 An Excellent Camera |
| Review Date: February 12, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Jeffrey Picard, Wisconsin |
I was feeling a bit lazy and wasn't going to post a review of this camera, however, after reading a few of the other reviews I felt I had to put in my two cents.
First off, a little history. I searched for weeks and weeks to find a nice compact camera to replace my aging Canon S30. I was looking for something very compact in the 5 to 6 megapixel range. I finally settled on the Casio S500. After using the camera for a few weeks I returned it (see my review for my thoughts on that camera). I started searching again and found the pre-release information on the Kodak V570. I was quite interested so I checked out the V570's predecessor the V550. I found this camera to be quite nice and liked it enough assume that the V570 would be a good camera. I've had the V570 now for about two weeks and I must say that I'm quite pleased. Is it the perfect camera? No, of course not, but it is a camera that will meet most of your needs and do it in style.
Following is a list of what I consider to be the camera's pros and cons. I'll address a few of the other reviewers' opinions also.
PROS:
-Large bright LCD screen. The LCD on the V570 is quite bright and very large. The viewing angle on it is quite wide meaning that you can view the LCD from above, below, left, right or straight on and it will not wash out or go substantially dark. This was something that caused me to pass on a few Panasonic models. The LCD is NOT grainy except in very low-light conditions and this is normal with ALL cameras of this genre. The LCD is, after all, only a viewfinder!
-Nice, well designed controls. The Zoom button is NOT hard to use for anyone with normal sized hands. If you have very large hands then possibly it could be a problem, however, most compact point and shoot cameras would have the same problem. Personally, I find the zoom button and all the other buttons to be well placed and easy to use. The menu system is simple to navigate and is NOT slow. It's quite responsive, in fact. I do wish the camera would automatically save your custom settings on power down but I understand why it doesn't. I think there's an easy way to save your settings but I haven't explored that aspect yet.
-23mm wide angle lens. This is the camera's single best feature. I love to use wide angle lenses. They make pictures more dynamic and allow a much greater range of creativity than normal lenses. I do have one word of caution regarding the zoom on the V570. Go into the setup menu and disable the digital zoom. By default the V570 uses digital zoom to bridge the gap between the 23mm lens and the normal zoom lens. Digital zooms are bad! Optical zooms are good! Digital zooms simply crop in on the digital image and enlarge it to fill the same space as the original. As you would expect this destroys image quality. This is not a problem unique to Kodak so don't berate them for it. All camera and camcorder makers use digital zoom as a marketing gimmick. With the digital zoom disabled the camera will indeed "skip" from ultra-wide to normal range. I didn't consider this "strange" in any way. There is an expected amount of pincushion distortion when using the 23mm lens but it's not excessive or distracting. One additional feature when using the 23mm lens that I really find amazing is the camera's ability to take multiple image panoramas and actually stitch them IN the camera. I've played with this a bit and after only three tries I started getting quite nice results with this. The panorama feature isn't one of the things that really figured into my purchase of this camera but it is one of the things that made me say to myself, "very cool", when playing with it.
-Image quality. One of the biggest problems I had with the Casio S500 was image quality. Specifically, the Casio simply couldn't focus reliably in low light and the images were very noisy. The Kodak V570, on the other hand, nails focus each time and the images are high quality. Obviously, when shooting at high ISO settings image quality does go down but is still quite nice.
-Video mode. Most digital point and shoot cameras have a video mode nowadays. This is an awesome feature that might allow you to leave your camcorder at home on occasion. The video quality is excellent and is actually higher resolution than your standard television. You can hear the zoom if you use it when recording, however, most cameras don't allow you to use the zoom at all when in video mode so just accept it. Remember, this isn't designed as a primary video device but as a still camera with the ability to take videos. When you need the best video you can get pull out the camcorder. When you want an occasional video and don't have the camcorder with you...hey!!!...pull out the V570 and record away.
-Internal zoom mechanism. Most point-and-shoot cameras on the market have an external zoom lens mechanism. What I mean by this is that the lens extends out of the camera an inch or more. The V570 has an internal mechanism. What this means to me is that I don't have to worry about mashing the extended lens into something and potentially breaking it. I recall that with the Casio S500 that I had for a bit the owner's manual actually mentions several times to be very careful not to bump the lens into anything. No worries with the Kodak.
-Appearance. I really like the V570's looks. The design is a bit Art Deco. This is, of course, a very subjective thing but I find it attractive.
