1/1.8 inches. Distinguishing features include a wide-angle coverage of 24 mm (35 mm equivalent), on screen histogram display, and manual focus-by-wire. In terms of the Kodak product line and price the Performance series are the most sophisticated EasyShare cameras, just below the considerably more expensive Kodak professional DCS pro SLR digital cameras that were discontinued in May 2005.

Specifications

• f/2.8-f/4.1 24 – 140 mm (35 mm equivalent) wide-angle to telephoto zoom lens
• 1/1.8-inch (7.18 x 5.32 mm) 8.3 MP 4:3 CCD sensor
• 640x480, 320x240 30fps QuickTime Movie video capture.
• Auto, Scene, Programmed Mode, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, Manual exposure - allows (B)ulb, Custom modes (stores 3 profiles)
• Manual zoom ring and optional use of manual focus ring (fly-by-wire). Autofocus uses hybrid phase detection system (sensors above the lens) for quick focus assist followed by contrast detection system (TTL) for fine focus. Phase detection system should be switched off in the menu when accessory lenses are mounted.
• 2.5-inch 480x240 (115k) pixel LCD panel
• EVF with 237k pixel
• Dioptre adjustment for EVF
• Built-in pop up electronic flash has a working range of up to 13 feet, with standard external hotshoe and PC-sync connector for studio strobes. Dedicated Kodak P20 hotshoe flash works with TTL exposure metering. External flash units should not exceed 500v contact requirement.
• Proprietary RAW file format - In-camera conversion to JPEG is possible or the .KDC can be converted with Kodak Easyshare software. The camera's RAW format was innovative for the time with an included preview JPEG.
• Histogram display with highlight and shadow clipping emphasis on Review
• Hybrid focusing system uses TTL-AF and external passive sensor, and for low light an AF assist light
• 52mm filter screw mount on the lens - use this for screw-on filters that will not vignette the 24mm wide angle view (not higher than 5mm). Also for single element macro close up filters. For mounting heavier add-on lenses like the Kodak Xenar 1.4x tele converter (Kodak #8756488), use the 55 mm adapter tube (Kodak #8480485) - this attaches to a thread hidden by a chromed ring around the lens. This adapter cannot be left on permanently because it will cut off the angle of view for most of the zoom range.
• Uses KLIC-5001 Kodak lithium-ion batteries (4-hour full charge with supplied external charger), also KLIC-5000 lower capacity ones.
• Dedicated buttons for Focus mode, digital zoom, ISO, white balance, flash, review mode. One custom button.
• Command wheel and set button supplements joystick pad for menu and settings.
• Firmware Update adds Hot pixel and Dead pixel re-calibration, improves focusing speed.
• Uses SD card for storage (maximum 2 Gb capacity)
• Drive modes include 10-second self-timer, 2-second delay (in the absence of remote shutter release), first burst, last burst, 3-shot exposure bracketing, 5-shot exposure bracketing, time lapse. There is no remote shutter release. Exposure bracketing cannot be used with self-timer modes.

User notes

Kodak P850 with zoom lens motion detail

• The P20 hotshoe accessory flash is fully automatic with the P880. The flash tilts and can be bounced off the ceiling with automatic exposure adjustment. The P880's flash and the P20 use a pre-flash before the main flash so the camera's autoexposure functions properly. The pre-flash to shutter delay is faster with the P20 which reduces the chance of subjects blinking. The P20 has a guide number of 24 to 40 depending on zoom level at ISO 100,^[1] much more powerful than the built in flash with a GN of 9 (ISO 100).^[2] It is the number one recommended add on for the P880 to extend its usability.
• Especially at the discounted prices many units sold at, the P880 has a desirable 24mm (35mm equivalent) wide end of the zoom range. Few compact cameras have this. An entry level DSLR with a third party lens capable of the same image quality at 24mm and above was two or three times the cost of the P880.
• The SD card file system is FAT16. 4 Gb capacity is not supported.
• Does not have remote control. However provides an additional 2 second delayed timed shutter release in addition to the 10 second self-timer.
• Not really compatible with the Olympus teleconverter model tcon-17 due to some vignetting, best to use Kodak's 1.4x teleconverter. Not compatible with any wide angle converters; really does not need it due to excellent 24mm wide angle lens.
• KDC is directly supported by
  • Kodak Easyshare software - comes with the camera
  • SilkyPix Developer Studio (Windows only)
  • Adobe Lightroom (Windows and Mac)^[3]
  • Picasa (Windows)
  • newer versions of Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements - there is an Adobe Camera Raw 3.6 plugin. (Windows and Mac)
  • Adobe DNG Converter (available for Windows and Mac) which implies that once the .DNG file is created, any program that can process .DNG files can be used.
  • Vuescan (Windows and Mac)
  • dcraw command line tool (Windows, Mac, Linux) The UFRaw plugin for The Gimp relies on dcraw.
  • IrfanView 3.98t - the interim-version 3.98t. (Windows)
  • graphic converter 5.9.3 (Mac - shareware)
  • XnView 1.90 Beta (Windows)
  • Helicon Filter (Windows)
  • RawTherapee (Windows)
  • RAW Photo Processor (Andrey Tverdokhleb) (Mac)
• Manual focus feature is hampered by relatively coarse resolution EVF and LCD screen.
• Visual estimation of contrasty outdoor scenes can be unreliable using the LCD screen. The LCD screen tends to show a pale, bright interpretation of the scene or the captured image. Either switch on the info for histogram and shadow/highlight clipping emphasis or use the EVF for better visual estimation.
• Continuous Auto Focus mode is quite noisy. Use the Single AF option.

References

1. "P20 manual".
2. "P880 manual".
3. Adobe Lightroom Presets

• Press release
• Model page
• Accessories page
• Kodak P880 online manual also available as downloadable pdf
• Optical sensor size from cnet

Reviews

• Digital Camera Resource Page, Jeff Keller
• Digital Camera Info, Emily Raymond
• The Imaging Resource, Shawn Barnett, 23 November 2005
• Megapixel.NET December 2005 Review
• Steve's Digicam, 12 January 2006
• Digital Photography, Simon Joinson, January 2006
• Popular Photography, Dan Richards, March 2006

Service and Support

• Kodak Interactive Troubleshooting and Repair

Related Information

• P880 wiki
• Camerapedia P880 entry