Skip to main content
  • Physical Tour

  • Components

  • Design / Layout

  • Modes

  • Control Options

  • Image Parameters

  • Connectivity / Extras

  • Conclusion

  • Specs

  • Physical Tour
  • Components
  • Design / Layout
  • Modes
  • Control Options
  • Image Parameters
  • Connectivity / Extras
  • Conclusion
  • Specs

Physical Tour

Front**

When viewing the Kodak EasyShare Z7590 from the front, the right-hand grip protrudes on the left side and the lens protrudes an equal distance on the right side. The grip has a rubber panel with a vertical groove about the width of a finger. Above the rubber panel is the jog dial, which has notches that can be easily turned with the index finger while in shooting position. In the valley between the grip and the lens is the microphone, which looks like two holes. The right side is made up mostly of the Schneider-Kreuznach 10x optical zoom lens. The lens extends outward in one segment. Above the lens are two LED lights, each on one side of the metering mechanism of the camera; these are on a raised section of the camera that will slope into the top of the camera, where the flash is housed. On the slope, but visible from the front, is the brand name, "Kodak."


**

Back**

The back of the Z7590 is reminiscent of Kodak EasyShare digital cameras. The 2.2-inch LCD screen on the left is surrounded by a black border with the Kodak brand name printed on the bottom in white lettering. Below the brand name is the camera name: "EasyShare Z7590." Directly above the LCD screen is the electronic viewfinder, surrounded by a rectangular soft plastic eyepiece for added comfort during shooting. To the left of the viewfinder is a single polished silver circular button labeled "EVF/LCD." This button switches the display from the viewfinder to the LCD screen, as both cannot be viewed simultaneously. To the right of the viewfinder is the power button, labeled "On/Off." On the far right side is the small zoom switch that slides horizontally. To the right of the LCD screen are several more controls. At the top is a button labeled with an "I"; this is for image information such as shutter speed and aperture and such. Below the Info button is the Kodak trademark Share button, highlighted with a red surface. Below that button is a large mode dial with an almost overwhelming number of icons and letters, each symbolizing a shooting mode. Most of them are intuitive; for example, a green camera with the word Auto beneath it represents the automatic mode. Below this dial are three buttons, each self-labeled: Delete, Menu, and Review. The back panel of the camera has five dots in the top right where the thumb would naturally rest while shooting. These dots act as a grip for the user.

Left Side

The left side of the camera is covered by rubber port doors. A middle panel has the words "10x Optical Zoom." The port door below the panel houses the DC-in, AV-out, and USB jacks. The door is labeled and has a raised lip at the bottom for easy opening. Above the panel is another rubber door, with a raised section at the top for easy access. This door covers the jack to the accessory flash. At the top right of this side is a polished silver-colored loop to attach the neck strap.


Right Side

The right hand grip takes up a large portion of this side, although there is a plastic door that opens to expose the slot for the optional SD/MMC memory card. Above the door is the second silver-colored loop for neck strap attachment.


Top

On the left side of the top is a rectangular raised section. On the back side of the section is the viewfinder and on the front side is the camera’s metering sensor and LED lights. On the top of this raised section is a square hatch for the pop-up flash that is manually opened. To the right of this section is the large right-hand grip. Next to the raised rectangle are four buttons. Three oval-shaped buttons are aligned horizontally. From the left, these buttons operate flash controls, focus modes, and burst settings. Above them is the button to open the flash, which must be slid to the right. To the right of these buttons is the built-in speaker, which looks like a bunch of dots shaped into a circle. Above the speaker are the words "5.0 Megapixels," followed by the shutter release button at the top of the right-hand grip. The top of the right-hand grip has a brushed aluminum panel that looks lighter than the rest of the black camera body. The panel surrounds all of the buttons and provides some aesthetic interest.

**

**

Components

Viewfinder

The electronic viewfinder is surrounded by a soft plastic eyepiece, which adds some comfort while shooting. A small button labeled "EVF/LCD" is located on the left side of this feature; this is used to switch the display from the LCD screen to the viewfinder. Also on the left side of the viewfinder is a small diopter adjustment; users will have to jam their fingernails in the side of the viewfinder to use this, but the option is rare on compact digital cameras. The viewfinder uses less battery power and has better resolution with 311,000 pixels. The shade of the eyepiece may be handy for shooting in bright light outdoors.

LCD Screen

On the back of the Kodak EasyShare Z7590, a 2.2-inch LCD screen displays histograms and captured images, as well as doubling as a viewfinder. The screen boasts 153,000 pixels.