-Battery life. While not the best camera in regards to battery life, the V570 does just fine. The reviews I read state a life of around 170 pictures and from personal experience this seems accurate. This is an improvement over the V550. While some cameras can do better let's all be realistic here, 170 pictures in a day of shooting for the average amateur is a lot. If this isn't enough simply have an extra battery on hand. After all, Kodak has some of the lowest prices for extra batteries of anyone.
CONS:
-The flash is a bit on the weak side. The Kodak is a bit wimpy here but when you're within range the exposure is very accurate even when using for extreme close-ups. I actually took some close-up photos from a distance of about 2 inches and the flash exposure was right on. I was actually so close that the flash only covered the left side of the picture.
-The SD card door is indeed very poorly designed. I can see that if you intend on removing the SD card a lot you might eventually damage this. I initially planned on transferring images to my computer by pulling the SD card and using a card-reader but I've found that using the camera's dock is just as easy. I'm surprised that Kodak's engineers left this design flaw intact. Do yourself a favor and buy a 1 gig SD card and just leave it in the camera. Use the dock to transfer images and you shouldn't have a problem.
A FEW CLOSING THOUGHTS: I just wanted to address a few things about some of the other reviews I've read here. First off, there is nothing gimmicky about this camera and just exactly how is this a "bait and switch"? Second, this camera doesn't do RAW because it's designed for amateurs and is a point-and-shoot camera. The average person doesn't even know what a RAW format is or what to do with it. Get real people. If I need to shoot in RAW format I'll grab my Canon 5D. When I want to take a small camera out for vacation or just day to day family pictures I'll take the V570 and leave the heavy hardware at home. Third, every single camera I've ever owned or looked at has at least one feature that I would think of as a "design flaw". Whether that feature is enough to keep me away from it is another matter. To say that this camera is a "typical poor American design" is simply rude and inaccurate. My goodness, I almost laughed when I read the comments about not knowing what side was up when pulling the camera out of your pocket. My God man, OPEN YOUR EYES. OK, now that I got that off my chest I can relax. This is a solid camera that I think most people would be happy with.
UPDATE: I just felt the need to update this review to address the comments made by "AJM". Now, I have no problem if people take issue with an item. If the product is poorly designed or doesn't function properly. My problem lies with people that simply make stuff up. When "AJM" says "when you eject the memory card, it will spring and fly across the room" I tend to get a bit angry. This is WRONG. I took my V570 and no matter what I did I couldn't get the card to "spring" more than half way out of the camera. To remove the card you simply depress it with your fingertip and it is spring loaded to pop up enough to remove it. It will not come flying out of the camera. It's obvious that AJM has never owned the camera and is probably just a plant for Canon. As for me, I'm a professional photographer in Wisconsin. I shoot on some pretty high-end equipment for work but when I'm out and about on personal trips I leave the big stuff at home and take a point and shoot. I have no allegiance to any specific brand of camera. In fact, I own both Canon and Kodak point and shoots and have done quite a bit of work on Nikon, Canon and Minolta Pro products too. There are a whole bunch of nice cameras out there. All I want to do is to present a fair review. |
Great new dual-lens digital camera
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| Review Date: February 1, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Bomojaz, South Central PA, USA |
Getting the fullest picture possible has sometimes been a problem with single-lens digital cameras, especially in close-ups. This new dual-lens concept, which combines a 23 mm ultra wide-angle lens with a 39-117 mm optical zoom lens, tackles that problem head on. Getting everybody in the picture on that group shot is a sure thing with the 5 megapixal V570.
Another great feature is the in-camera panorama stitching that allows you to create a wide-angle 180-degree picture with just three shots (and an easy to use zoom button on the back of the camera). This is a great feature when taking pictures of rooms in a house, for example, where very simply you can get half the room in a single image - very impressive.
The high resolution LCD screen produces clear, sharp images; the color quality is excellent. Also helpful is the picture blur alert and distortion correction feature inside the camera that reduces poor-quality pictures. The camera also has 32 MB of internal memory and can play video and photo sideshows on the LCD screen, though I haven't done any video yet. Of course, in terms of editing, organizing, and printing pictures, the V570 can do what any top-notch single lens can do. Also the sleek black camera body is very classy, and it's no heavier or wider than a single lens.
One fault is the need to use a dock (which is included) to hook up the camera to a computer with the USB cable. It's not that much of a big deal, but is another space-wasting piece of equipment and can get in the way in a cramped workspace (like mine).
It looks to me like this is only the beginning of what's to come regarding dual-lens camera technology, so some might want to wait for what's ahead. But anyone looking for a great camera purchase today, let me pull your coat to this superb new wide-angle/small size/great resolution dual lens creation, the EasyShare V570. It's a beauty.
