Kodak Pixpro AZ401 - Review 2022

A 40x zoom lens for just $169.99 is an enticing prospect, and 1 that will draw budget-minded photographers to the Kodak Pixpro AZ401. But the camera itself captures disappointing images—bated from the zoom capability, a skillful smartphone delivers crisper shots, and shaky image stabilization makes it hard to frame shots when zoomed all the way in. If yous're in the market for this type of photographic camera, do yourself a favor and spend a fleck more than on something better. The Canon SX530 HS ($379.99) is more expensive, only delivers much better image and video quality, and the convenience of in-camera Wi-Fi. If y'all're on a budget, forgo the ultra-zoom for something more reasonable, like the 10x Canon Elph 190 IS, which sells for well-nigh $160.

Pattern

The AZ401, available in a scarlet or black finish, is, as yous'd expect for the price, mostly plastic. Simply information technology does have a metal ring around the lens. The body measures 3.2 by iv.5 past 3.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 15.iv ounces. It's definitely non pocketable, just it can fit in a small purse with ease. There's a congenital-in wink, but no accessory shoe.

The marquee feature is the 40x zoom lens. It covers a 24mm (full-frame equivalent) angle at its widest—making it more versatile than models that get-go at 28mm. The maximum zoom is 960mm, allowing y'all to lock on to distant subjects. But the AZ401'southward stabilization isn't as good as another ultra-zoom models, so you lot'll take to exist very careful and still in club to hold your framing when working at the most extreme zoom level. To get an idea of the range of coverage, take a expect at the wide shot above and the zoomed-in shot below, both taken from the same position.

Despite existence priced for entry-level photographers, the AZ401 has a proficient amount of manual control capability. You tin can, of course, leave it in total automatic mode and permit the photographic camera determine which settings to utilize. Just if you want to delve into more than advanced waters, at that place's a Manner punch on peak, forth with Drive and EV adjustment buttons, the shutter release, zoom rocker, and On/Off switch.

Rear buttons include Display Info, Menu, Play, Record, and Set. There's besides a 4-way control pad to adjust the focus fashion, enable macro shooting, adjust flash settings, and set the self-timer. More advanced settings, including the metering design and continuous focus manner, are accessible via the on-screen menu. The 3-inch LCD doesn't support touch input, but is decently crisp at 460k dots. It tin be viewed clearly from an beveled angle, and I had no problems using information technology outdoors on a bright 24-hour interval.

The camera doesn't support Wi-Fi, and so at that place's no easy mode to transfer photos and videos to your smartphone. It has a single memory card slot that works with SD and SDHC cards upward to 32GB in capacity. There are two connection ports—micro USB for data transfer and micro HDMI to connect direct to an HDTV.

The AZ401 is powered by four AA batteries. Casual users who don't desire to worry about keeping a bombardment charged will appreciate this, though battery life is frustratingly short. Kodak states that you'll get 280 shots per CIPA standards, just I went through a set of alkaline cells after merely 60 pictures and a few short video clips.

Performance and Image Quality

The AZ401 is boring. You can turn it on and fire off a shot in about 3 seconds, just your image will be out of focus. Waiting for the camera to acquire an initial focus lock extends start-upwardly time to an average of 4.ix seconds. In that location'southward a continuous bulldoze mode available that shoots at 3fps, simply image resolution drops to 4MP when it's enabled. If you effort to shoot total-resolution images in rapid succession in single drive manner, expect to wait about one.9 seconds between each shot.

The autofocus system is simplistic. Past default it locks on to a center target but, but you can adjust information technology to look across the image frame for focus, or to identify and track moving subjects. In lab testing, the camera requires virtually 0.iii-2nd to lock onto a subject and capture an image. In the field, I found the focus system to be frustratingly inconsistent. I missed several shots due to the focus system missing its target. In one sequence, I simply could not get it to lock on to a very patient sandpiper, sitting perfectly withal on a railing. I used the center betoken only setting and put the target straight on the bird, just the photographic camera consistently focused on the green leaf, well behind the intended discipline.

I used Imatest to check the sharpness of the AZ401's lens. Information technology notched one,805 lines per moving picture height on the standard center-weighted evaluation. That'due south merely above the 1,800 line cutoff for an acceptably precipitous paradigm. The Canon SX530 HS does a chip amend, scoring 2,071 lines on the same examination.

I didn't accept enough space to examination the camera's lens when fully zoomed, just did run tests at effectually 5.5x (130mm), where it's a little softer at 1,774 lines, and at most 10x (240mm), where it notches 1,954 lines.

The lens delivers pretty solid results, only the 16MP CCD epitome sensor suffers in moderate to dim light. The lens is decently bright at its widest setting, f/3, just the aperture narrows to f/6.8 when zoomed all the mode in. That means you'll finish upwardly using higher ISO settings—a measure out of how sensitive the sensor is to incoming light—when not shooting under brilliant sunlight.

The AZ401 curbs dissonance through ISO 1600, keeping information technology under i.5 pct, but does so at the cost of epitome particular. In reality, you lot get crisp results at the lowest ISO 80 setting through about ISO 200. At ISO 400 we see serious blur introduced, killing fine detail. It increases at ISO 800 and 1600. The camera tin also shoot at ISO 3200, just image resolution drops to 4MP and detail is nonexistent.

The CCD sensor certainly comes into play hither. Modern smartphone and pricier indicate-and-shoots use CMOS sensor technology, which is better in dim light. The SX530, a CMOS camera, delivers more usable results through ISO 800.

The use of CCD tech also limits video quality to 720p. The overall quality is not great, as you tin see from a short exam clip. The camera has a difficult time maintaining focus (though that won't be the case for every scene), quality is mostly soft, and in that location are occasional odd flashes of colour. Audio quality is solid, except when you lot conform the zoom as the sound of the lens moving in and out overwhelms the audio track.

Conclusions

The Kodak Pixpro AZ401 is a siren, luring you into shore with a low price and intense zoom range. Merely don't be fooled past its song. Epitome quality isn't nifty, and while it offers a lot of zoom ability, you'll find it very hard to frame shots at 40x given and then-so quality of the AZ401's prototype stabilization system. If you lot want a long lens compact, the Canon SX530 HS is a solid option, albeit one that'due south more expensive. In the budget realm, take a look at Canon'south Elph 190 IS, which sells for a little bit less than the AZ401, and still has an ample 10x zoom. Our Editors' Choice superzoom is a pricier model, the Canon PowerShot SX60 HS, but offers much, much better performance than the AZ401.