Hi,

You might remember my inquiry, "An opinion needed, please."

I asked, "What do you think of the Kodak Z1015 IS camera"?

Well, I bought it, got delivery and it seems to be everything i expected. 

It's very light and easy to handle.  The hardest part of the setup was threading the camera strap onto the body.  LOL

The door for the battery and SDHC memory device is a little different from what I have seen on most other digital cameras ... it doesn't latch automatically when you close that cover -- but that's not a really big issue. 

I purchased 2 additional KLIC-8000 batteries and external charger for about $40.

I purchased 2 16GBy SDHC memory devices and an SDHC reader for about $65. 

I also got a camcorder case that holds the entire setup for about $12. 

Please don't ask me about the Kodak EasyShare software because I hope to avoid installing it.  [grin]

Still images are quite good.  The 15X zoom is pretty handy, too.  Not sure yet if the macro format will do what I want ... needs some study. 

The camera will shoot in RAW mode ... it creates a .KDC file in that case. 

Too bad that my copy of Adobe Photoshop 7.0 doesn't recognize that file format.  Does anyone have a suggestion for reading that format in Photoshop 7.0? 

The camera will shoot video in 1280X720 (720P) HQ; 640X480 HQ; or 320X240 and creates an .MOV file -- too bad QuickTime Player doesn't seem to like to play the 720P format for me.  Any suggestions?

That's all for now. 

--Martin

Martin,

Photoshop 7 doesn't support the Kodak .KDC raw format.  You would need to upgrade to either Photoshop CS3 or Photoshop Elements 5,6, or 7, which all use the Camera Raw 4.6 plugin that adds support  for your Kodak Z1015.

Link to Camera Raw 4.6 information:
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb402444&sliceId=1#Full-List

An alternative solution might be the free application IrFranView
http://www.irfanview.com/

Hope this helps!

Joe

I found Image Converter Plus.  I think it will convert a .KDC to .RAW
... but will Photoshop 7.0 be able to handle the results? ... we'll see. 

--Martin

I am glad to here your report on this camera so far.  Please let us know how it pans out with more use.  Thanks.       Tom.

Martin,

FYI: Looks like there was a firmware upgrade to (1.03) released for the Z1015IS back in October:

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/downloads/dln_ekn035873.jhtml?downloadStep=s2&selectedDownload=dln00217&operatingSystem=windows_vista&selectedLanguage=en&downloadLanguage=en

Thanks for the heads up on the firmware upgrade. 

The camera is already at firmware level 1.03

--Martin

I am stil working to resolve video playback issues ... as well as converting Kodak raw fomat (.KDC) to something that Photoshop 7.0 will read and process.

The cucusoft avi-pro_r41214.exe free test version will convert the QuickTime file (.MOV) to a DVD that is playable on a PC or DVD player ... it is very odd that on one DVD player, no audio was heard.  cucusoft support now has that question.  I'll let you know about their answer.

--Martin

Attached Link: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1011

You should checkout the Kodak forum over at DPReview....lots of Z1015IS owners there, who might be able to help out with your video issues.

Thanks ... I will after I get back from my shift. 

--Martin

very good call on the Kodak forums in dpreview.com ... thanks. 

I found a message thread that originated in October(!) that notes the same issue I am having ... Z1015 IS Choppy Video Questions.  Later today, I will download vlc and test that playback software. 

The Kodak forum on dpreview.com also covered another of my questions ... After shooting an HD video with the Z1015, I hope to playback the video onto a TV monitor (yes, it will need to be at least 720p) ... a Kodak 'tech' claimed that the Kodak HDTV dock would work with the Z1015 ... however, I read a message thread, Kodak tech support useless, that the HDTV dock will not work with the Z1015. 

--Martin