Kodak’s newest 5 mega-pixel P850 digital camera is feature packed. Straight out of the box, it resembles an SLR only smaller and lighter while still maintaining balance and stability in the photographer’s hands.

The outer case is a hard plastic with a rubber ring around the lens and a steel ring at the tip. There is a 2.5 inch LCD screen at the back as well as the option for a clear EVF for the traditionalist and about a dozen buttons scattered across the back and top all for operating the key functions of the camera, saving the photographer the time of navigating through a menu.

Kodak has chosen to use the same lens maker, Schneider-Kreuznach, as the lens used on the more advanced P880, but with a different zoom range. The P850 is equipped with a whopping 12x optical 36 – 432mm (35mm equivalent) zoom which will get you nice and close to sporting events from the boundary line – or just give you a great deal of zoom length for getting in close on the kids playing in the yard. At 432mm, the image stabilization worked very well and is a handy addition.

The ‘Program’ option is easily altered and with three extra alternatives for ‘Custom’ settings there will be enough flexibility in this camera for even a pro to have a bit of fun with.

There is a wide number or ISO settings, 10 to be exact ranging between 50 and 400 ISO – the setting are Auto 50, 64, 80, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320 and 400. The on camera flash is also flexible with 1/3 stop adjustments plus exposure altering in 1/3 stops too. A nice touch on this camera is a ‘hot shoe’ with the option to add a high powered flash unit or the ability to sync the camera in a studio environment.

The Kodak P850 has 5 variations to shoot digital images including the setting 3:2 (for traditional 6x4 / 8x12 inch sized images) at a 4.5 mega-pixel resolution.

Image capture is quite good for this range, especially at the lower ISO ratings. Although like many of the P850’s competition it too has grainy images at 400 ISO – that are still useable.

For those looking to extract a little extra detail from each image Kodak have included the file options ‘Tif’ and ‘Raw’ as alternatives to the standard ‘Jpg’ format. It’s worth noting, that as the files are bigger in Tif and Raw mode (capturing more detail in each shot), the file writing time is increased slowing the camera’s ability to snap photographs quickly in succession.

Finally, Kodak’s has pretty much nailed every focus option for photographers across the globe… incorporating no less than 28 focus settings. There are 25 ‘focus point’ options and a further 3 additional ‘general focus’ options to keep everyone happy – and most importantly your images sharp!

The Kodak P850 is a great addition to the ‘EasyShare’ P-Series and worthy of your consideration when next shopping for a 5 mega-pixel dSLR like camera.