The camera itself is small and light enough to fit into a cargo pocket or to wear with a small belt pouch. It fits comfortably in your hands and all the controls are well placed. The LCD screen on the back is huge and is very bright and clear. It was one of the camera's strongest selling points.

The lens is excellent. The 4X zoom is a bit wider than most at the wide end and a bit longer than most on the tele end. It has a great range and really shines when used for portraits within the telephoto range. It is much better than the standard 3X zoom found on most cameras of this size and price. It was the deciding factor for me.

The 5 megapixel resolution is outstanding and it really shines when you want to crop or blow up just a portion of a picture.

The camera has numerous scene modes and a full range of auto exposure and manual controls. I suspect that most users, myself included, will just set it on Auto and forget it, but it is nice to know that more sophisticated options are available. All the other options are easily accessed through a very simple menu system that seems much easier to use than those on most other digital cameras. All buttons and controls are well placed and easy to use.

I especially appreciate the fake sound of a shutter clicking when you take a photo. I don't know how many times I've used friends cameras and couldn't figure out if I had taken a picture or not. The sound can be turned off if you don't like it, but I find it very helpful.

There is virtually no shutter lag. You take the picture the moment you press the shutter button. This was crucial for me. Most digital cameras have a slight lag and it can be maddening when it causes you to miss that perfect moment. I have a film camera that suffers from a slight lag and even after 7 years of use, I still find it annoying.

Battery life seems good but I will probably purchase an extra battery and keep a fully charged spare on hand. The external charger is very compact and it is a real advantage to be able to charge the battery outside of the camera.

The 32MB of internal memory is a bit more than most but you'll want to purchase an extra SD card. I bought a 256MB card and it is more than enough for me. Interestingly, Kodak notes in the documentation that the camera works best with regular SD cards, not the ultra fast ones, so save your money and buy just a standard card. The camera writes to the card almost instantaneously, so you will never lose a shot waiting for the camera.

The flash is quite good. Exposure and color are very accurate. There is no ugly blue cast and it does not overexpose like so many others do. Like most other small cameras with the flash near the lens, red eye can be a problem. It is no worse than any other camera and is easly corrected with almost any software.

The auto white balace works very well. I doubt that I will ever have to set it manually but you can if you need to.

The burst modes and auto bracketing are nice features but I probably won't need them all that much. Still, it is nice to have them when you need them.

The Easyshare software that comes with the camera is very good but not outstanding. It will do everything you need with ease but Mac users will probably prefer iPhoto or the $100 Photoshop Elements. Since I use the full version of Photoshop everyday, the software was not an issue for me.

The camera has a good movie mode but I really don't care about that at all, so it was not a factor in my decision. I have a Mini DV movie camera for when I want movies.

I strongly urge you to handle any camera you are considering. Go to a store and actually pick it up and use it. I have used Canon cameras for over 30 years and was all set to buy a Canon digital camera in this price range. It was an excellent camera but when I held it and used it, I realized it was not for me. I almost bought it sight unseen just because I have always gotten such good use out of my Canons. I would have been disappointed with it. I made sure to try out this Kodak Z730 before I ordered it. It suits me perfectly, but you may find something that bothers you. Try it before you buy it!

There are a few minor quibbles. For $300 it should come with a case. I did not like having to run out and spend another $10 just so I could take the camera with me. I've noticed that almost no other cameras in this price range come with a case, so I guess Kodak is not alone in this cost cutting.

I would have also appreciated an AC adapter to run it without batteries when it is attached to the computer, but I guess Kodak wants to sell those docks. Again, almost no other camera companies include this accessory anymore, so this should not be a deal breaker.

I'm one of the few people who still prefer to hold the camera up to my eye and use the optical viewfinder instead of the LCD. This camera has a good optical viewfinder and you can even set the diopter adjustment. I wish the optical viewfinder was a bit larger and had a bit more information in it but that would probably make this camera more costly. Since most people use the LCD screen to compose their photos, this is probably not an issue for most buyers.

In conclusion, this is a great camera for quick snapshots of friends and family. Use it for vacations, parties, candid photos and just about everything else. It is easy to use and gives excellent results. You can just set it and forget it or you can use its more advanced features to do more sophsticated photography. In the end, it is all about the pictures and with this camera, the pictures are beautiful. You will not find a better camera in this price range.

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