Flash

The Z7590 has a built-in flash with four modes: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Fill, and Off. This flash reaches from 2-16.1 feet and also has a flash exposure compensation mode that can be adjusted from +/- 1 in ½ steps. This camera also has a flash sync connection, the first Z-series camera to do so.

Zoom Lens

The Kodak EasyShare Z7590 has a 10x optical zoom Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon lens that measures from 6.32-63.2mm. In 35mm format, this is equivalent to a 38-380mm lens. At the rim of the lens is a step-up ring, so optional conversion lenses can be fit onto it. The lens has an aperture range from f/2.-f/8. As with other SLR-shaped Kodak cameras, the Z7590 has a lens cap that tethers to the neck strap or side of the camera. If 10x optical zoom is not enough, Kodak threw in an additional 3x digital zoom.

Design / Layout

**
**

Model Design/ Appearance

This camera looks almost identical to its sister series camera, the DX7590. The design is reminiscent of an SLR with a larger right-hand grip and an electronic viewfinder. This model is black and has panels of plastic and rubber around its housing. Although it is SLR-shaped, the Kodak EasyShare Z7590 is still compact enough at 3.9 x 3.2 x 3.2 inches to hold with one hand. With the black finish and polished silver highlights around the lens, this model has an attractive look. It doesn’t have the sleek out-on-the-town look that slim cameras achieve, but it has a subtler look of professionalism.

Size/ Portability

This EasyShare model is not marketed to be a compact camera, although it is quite compact for its SLR-like shape. It weighs 12.3 ounces without the battery or SD card, so a camera bag and neck strap may make prolonged shooting more comfortable. The Z7590 has loops on both sides of the camera to string a neck strap into. The camera body has square-like measurements at 3.9 x 3.2 x 3.2 inches. The Kodak Z7590 would be bulky for a pocket, but could easily fit into a purse or handbag.

Handling Ability

As stated before, the EasyShare Z7590 is slightly bulky, but handling shouldn’t be awkward. Users can hold on to it with one hand, but will want to use two hands for more stable shooting. The right-hand grip and rear thumb grip make handling while shooting much more comfortable for this size of camera.

Control Button/ Dial Positioning/ Size

The Kodak EasyShare Z7590 has the same layout as its sister series model, the DX7590. The mode dial seems oversized — which isn’t a bad thing - and the power button and zoom switch undersized, but the rest of the control buttons seem to be sized just right. Everything is spaced properly and placed intuitively.

Menu

When the designated Menu button is pressed, a list of options appears that can be scrolled through with the toggle in the center of the mode dial. The menu options remain the same throughout all of the menus: Self-Timer, Picture Size, Compression, White Balance, Exposure Metering, Focus Zone, AF Control, Color, Sharpness, Set to Default, Album, Image Storage, and Setup Menu. The other manual controls, such as aperture and shutter speed, can be found and selected on the LCD screen.

Ease of Use

As the EasyShare name implies, Kodak digital cameras are simple to use. For those accustomed to the layout of EasyShare cameras, the layout of this model won’t be a surprise. The Kodak Z7590 is easy to navigate with the toggle located in the center of the mode dial. The toggle is a bit small, but still easy to use. Perhaps the only downside is finding the manual controls. They are not in the Menu like most cameras, but are found with the photo info and the toggle.

Modes

Auto Mode

The Kodak EasyShare Z7590 has a fully automatic mode located on the mode dial. A green camera with the word Auto under it indicates its location. There are several semi-automatic modes located on this same dial. The Programmed AE mode is labeled "P" and grants the user freedom to change the default settings. There are aperture and shutter priority modes to help ease budding photographers into more manual adjustments. There are also 16 preset scene modes. When users scroll through the scene options, they get a real-time display; lighting and exposure settings change instantly from scene to scene, so users can make a more informed decision about which one they want to use.

Movie Mode

The Z7590 has a mediocre MPEG-4 movie mode located on the main mode dial. It does have two resolution sizes: full VGA at 640 x 480 or QVGA at 320 x 240. However, the full resolution only captures 12 frames a second and the smaller size captures 20 frames per second. Audio can be recorded and there is in-camera playback, but the slow frame rate is hard to look past.

Drive/ Burst Mode

The Kodak Z7590 has new continuous shooting modes, including first and last burst modes. The first burst mode records 2 frames a second up to 5 images. The last burst mode shoots at the same rate, but can take up to 30 frames, however, it only saves the last 4 images taken. When the burst mode is not engaged, the camera takes a leisurely 1.6 seconds between shots.

Playback Mode

When still images are reviewed in single frames, they are automatically rotated to their proper orientation. Photos can also be viewed in a slide show or the multi-up thumbnail mode. Images can be protected and stored in albums or the Favorites folder. When images are viewed individually, histograms accompany them with the file information. Movies can also be played back with audio.

