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Kodak PixPro WPZ2: One-minute review
The Kodak PixPro WPZ2 is a budget waterproof camera aimed squarely at adventurers who want to take their photography somewhere a smartphone or regular point-and-shoot can’t follow.
It costs a fraction of what you’d pay for a premium rugged compact like the OM System Tough TG-7, and the trade-offs are exactly what you’d expect at this price: a fairly basic feature set, modest image quality and 1080p/30fps video recording that feels pretty old-school in 2026. But after spending some time with it at my local beach, I found plenty to like.
For one, it certainly looks the part. The WPZ2’s yellow-and-black color scheme, chunky G-Shock-esque lens barrel and prominent rivet-like screws on the front give it an appropriately ruggedized aesthetic. It’s also smaller than it looks, and I managed to squeeze it into my jeans pocket, protruding lens barrel and all.
Build quality feels solid, and the double-locking battery and card compartment is a reassuring design choice that should prevent any accidental pop-opens while you’re underwater. I tested it in saltwater rock pools and have no reason to doubt Kodak’s 15m waterproofing claim. There was no lens fogging when transitioning between underwater and above-water shooting, either. One note of caution: the front element doesn’t appear to be noticeably hydrophobic, so water droplets will cling on after submersion. My advice? Pack a microfiber cloth or two.
There are some usability niggles, though. The rear screen is small and dim – even at maximum brightness I found it difficult to gauge exposure or compose shots with any confidence. The zoom rocker requires a very firm press to register, which is understandable given the waterproofing demands, but isn’t much fun with wet hands. And getting a microSD card in and out of its deeply-recessed slot in the battery chamber is really fiddly, to the extent anyone with larger fingers is going to struggle.
Image quality is in line with what the specs would lead you to expect: JPEGs that lack saturation, contrast and dynamic range, with some over-sharpening and noticeable corner softness. That said, the macro mode produced some impressively sharp results in my testing, with good central detail and pleasing colors.
The 4x optical zoom is a useful range to have, but engage the digital zoom beyond the optical and quality falls straight off a cliff. Low-light shooting is another weak point, though the built-in flash does keep the camera functional after dark.
Video maxes out at 1080p/30fps, which feels like a big limitation in this day and age. My underwater rock pool footage looked fine for casual use, but above-water clips suffered from the same flatness and over-processing that characterizes the still shots.
Battery life is one of the more pleasant surprises. The CIPA-rated 200 shots held up well in real-world use, and USB-C recharging felt reassuringly quick. For a day’s casual shooting, you’re unlikely to run dry.
Oh, and a small bonus if you’re a music fan: the five-note power-on chime is an uncanny dead ringer for the opening of Prince’s “Diamonds and Pearls.” Not a reason to buy, obviously, but I enjoyed it every single time.
The WPZ2 certainly won’t trouble the OM System TG-7 or Ricoh WG-8 in a straight image quality fight. But as an affordable way to get a camera into the water without worrying too much about the consequences, it fits the brief well.
Kodak PixPro WPZ2: Price and availability
- Priced at around $189 / ÂŁ149 / AU$279
- Available in three color finishes
The Kodak PixPro WPZ2 is available now, priced at $189 / ÂŁ149 / AU$279, though you may find it slightly cheaper (or pricier) depending on where and when you look. It comes in three colorways (yellow, red and blue) and is widely available through major retailers including Amazon, Best Buy and B&H Photo in the US, and their international equivalents.
As well as the camera and a single battery, the box includes a wrist strap and USB-A to USB-C charging cable. Note that a microSD card is not included, and with only 8MB of space on the camera’s internal memory, you’ll need one.
At this price it sits well below the premium rugged compact options on the market. The OM System Tough TG-7 commands around $400, so the WPZ2 undercuts it by a significant margin. The more relevant question is whether you’d be better served by choosing a similarly-priced action camera instead — and that probably depends on whether you’re primarily shooting photos or video.
Kodak PixPro WPZ2: specs
|
Type: |
Compact camera |
|
Sensor: |
16.35MP 1/2.3-inch BSI CMOS |
|
Lens: |
4x optical zoom, 27–108mm, f/2–f/6.6 |
|
Video: |
Up to 1080p/30fps |
|
Screen: |
2.7-inch LCD |
|
Waterproofing: |
IP67 rating (up to 15m/49ft) |
|
Shockproofing |
Up to 2m/6ft drop distance |
|
Storage |
8MB internal + microSD card slot (up to 32GB) |
|
Dimensions: |
103.2 x 66.7 x 52.4mm / 4.06 x 2.62 x 2.06in |
|
Weight: |
176g / 6.21oz |
Kodak PixPro WPZ2: design
- IP67-rated rugged build
- 176g weight and pocketable size
Pick up the WPZ2 and the first thing that strikes you is how proudly it wears its ruggedness on its sleeve. Where most compact cameras at least try to look sleek, this one leans into the industrial; the visible screws on the faceplate, the thick black grip and the chunky lens housing all read less “camera” and more “piece of heavy equipment.”
