Kodak claims its new Easyshare P712 superzoom digital camera can capture pictures faster than the blink of an eye.

According to the company, its 7.1megapixel camera has a ‘click to capture’ rate of 0.07 seconds.

Shutter lag – the time it takes between depressing the shutter and the photo actually being taken – can be a problem with compact digital cameras (and camera phones).

Kodak says the P712’s speed eliminates this, so that you can take the picture you saw through the viewfinder, rather than what was happening a split second later.

The £350 camera also boasts a 12x zoom (36mm-432mm in old money), pushing it into the superzoom class, and has an image stabiliser to steady shots taken in low light or at high magnification.

As part of the Easyshare range, photos can be emailed from the camera using the Share button or loaded up to Kodak’s Easyshare online gallery. Also unusual for such cameras is its support for the Raw picture format, which is typically the choice of professional and serious amateur photographers.

We are a bit worried by one claim though. This camera, says the PR blurb, helps photographers capture images of “children on the playground”. That sort of behaviour is likely to get you arrested.