Custom Image Presets

The Kodak Z7590 has a total of 16 scene modes. Two of them, the sports and portrait modes, are located directly on the main mode dial. The remaining 14 are located within the "SCN" position on the dial. The following scene modes are available: Landscape, Closeup, Night Portrait, Night Landscape, Snow, Beach, Text, Fireworks, Flower, Manner/Museum, Self-Portrait, Party, Children, and Backlight. As users scroll through these presets, they get a live image of the lighting and exposure settings. This feature lets users preview settings before they even capture a picture.

Control Options

**Manual Control Options
**In the fully manual mode, users can adjust shutter speed and aperture, as well as the exposure compensation, bracketing, and other options located within the normal menu. To adjust these settings, users must be in the manual mode on the dial, and use the toggle to select and scroll through aperture, shutter speed, and ISO options.

**Focus
**Auto
The Z7590 auto focus is measured through the lens and offers three modes: Continuous, Single and Accessory AF. This digital camera can focus in the center or in multiple zones. The left, center, or right zone can be selected as the point of focus. In macro mode, the Z7590 can focus as close as 4.7 inches; in normal mode, it can focus as close as 2 feet.

Manual**
**There is no manual focus mode on the Kodak EasyShare Z7590.

Exposure

Exposure compensation can be adjusted from +/- 2 in 1/3 steps. This is a standard range for many digital cameras.

White Balance

The EasyShare Z7590 has white balance options of Auto, Daylight, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Open Shade. Unfortunately, this camera does not have a manual white balance option.

**ISO
**In the automatic mode, the camera selects ISO speeds between 80 and 160. The range is much wider when manually adjusted. The following ISO selections are available: 80, 100, 200, 400, and 800.

Shutter Speed

The automatic shutter speeds shootfrom 1/8-1/1700th of a second, while the manual speeds range from 6-1/1000th of a second.

Aperture

The Schneider-Kreuznach 10x optical zoom lens offers aperture from f/2.8-f/8 in its wide setting and f/3.7-f/8 in the telephoto mode.

Image Parameters

Picture Quality/ Size Options

This camera offers five different still image sizes in two compression settings: 2576 x 1932, 2576 x 1716 (3:2), 2304 x 1728, 2048 x 1536, and 1552 x 1164. All still images are recorded in JPEG format and can be compressed at Standard or Fine mode.

Picture Effects Mode

Besides the sharpness adjustment, there are three color options on the Z7590: Color, Black and White, and Sepia. Color and Sharpness are the two picture effects available on the EasyShare Z7590.

Connectivity / Extras

Connectivity
*Software — *The Kodak EasyShare Software comes with this model.

*Jacks, Ports, Plugs — *A USB and A/V out cable can connect directly to the camera, although the Z7590 can fit into the Kodak EasyShare Printer Dock Series 3. Perhaps one of the Kodak Z7590’s defining features is its 26-pin USB connector, which enables the digital camera to be ImageLink compatible. This camera also has a flash sync connection, which is the first model to offer this in the Z-series.

**

*Direct Print Options — *What would a Kodak be without direct printing options? As all other EasyShare digital cameras, the Z7590 is PictBridge compatible. This model is also ImageLink compatible. The Share button on the back makes printing simple. This camera works with the optional Kodak EasyShare printer dock series 3 and EasyShare camera dock series 3.

**

Memory

This camera has 32 MB of internal memory, which can be used for its in-camera Favorites folder. There is also a slot for Secure Digital or MultiMediaCards.

Other Features
*Self-Timer — *The only self-timing setting available on this model waits 10 seconds before capturing the exposure.

Conclusion

**
**

**Conclusion
**The Kodak EasyShare Z7590 is very similar to the DX7590, but has a 26-pin connector to the USB cradle, which makes it both ImageLink and PictBridge compatible. Besides the extra flexibility, the Z7590 adds a live histogram feature in shooting and can recall the histograms in playback mode. With 5 megapixels on the 1/2.5-inch CCD and a Kodak Color Science Chip to boot, the Kodak Z7590 has plenty of resolution to produce clear and colorful prints. The black SLR-shaped digital camera has polished silver highlights around the Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 10x optical zoom lens. With plenty of automatic scene modes, the semi-automatic priority modes, and the manual mode, this model offers versatility for the beginning shooter to blossom into an experienced photographer.

Specs

** Specs Table
**{{manufacturer_specs_table}}{{raw_scores_table}}

Meet the tester

Emily Raymond

Emily Raymond

Editor

Emily Raymond is a valued contributor to the Reviewed.com family of sites.

See all of Emily Raymond's reviews

Checking our work.

Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.

Shoot us an email

Up next