The Caterpillar digger-style yellow-and-black colorway I tested reinforces that impression, but red and blue options are available if you’d prefer something that looks a little less like it came straight off the construction site.
Despite its bulk-suggesting aesthetics, the WPZ2 is actually very small and manageable in the hand. It slipped into my jeans pocket without much protest, which is more than you’d expect from something that looks so burly. At 176g / 6.2oz it’s light enough that you’ll almost forget it’s there between shots, too.
The double-locking mechanism on the battery and card compartment is one of the smarter design decisions here. It takes a deliberate two-step action to open, which inspires confidence that it’s not going anywhere mid-dunk. Less impressive is the microSD slot itself, which sits so deep within that compartment that swapping cards becomes a two-handed exercise in patience. Larger fingers will find it particularly trying.
On the back, the controls are straightforward enough. This is very much a point-and-shoot in its operational philosophy, with no pretensions toward manual control complexity.
The main frustration is the rear LCD, which is both small and insufficiently bright; even cranked to maximum, it struggles in daylight conditions, making exposure assessment and framing more of an educated guess than a precise exercise. The zoom rocker, necessarily stiff to maintain its watertight seal, demands a firmer press than feels natural, which is something I noticed most acutely when my hands were wet.
Kodak PixPro WPZ2: Performance
- Camera performs best in good lighting
- No raw shooting option and video limited to 1080p
- 4x optical zoom
The WPZ2’s natural habitat is somewhere sunny, shallow and wet, and that’s precisely where it performs best. My rock pool testing on a bright day returned some pleasing results, particularly in macro mode, where the camera locked on with decent accuracy (if not much speed) and rendered the finer details of shells, barnacles and seaweed with more sharpness and color fidelity than I was expecting at this price point. Keep the light on your side and you’ll come away with shots you’re happy to share.
Step outside those ideal conditions, though, and the limitations become harder to overlook. The JPEGs have a processed, over-sharpened quality to them, and what the camera gains in apparent edge definition it loses in natural color rendition; images tend toward the flat and undersaturated rather than the vivid. Dynamic range is modest, so high-contrast scenes (bright sky against dark water, for instance) will test it. Corner sharpness drops off noticeably, too, which is worth bearing in mind if you’re framing wide shots.
The 4x optical zoom covers a useful range for a camera of this type, but treat the digital zoom as decorative – image quality deteriorates the moment you engage it, and by the time you reach the maximum combined 24x, you’re looking at something closer to an impressionist painting than a photograph.
Low-light shooting is perhaps the WPZ2’s most significant imaging weakness. Without a flash, the results are soft and noisy, and the camera gives you no shutter speed readout when shooting manually, which makes managing camera shake largely a matter of luck. The flash rescues things for indoor and after-dark shots, but don’t expect miracles.
Video maxes out at 1080p/30fps, a spec that would have felt reasonable a few years ago but stands out as a limitation today, when even mid-range smartphones routinely shoot 4K at 60fps. My underwater footage of the rock pools was perfectly watchable for casual use, but the above-water clips exhibited the same flatness and over-processing that characterises the stills. There’s no optical stabilization either, only digital, so handheld video isn’t particularly smooth.
Battery life is one of the more pleasant surprises. The CIPA-rated 200 shots held up well in real-world use, and USB-C charging felt reassuringly quick. For a day’s casual shooting, you’re unlikely to run dry.
Should you buy the Kodak PixPro WPZ2?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider
The TG-7 is the go-to waterproof compact for most people, and for good reason. It matches the WPZ2’s 15m waterproofing while adding dust, crush and freeze resistance, plus a 4K video capability and a wide range of shooting modes that make it a considerably more versatile tool. Image quality from its 12MP sensor can’t compete with a modern smartphone, but it outclasses the Kodak in virtually every other respect. You’ll pay roughly twice the price, but the step up in capability is commensurate.
Read our in-depth OM System Tough TG-7
If video is your priority, the Osmo Action 6 is the smarter buy over the WPZ2. Its 1/1.1-inch sensor delivers superb footage in both bright conditions and the kind of low-light environments where the WPZ2 struggles, and it goes deeper thanks to 20m waterproofing. Factor in 4K/120p video, dual OLED screens, strong battery life and an expanding modular accessory system, and you’re looking at a truly pro-capable action camera. It’s a step up in price, but a significant step up in performance.
Read our in-depth DJI Osmo Action 6 review
How I tested the Kodak PixPro WPZ2
- Test sample purchased from Amazon UK
- Tested in and outdoors on English coast
- All images and videos shot at highest quality settings
TechRadar purchased the Kodak PixPro WPZ2 from Amazon UK for my testing purposes.
I tested the camera over several days, using it primarily at a local beach where I shot stills and video in and around saltwater rock pools. This gave me a real-world sense of its waterproofing credentials, image quality in both macro and wider shooting scenarios, and general handling in wet conditions. I also tested it indoors and in lower-light situations to assess flash performance and the limits of its low-light capability.
All sample images and video were shot using the camera’s highest quality settings.
First reviewed June 2026
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