FEatures:- 5.0-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 13 x 17-inch prints
- 2.5-inch LCD display; wide-angle (23mm equivalent) to 5x optical zoom through two-lens construction
- VGA movie capture at 30 frames per second
- Panorama stitch mode, video print options, and on-camera picture-enhancing features
We have to tell you, wide-angle capabilities in a point-and-shoot digital camera are a revelation. Does this camera have that and more? Sure does. Dual lenses, so that it goes from a wide 23mm equivalent to a 117mm equivalent (6x zoom) without a protruding lens? Check. A large, beautiful LCD? Sure thing. An in-camera panoramic stitch that makes the most of both those features? Oh, yes.
The V570 is also incredibly compact. We carried it in a front pants pocket while traipsing around London, in a jacket pocket on the ski slopes, and in a cargo-pant pocket on mountain climbs. The V570 is very portable, and it's so inconspicuous in its small size that we felt secure with it in front pant pocket while strap-hanging on Mexico City public transportation.
And then there are the pictures. We love that the wide-angle setting allows us to fit so much into the picture. It also creates some interesting stretching effects in close-ups, as with the photo of cakes at left. In addition, color reproduction is stunning: Blue skies are faithfully rendered, bright colors remain bright even in low-light settings or flash photos, and contrast and tonal range are almost always as perfect as we could hope.
The in-camera panoramic stitch mode is also extremely easy, and it produces exquisite results. The only down side to this feature is that it severely limits your other photographic options--the two or three images that make up the panoramas are taken at 3.2-megapixel resolution, and the flash won't fire while you're in panoramic mode. However, we found the resolution to be sufficient in the end, and reserving panoramic use for well-lit scenarios did not prove such a hardship. (Make sure to check out other customers' photos, taken in a range of lighting situations, via the link above.)
Finally, the camera's video function performs admirably. A friend used his V570 to film a football team taking the field, and both image and sound were top notch. And the large, bright 2.5-inch LCD does its duty well as a photo and video viewer. Separate buttons allow you to zoom in on sections of a photo and navigate within one picture or all the pictures on your card. (Photos can also be viewed in a multi-up mode, which displays nine at a time, or in a slideshow that can be shown on the screen or on your television.)
This is not to say that the camera doesn't have a few imperfections. It must be docked for charging the battery or downloading images. In photos, bright lights are occasionally surrounded by a purple fringe. The "power" and "scene mode" buttons are on the small side, and there's no way to prevent the camera from displaying just-taken images for five seconds after the shot (though you can take another photo immediately by pressing the shutter-release button twice).
These are small gripes about an otherwise stellar camera, though. We've found the V570 to be the best combination of unique features, impressive styling, and overall user-friendliness of any cameras currently available, and we cannot recommend it enough.--Sarah Sternau
Order it here >> Kodak EasyShare V570 5MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom
TAGS: Camera, Camera World, Camera Trick, Digital Camera