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Updated Review ... Kodak V570 and Canon SD800 IS / Still having fun with the camera
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| Review Date: May 27, 2006 |
| Reviewer: David Clifton, Westerville, OH USA |
I have a Canon EOS 6.3MP camera that I think is great and that I use when I want to pretend to be a great photographer, but it's just too large to mess with for quick weekend or business trips. And my old Olympus D-490 2.1 Mp digital looks (and weighs) like a brick contrasted to the newer technologies. So when my Olympus flash finally broke ... it was time for the plunge to another pocket digital camera.
I learned of the Kodak V570 after I was trying to confirm my resolve to buy another Canon camera (Powershot D450) and stumbled across a review in Kiplinger magazine. Attracted to the Kodak's design (and it was a top choice in their review), I decided to check it out.
I was hesitating on buying the Canon only due to it's fit with my hands for the controls/buttons. The quality of the camera, the resolution and balance of the photographs and everything about it seemed great ... and I have a friend who loves his with the exception of its flash.
But this Kodak V570 turned out to be a wonderful shocker:
> it was from Kodak (I've been a Canon and Olympus guy for 20+ years from the AE into the digital age and thought Kodak was only for great film and for Brownie's);
> it's ergonomic design and ease of use is simply the best I've encountered. Small enough to fit in the pocket, but great ergonomics on the switches, buttons and menus;
> the use of ultra-wide and non-projecting telephoto make the camera fun, versatile, and can even pull off some shots I can't do on my Canon EOS (without buying yet another lens);
> intuitive exposure settings that are simple to use and effective;
> the panoramic view feature, in camera, pulls together a 3.1MP photo that beats what I've been able to do with Photoshop;
> and, it simply is cool-looking. Friends literally have had the same reaction to it as when I first showed around my iPod when it first came out a few years ago.
I've been shooting with it a little over a week now and am having great fun. The dock critiques I read on this camera have not been a nuisance to me, the camera integrated seamlessly without installing software on my Mac (2Ghz G5, OS 10.4.6 with iPhoto 6.03). The camera powers fast, shutter lag is minimal, the quality of the photography is very good (in low light to sunlight), and the video feature (including storyboarding) is very useful when I don't want to mess with my Sony Handycam.
The only nits I have with this camera is the memory card door does indeed seem flimsy (noted by others), I have no clue what my battery charge level is and I occasionally capture the carrying strap in a lot of shots due to a combination of the length of the strap and the ultrawide lens. But these are minor nuisances at most.
Form with function. Well done Kodak!
+++++++++++ UPDATE August 13, 2007+++++++++++++++
I continue to give the Kodak V570 a 5 star rating.
In the 1.5 years I've had the camera it has taken thousands of great photos, seen countless cities and airports, and unfortunately been dropped a few times ... until about 3 months ago I accidentally dropped and kicked into the middle of Lexington Avenue in NYC. Though there is now a glitch in the lens cover from that fiasco, it unbelievably still gives great photographs and video clips.
The other review on the cameras (except for a few that seem to be photographing/writing on a different planet) are accurate, and the additional minor nit some have mentioned in other reviews that I'll add is the dock, which is not as convenient as just plugging into a USB directly.
But the V570 camera has proven to be a versatile workhorse and I think best in class ... though at a slightly lower price point.
As mentioned above, my first V570 did have a glitch develop with the lens cover opening on the "drop kick" across Lex Ave ... and I did not have a protection plan and the cost to service was going to be $150+. So I did loads more research and at $290 decided I'd try the Canon SD800IS. This too is a great camera that I recommend ... great optics and wide angle, flash is much more powerful than the V570's, image stabilization and I like the preset features and ISO range of that camera. The Canon is much better on close-ups <6" and has a bit truer color in my opinion. It's obviously also a 7mp camera so the resolution is a bit better plus it has a viewfinder in addition to the LCD viewfinder which is a plus.
But the Canon SD800 is about 1/4" thicker and a bit heavier. So if you're a guy and slip the camera into your front pocket or sport coat, it's a bit much. Found myself carrying my old V570 with the glitched lens cover instead of my new SD800. And the V570 is so well designed, feature rich, versatile dual lenses (with digital zoom turned OFF), simple to use and I personally find more "optimistic" color palatte/richness that makes my shots really look great.
So when I happened across another new Kodak V570 camera on sale for $190, I bought it in a heartbeat.
So net-net, the SD800 is an awesome camera. But because of the size it suffers the same fate as my Canon Digital Rebel SLR and is used only when I'm trying to act like I know what I'm doing with serious photography. And I'm happily on my 2nd V570 that tours with me daily. |
Simply no equal in digital photography!! Superb V570 !!
