If it was not for a few innovative ultra-zoom cameras, such as the Panasonic Lumix TZ1, the Kodak Easyshare Z650 would be among the smallest. Except for a few buttons which can be accidentally pressed, the Z650's body is well-designed and very easy to hold. Unfortunately, the Z650 lacks stabilization which undermines the selling point of having a 10X optical zoom lens. Image quality is rather good for small prints except under fluorescent lighting and at the extremes of its zoom lens, with chromatic aberrations near wide angle and vignetting near telephoto.

Compared to competing digital cameras, the Z650 has a hard time standing out. There are a number of models with superior image quality, most of which have great ergonomics and stabilization. This is necessary to take advantage of the long zoom and to keep using lower ISO settings to maximize image detail and minimize noise. For a small ultra-zoom camera, the Panasonic Lumix TZ1 is quite good an significantly more compact. Better ultra-zoom cameras include the 5 Megapixels Fuji Finepix S5200, which has high-ISO capabilities to compensate nicely for its lack of stabilization, the now-discontinued Konica-Minolta Dimage Z5 and the more expensive Panasonic Lumic DMC-FZ5.