Looking to ditch your smartphone and get a camera that takes retro-style photos? You need one of the best cheap cameras. I’ve been testing the Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 which is a compact and portable camera, and using it is easy as pie.
This camera costs just $99 and it delivers good, detailed stills with its 16MP sensor. Photos taken in bright conditions turn out great, and as a simple point and shoot camera, it’s very easy to get to grips with. However, it uses disposable batteries, has poor battery life and its low-light performance is subpar.
For the complete breakdown, read my full Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 review.
Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 review: Specs
Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 review: Cheat sheet
- What is it? A compact digital camera with a 16MP sensor
- Who is it for? For people looking for a cheap camera that takes decent photos
- How much does it cost? The Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 is available for $99 / £99
- What do we like? It’s cheap and easy to use, takes good photos, and it’s very portable
- What don’t we like? It uses disposable batteries, low-light performance isn’t great and neither is battery life
Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 review: Price & availability
The Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 has a retail price of $99 at Amazon U.S. / £99 at Amazon U.K. and we’ve seen it drop to $87 at Amazon U.S. too. It’s one of the cheapest compact cameras in the market today, facing close competition from the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W800 which costs around $100.
Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 review: Design & build quality
The Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 is a small camera, measuring just 3.66 x 2.37 x 1.12 inches and weighing 4.1oz, which means it’s easy to carry in a pocket and hold in one hand. It looks a little stylish too, with a glossy shiny front. The camera is available in cherry red, white and black. I tested the cherry red variant which looks great. It’s built well too, made of hard plastic which feels durable.
On the camera’s underside, you’ll find the compartment that houses two AA batteries and the SD card slot. You’ll need an SD/SDHC/SDXC card to store your media on as the camera’s internal storage is limited to just 63MB — that’s still more than the pricier Kodak PIXPRO WPZ2’s ($179) 8MB storage.
Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 review: Controls
Like most compact cameras that are point-and-shoot, the Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 has a very straightforward control scheme so it shouldn’t take you too long to get to grips with it. The top plate houses the shutter button, the record and power buttons and all give good tactile feedback when pressed.
The other controls sit next to the LCD screen on the back, namely the zoom in and out buttons, playback button, the navigation wheel which doubles as display, macro, flash and delete buttons, and the mode button which lets you swap between manual, auto panorama, face beautifier, and program AE modes. The user interface is great too and you’ll have no trouble getting to grips with the icons on the display.
Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 review: Lens & viewfinder
The Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 is fitted with a 27-108mm lens (35mm film equivalent) with two focusing ranges: 60cm-∞ for wide-angle shots and 100cm-∞ for telephoto shots. You get a 4x optical zoom and a 6x digital zoom, and a combined 24x zoom. Just like other compact cameras, the PIXPRO FZ45 doesn’t have a viewfinder which means you’ll need to rely on the LCD screen to frame your shots. The camera is fitted with a 2.7-inch LCD screen with 230,000 pixels, which is okay to frame shots but not high enough resolution to play them back in decent detail.
The PIXPRO FZ45 has an f/3 aperture for wide shots and f/6.6 aperture for tele shots. This is decent for low-light situations, as you’ll soon see.
Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 review: Image quality
The Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 utilizes a 16.35MP 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor which is the same size as the pricier PIXPRO WPZ2’s. While the photos aren’t as sharp as those taken on modern cameras, the image quality is still good enough and has a retro touch. You can see a few examples above. I love the photo of the birds flying as the silhouettes of the birds have turned out quite sharp. I also really like the reflection of the buildings in the first photo. The photo has a lot of contrast, but I like it that way.
The PIXPRO FZ45’s autofocus isn’t as advanced as that of the best mirrorless cameras, and it struggled a little to keep up with the swans swimming in the River Avon in Bath, U.K. You can see an example above, where the swan’s head is a little blurred but nothing too major.
I love how the PIXPRO FZ45 faithfully reproduces colors too, as you can see in the photo of the ivy leaves above. The greens are bright and their shadows have been captured well. You can also see the veins on individual leaves clearly.
The PIXPRO FZ45 has a 4x optical zoom and a 6x digital zoom which gives you a combined 24x zoom. If you use the 24x zoom, you’ll lose finer details, as can be seen in the gallery above. The first photo was shot at 1x, the second at 4x and the third at 24x. The last image isn’t usable and suffers heavily from blur due to camera shake. The camera features digital image stabilization to help reduce camera shake but it isn’t enough to counteract blur at the highest zoom. Check out our optical versus digital zoom guide to find out more about different zoom types.
Low-light performance is a hit-or-miss with its f/3 aperture. While the first photo above is fine with some noise, the second isn’t great at all. The camera struggled to focus on the monstera leaf which is why the photo is blurry and out of focus. The PIXPRO WPZ2’s wider f/2 maximum aperture performs slightly better, but not by miles.
Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 review: Battery life
The Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 uses two disposable AA batteries which you should be able to find at a local store — and chances are you’ll have them lying around your house too. These cause more waste than a single rechargeable battery which isn’t great for the environment, so I would have preferred a reusable battery and USB charging port. You could use rechargeable AAs though, if this is important to you.
Kodak states that two batteries should last you approximately 120 shots or an hour of 1080P/30fps video. In my testing, I was able to squeeze 105 shots out of the batteries before the camera died. This is merely acceptable and I would have wanted more. For context, the PIXPRO WPZ2 lasted 189 shots.
Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 review: Verdict
For under $100, the Kodak PIXPRO FZ45 is a great camera that takes detailed stills in bright conditions. It’s very portable so it could be a good travel companion, and it’s extremely easy to use, perfect for even those who aren’t well-versed with the semantics of photography.
But the low price means some corners have been cut. Low-light performance isn’t great and neither is the battery life, and it uses disposable batteries which aren’t good for the environment.
Overall, the PIXPRO FZ45 is a good camera — as long as you don’t mind making a few sacrifices.