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| Review Date: February 25, 2006 |
| Reviewer: DigiBear, |
Strengths: 1, fast start-up 2, wide angle len 3, stitches pictures for you to form a super ultra wide angle view (bravo!!) 4, excellent movie mode with stabilization, which also work for still photo shots 5, compact 6, easy-to-use software 7, stylish design 8, excellent built quality.
Summary:
It does what other slim cameras cannot do: i.e. 1, taking wide-angle photos (very handy in group photo or a nearby building or statue) 2, stitching photos together to form a single picture. (Bravo! this makes the Kodak one of a kind) This fuction gives you the power of more creative photography, something which has only been accessible to professional photographers before. 3, 5X of equivalent zoom. (other slim digital cameras can only zoom optically up to 3X) Thus, this V570 gives you more power to take photos or movies from farther away of the object.
This Kodak starts up quickly. Press the "on" power button, you can immediately take photos. Focus is fast in bright light and sunlight, it is noticeably slower in dim light as with most slim cameras. AF assist is decent, yet not as good as those costing $600 upward. Colors are not saturated and are amazingly pretty accurate. Taking photos at night time turn out to be fairly good. It takes in enough light if you use longer exposure. Yet, limited manual control really cost in getting superior night shots. Having said that daytime photos are superb! Vibrant colors, vivid and elaborate details, as if you are there watching things in the photo! Print a 20" X 30" photo and you will understand! The digital image stabilization also helps in longer zoom range when your hand is shaky and you need a good photo.
Image stabilization is definitely a big plus with higher zoom cameras like this Kodak.
The movie mode is handy. 30 flips per second with full screen TV quality filming capability. You can also zoom during filming. Aren't these what a camcorder is supposed to do? And now, it just eliminates the need for a big and heavy camcorder. Therefore, this V570 Kodak is not just a subperb digital camera, but it is also a great digital camcorder!! And you don't have to waste money on buying 8mm non-reusable tapes. Just get a bigger 1GB and you can take more than 1 hour long of movies!!! The JPEG-4 movie format helps to make it possible by compressing the movie taken. And, you can view the movies right on the 2.5" TFT LCD screen of the camera with sound!
It does, however, record the sound of the zoom len when you zoom it during filming. Yet, I have not heard of a digital camera which does not record the sound of a zoom len during filming when the zoom feature is used.
Boy, the wide angle len has helped me to take photos of 15 people in a small living room already!!! It is wonderful. I retire my old Sony Cybershot which only took 9 out of the 15 people I tried to "sqeeze" together. Still the Sony couldn't do it.
Besides, no fingers of mine have even gotten in any photos taken with the 23mm wide angle len of this wonderful V570 Kodak. I don't understand why the other reviewer says that he easily get his fingers in the photos.... And, the other review continues to say negatively about this superior Kodak V570 without going into much details.... hum..... A salesman of any brand who is gealous of Kodak's invention?
To my surprise, this Kodak also has a photo stitching capability. You take three consecutive photos, it stitches them together to form an ultra-super-wide anle photo of almost 180 degree!!!! I moment I found that function out, I was so surprised!!!! It is a wonderful piece of invention and technology!!! After you have taken the first photo, it guides you on the LCD screen to take the second one, then the third one. It, then, magically lines up things, smoothes out colors before letting you review the gorgeous 180 degree photos!!!!! Boy, what an amazing power to have!!! I have been enjoying taking creative shots now, something "NO" other camera can let you do with.
It has about 20 photo modes, ranging from landscape to moving objects, from flowers to night time mode. Boy, it take sharp photos with true colors even in this pre-set modes. It is simply point-and-shot. The image stabilization helps especially in taking photos with higher zoom.
Daytime photos are marvellous with vivid details, more than enough for your eyes to notice. Colors are not saturated, they are just smooth, nice and truthful. Night time photos are sometimes hurt by the "strong" flash. The flash is bright!! It lights up my bedroom of 100 sq. ft.
I don't understand why the other reviewer says that the memory slot door is filmsy, it is sturdy!! And the camera feels very solid in the hand. Buttons all have quality feel to them. This is very good and the LCD is of 'high' resolution and gain light in dim light situation. It is very good!
Kodak even gives you a camera bag so that nothing can sratches your camera when you put it in a bag. Nice!
All in all, when you look at its capabilities, wide angles, image stabilization, photo stitching for creative and professional photography, excellent movie filming features, 5X equivalent zoom ability, excellent design with superb built quality, you should wonder how Kodak can sell this below $400. My uncle works for TV production and understands all the expensive technique used in photography..talking about a camera which does all the angles matching, colors matching when you use the photo stitching feature? He said that he is surprised that it does not cost at least $600.
