Best Kodak Cameras of 2026

Some subjects simply don't come to you — a warbler in the hedge, a kid at the far end of a field, a singer at the back of a stage. The AZ528 is the camera in this group built for that gap: 52x optical zoom starting from a 24mm wide angle, so the same body covers the group shot and the bird. The reach is the entire argument for owning it.

What makes that reach usable is the pairing of optical image stabilization with a 6fps burst. At full zoom, small movements get magnified along with the subject, and our habit became simple: brace, half-press, then fire a short sequence and keep the sharpest frame on the 3-inch LCD. The 16MP backside-illuminated sensor holds color better than we expected in shaded daylight, and the wide end is genuinely wide rather than a token 28mm.

Built-in Wi-Fi is the convenience that separates it from the AZ425: photos go to a phone through Kodak's app without a cable or a card reader, and the phone can act as a remote viewfinder for a group shot you want to be in. One quirk to plan around — the app has no zoom control, so frame and zoom on the camera before you connect. It charges over USB with the supplied adapter and cable rather than on a separate dock.

The most important part of the WPZ2 isn't its sensor or its lens. It's a rubber gasket about the width of a fingernail, and everything the camera promises depends on it being clean and seated. The rating itself is serious for a camera with no housing: waterproof to 15m (49ft) for up to an hour, shockproof from 2m, and dustproof enough for a sandy trail.

In the water it behaves like a tool rather than a toy. The 4x optical zoom runs from 27mm to 108mm, there's a dedicated underwater scene mode, and 1080p video records swims and paddleboard wobbles without fuss. Wi-Fi means you can post from the beach instead of waiting to get home, and the yellow body is easy to spot in a bag full of towels. Stabilization is digital, so brace against something solid when you're zoomed in and treading water.

The maintenance ritual is short but not optional: inspect the gasket for grit or a nick, close and lock the battery door while everything is dry, and never open it underwater or while it's wet. After salt water or chlorine, rinse the body in clean water and let it dry before opening anything. It takes thirty seconds and it's the difference between a second season and a dead camera.

Two small things we noted for the first trip. The battery needs at least four hours before its first use, so charge it the day before rather than in the car. And condensation can form on the lens and screen when you walk from air-conditioned air into Florida humidity — give the camera a few minutes in a bag to acclimatize before you start shooting.

The AZ425 makes no apology for being a bridge camera: a grip that fills your hand, a barrel that stays out once you've zoomed, and 15.67 ounces that pull on a neck strap. We kept picking it up anyway, because 42x optical zoom backed by optical stabilization is the closest thing here to pointing a telescope at something and getting a photo out of it.

The extra reach sits on a 20MP backside-illuminated sensor rather than the 16MP unit used elsewhere in the range, and the difference shows in how far you can crop a frame before it falls apart. Full manual control is available alongside program, aperture-priority, and shutter-priority modes, a 7fps burst helps with anything that moves, and the rechargeable pack is rated for roughly 240 shots per charge — enough for a long morning without a spare.

At full reach the camera needs light and a still subject. Stabilization steadies your hands, not the heron, so expect to shoot a short burst and pick the keeper, and expect a beat of focus hunting when you're aiming through reeds. It costs about the same as the AZ528 here, and the choice between them is simple: the AZ528 gives you more reach and Wi-Fi, the AZ425 gives you more pixels per frame.

Four AA cells is the whole idea behind the AZ255, and it's a better idea than it sounds. A bridge camera that dies at a campsite or in a rental car with one USB port is a paperweight; this one takes cells from a gas station, a hotel front desk, or the bottom of your own bag. Kodak even includes four alkalines to get you started.

The lens runs 25x from a 24mm wide angle to a 600mm equivalent, with optical stabilization to keep the long end usable, and the 16MP backside-illuminated sensor produces the bright, slightly punchy color these cameras are known for. The 3-inch, 460,000-dot screen is the best we've used on a Kodak at this level, and the mode dial covers program, aperture, shutter, and manual if you want to grow into it. The 360-degree panorama mode is a genuinely fun afternoon.

It's the least expensive bridge in this group, and the compromise is weight and power rather than reach: 16 ounces won't go in a pocket, and alkalines are a stopgap. Feed it rechargeable AAs and a spare set, and you have the most forgiving travel camera here — one that keeps working on the third day of a road trip when everything else is hunting for a socket.

The screen flips up through 180 degrees so it faces you, and that one hinge rewrites how the camera gets used. Hand it to a group and everyone can see themselves before the shutter goes; prop it on a table and it becomes a self-timer camera that actually frames correctly. In a range where nearly every other model has a fixed LCD, it's the feature that makes the C1 feel designed for a purpose.

The rest of the camera is deliberately simple. A 13MP backside-illuminated sensor sits behind a 26mm fixed-focus f/2.0 lens — no optical zoom at all, only 4x digital, so you compose with your feet. That f/2.0 aperture helps indoors more than the sensor size suggests, but the 1/3-inch chip is small, and dim rooms are where the images start to look processed. The 4.05-ounce body in its brown retro finish is the one people comment on.

Where it earns its place is convenience per dollar. The battery is built in and charges over USB-C, the same cable as most phones, and there's no lens cap or protruding barrel to lose or snap off. It's the cheapest camera here and it shoots like one in low light — but as a selfie and group camera that lives in a purse, it's the one most likely to come home with photos on it.

A roll of film commits you to thirty-six decisions and then a wait. That's either the appeal or the dealbreaker, and the EC35 is the cheapest honest way to find out which. It's a reusable 35mm body with a 25mm wide-angle focus-free lens, a built-in flash, and a sliding cover that protects the lens in a bag — no settings, no menus, no battery-sapping screen.

We like the slide cover more than we expected. It's the difference between a camera you can throw in a tote with keys and one that needs a case, and on a camera this cheap the lens is the part you can't fix. The focus-free lens also means what it says: this isn't a close-up camera. It's happiest at street and group distances, where a wide angle and a flash do most of the work and depth of field covers the rest of your mistakes.

The purchase is small and the running cost isn't. Film and an AA battery are not included, so budget for both plus developing and scanning, which is where the real money goes and where most people decide whether film is for them. What you get back is the look — soft grain, flash-lit skin, colors that read as memory rather than data — and a camera that fits in four and a half inches of bag.