Labs

The Z700 found it very difficult to compete in this company. Not only is it the least compact of the eight cameras on test here, it's also the heaviest at 266g (with the two AA cells installed). Also, it doesn't come with rechargeable batteries, and the casing is made of cheap-feeling plastic.

It's also disappointing that, although the rear panel would happily house a 2.5in LCD, there's only a 1.6in display and it's the lowest resolution here. It's reasonable outdoors, but is no match for the Olympus, Sony or Casio.

At least this camera is simple to use. The SLR-style design, with a rubber grip at the front, means you can just about use it one-handed. Menus are basic but easy to navigate, and modes are generally selected via the main dial on top. There are three assist modes and 13 scene presets including children, night portrait and museum. Flick to the PAS mode and you gain access (surprisingly)

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to aperture- and shutter-priority modes.

Continuous shooting captures six frames in two seconds, while a Last-5 mode lets you keep the shutter pressed and only release once you've captured the moment. Manual white balance is missing, as is flash power control and a focus-assist lamp.

Start-up time is relatively poor at 3.4 seconds, and the 4-megapixel CCD put the Kodak at a disadvantage in this Labs. However, the Z700 has one trick up its sleeve: a 5x optical zoom lens. This makes up for the bulk, but, then again, Pentax's Optio SV manages to pack a 5x optical zoom into a body half the depth of the Z700.

When it came to image quality, things didn't improve. Our outdoor shots showed muted colours that bordered on unrealistic, and our portrait shots were noticeably overexposed. Detail capture wasn't great for a 4-megapixel camera, and this was evident in the indoor shot as well.

The Kodak lens did produce sharp photos in bright light, but it wasn't so great indoors, with more noise than we'd have liked. Thankfully, the auto white balance did a good job of making colours accurate. Don't consider the Kodak if you want to take macro shots: it only managed to shoot an area of 76 x 57mm, and shots had plenty of barrel distortion. You can shoot VGA movies with the Z700, but they're limited to a very poor 13fps.

If you need more than a 3x optical zoom, the smaller Pentax is a better choice. Even if you can find it cheaper, the Kodak simply isn't a great digital camera.