Connecting the camera to computer via the accompanying docking station is easy. Yet, could be even easiler with just the use of a USB cable. Kodak probably wants to keep the camera ultra-slim by eliminating another plugging slot for the USB cable. This is understandable. The dock also recharges the battery inside the camera automatically and the blue lights on top of the camera let you know the charging progress and when it is fully charged. You can also press the review button on the dock, then the camera turns into a digital photo album for you and let you see photos and movies which you have taken. Pretty neat!
The Kodak software is the best in the industry. Ask J.D. Power Associate, Kodak receives awards for this with industry's highest users' satisfaction. It group photos by date automatically after your uploading the photos and movies. It also let you edit your photos, such as to make them brighter, or with more color contrast, or crop the photos, etc. Also, to email photos to friends, or burn photo and movie CDs. Very easy to use.
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Suggestions:
1, turn off the digital zoom feature, which makes outcome of photos worse.
2, switch to 4.4 Mega Pixel picture. It is best for 4" X 6" photos and viewing on computer screens.
3, buy at least one more Kodak's lithum battery since you will find yourself taking more and more photos and movies with the creative photo stitching features and excellent movie mode, so that you need more battery for more photos and movies.
4, buy a big MMC or SD memory card for the same reason as for 3. since you will be taking more photos and movies with this easy-to-use Kodak!
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Areas for improvement:
1, battery need to store more energy
2, only support 2.0 USB transfer, make it support high-speed USB transfer.
3, stitch 6 photos instead of just 3 so that we can have 360 degrees, this will definitely a creative way to take photos!!! Yet, it is already a break-through with 3 photos stitching for now.
4, could use even more zoom as the saying goes "it's never enough!" Perhaps use equivalent 8X optical zoom for the next replacement. Yet, 5X is already leading the industry in ultra compact camera designs. |
4 1/2 stars.
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| Review Date: April 11, 2006 |
| Reviewer: laura laureate, |
if you are interested in this camera, do yourself the favour and read Jeffrey Picard ("Photo Guy")'s comprehensive review. i had been playing with the idea of adding this camera to our 'camera-collection' but was having second thoughts after reading some of the other reviews. i found them to be either amateurish or simply off-putting. then i read his...
eventually, i bought the v570 and am quite delighted with the results this camera produces. bear in mind that this is a p&s -camera and you will not be disappointed. investing another 20$ into a second battery is a good idea if you are a semi-professional and want to take this camera seriously.
about the sd-card door: since i don't like working with the 'easy-share' material that comes with this camera and don't want to carry the docking station with me either, i have to rely on a card-reader. kodak would do a great job by offering a usb-cable for direct connectivity. until i have found a solution to this i will have to use the door. so far, and by handling it with some care, i didn't find it to be of any problem. the hinges are a kind of pull-out and push-back mechanism that has to be handled carefully. even in case that the door would give way: another of my p&s-cameras/gadgets (mobiDV) leaves the slot exposed and it has never been a problem. ejecting the card is simple and the card pops out only slightly (without taking off! - who writes such bs?!)
about the panoramic view of things: the stitching inside the camera is indeed a nice thing. i only wish the v570 had an old-fashioned viewfinder in addition to the lcd (what happened to swivel-screens??). i find it difficult see the pictures (and therefore to overlap them accurately in panoramic mode) in bright light conditions. the lcd also tricks you since it does not always represent the true quality before vs. after the shot. this is ultimately not a big deal and the kodak makes up with a comparatively huge screen.
kodak suggests a tripod for taking panoramic pictures, by the way, but i don't see this as a solution to the problem described since a p&s-camera is all about portability and no matter how small the tripod, it still does not fit into my back pocket...
your own customs settings can, however, be saved in custom mode which is the very last feature in a row of custom settings.... another very nice feature is the fact that the camera rotates pictures to landscape mode automatically - and saves them this way. very smart. thank you, kodak!
the video has video artefact which makes the images pixelate (break up & scramble) while panning, but the images are clear and crisp otherwise. i am hesitant to recommend the v570's video performance, though. another little gadget (again the mobiDV) does not pixelate (yet zooms as well - without the noise...) but does not handle differences in light as nicely as the v570 either - whose zooming sound is indeed quite noticeable. you will have to judge for yourself if any of this is a problem.
all in all, i find the kodak v570 close enough for a do-it-all camera to carry it around most of the time. its small size and stylish exterior makes this a joy! jeffrey picard writes "art deco" but i would argue: jugendstil... ;-))
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