The Kodak EasyShare series is designed to deliver what it says on the packet; good quality images that can be quickly transferred and distributed to other media. The Z1285 continues in the same tradition, using a 12-megapixel sensor for high resolution images and prints up to 76 x 102cm.

Weighing 161g and contained within a compact but sturdy black and silver casing (89.5 x 64.5 x 31.6mm), the Z1285 uses a fast f/2.8-f/5.1, 35-175mm, wide-angle Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon lens with 5x optical zoom, 5x digital zoom and a manual zoom/focus ring.

Powered by two AA batteries, HD pictures can be captured in widescreen 16:9 as well as 4:3 and 3:2 formats. HD 30fps video can also be taken at 1280 x 720 resolution, as can VGA (640 x 480) and QVGA (320 x 240). Single frames can also be captured, tagged, stored as favourites and then sent as e-mails, while video bookmarking identifies key moments in your film.

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Operating the camera is comparatively simple. The main control wheel is on the top alongside the timer and flash buttons and on the back are the zoom, delete, display, menu, review and share buttons. The menu choice arrows are a little awkward to operate surrounding the action button, but you do have a crystal-clear, wide-angle, high resolution, 2.5-inch colour display. In review mode you can magnify images up to 8x, view multiple frames and fast scroll through your snaps.

Talking of modes, there are plenty to choose from, starting with the smart scene mode which automatically selects from nine available scene modes and, if it doesn't like any of them, will default to Auto. There are four Portrait modes, four Landscape modes, three Bright scene modes, three for Action, two for Close-Up and a Party mode. If that wasn't enough, you can also stitch three photos together to create a panorama.

A separate Program mode will set the optimal shutter speed and aperture combination for you, while Manual mode gives you some control over exposure compensation (± 2.0 EV), aperture, shutter speed, ISO equivalents (from Auto to 3200), auto focus, exposure metering and flash. White balance and colour modes can also be tweaked.

Kodak's new high speed Colour Science Image Processing chip certainly delivers rich and vibrant colours and for the price this is a very versatile camera. The only slight niggles are the restricted macro focusing distance (7.9 inches) and a rather sluggish drive unit.

A sturdy, user-friendly HD digital camera that offers a large range of scene modes and an easy method of sharing the captured images afterwards. Good value, though with a few control issues.