kodak v570 front |
v570 + dock |
v570 back
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Details at a glance
Megapixels: 5
Zoom: 5x (opt), 4x (dig)
LCD screen: 2.5 inch
Storage: SD/MMC (32mb int)
Size: 101 x 49.8 x 20.4mm
Weight: 125g
(full details at bottom of the page)
We clicked with
Wide lens, excellent build quality, stitching mode.
Shots in the dark
Screen is slightly blurry, defocused areas of pictures can look smeared, zoom lens is a little short.
Links
More Kodak information
www.kodak.co.uk
Price Comparison:
Kodak EasyShare v570
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At first glance the v570 is a cut down v610. It has many of the features you need from the v610 and drops a few that you probably don't but its metal iris conceals a secret that sets it apart from all other compacts.
Features
I'll save you some time here - the v570 is very similar to the v610 without all the bells and whistles. The same sleek black body but slightly smaller. The same twin lens system but with a 5X zoom instead of a 10X. 5.0 MP instead of 6.1MP and there's no Bluetooth. Here are some of the nice things you do get.
Wide angle lens
The v570 has a similar twin lens system to the v610 but the top (wide) lens doesn't zoom on the 570. Instead you get a true ultra wide lens. If you're heavily into landscapes this may be enough for you to stop reading here - the camera has a 23mm lens and I don't know any current cameras that can match that. Couple that with the in camera stitching mode and you have a killer camera for panoramics. The only drawback here is that the second lens starts at 39mm so you have a pretty large gap but in practice it seems to work nicely - yes there's a jump from one lens to another but I'd rather have the extra width of the 23mm lens than have it closer in length to the zoom.
Panoramic stitching
I talked about this in the v610 review but it's such a clever feature and so right for this camera that I'm going to repeat it here. Select stitch mode (and it's your choice to shoot left to right or right to left) and you can shoot a 3 frame panorama. The camera shows you a fragment of the previous frame and you line it up with the live view. This can be tricky in bright sunlight but it appears you don't have to be too accurate at all - the camera makes a great job of hiding the joins - often you really can't tell where one frame ends and the next starts.
If you are using the ultra wide lens then you can get some pretty wild distortions when you come to match the frames (the edge of the super wide has fairy severe barrel distortion) but it really doesn't seem to matter when you stitch it - it's faster easier and to my eye sometimes better than doing it on the PC.
Easyshare dock
Again I love the optional extra Easyshare dock. Drop your camera on the dock, hit a button and your pictures appear on the computer while your batteries charge. Elegant and simple. The dock isn't included but each Kodak camera comes with an insert for the dock. If you upgrade your camera or have multiple cameras in the house you only need one dock for them all.
On test
Handling
The v570 isn't the smallest camera on the market but it's still plenty small enough to slip in a trouser pocket. It feels solid and well built though a little boxy. Corners are square rather than rounded but everything about it exudes quality. For the fashion conscious this is very much a camera to be seen with rather than hide away.
You have t be a little careful when holding it especially if you are using the ultra wide lens. It's easy to wrap a finger in front of the lens though of course you can see that easily enough on the screen. Sine the lens is central and the flash is in the upper corner it's also easy to block the flash with your finger. It should only take you a few missed shots to get out of that habbit though.
The back has a 2.5 inch LCD screen with 230K pixels. This is clearly a different screen from the v610 which measures 2.8 inches but it is still slightly blurry. It's hard to describe but sometimes your pictures will look slightly out of focus when they are not. The problem only seems apparent with the zoom lens so it may be something to do with the twin lens design. It doesn't stop you getting great shots but it can be slightly annoying. Fortunately it seems to perform slightly better in bright light than the v610 and is less prone to thumbprints.
All the buttons maintain the angular look of the camera though the 4 way controller is round and a lot easier to use than on some other cameras.
Image quality
Again the Kodak gives good solid results rather than outstanding ones. Image quality is certainly acceptable but from the quality feel of the camera I was hoping for something more.
Chromatic aberration (aka “purple fringing”) seems well under control. As you'd expect, the super wide lens is more prone to this than the zoom but unless you go looking for it and provoking it by shooting high contrast edges you shouldn't have any problems.
As with both the other Kodaks I have tested (v610 and z612) the out of focus areas of the images are a little smeary and can look like plastic. I can only assume this is something to do with the image processing software. Portraits and pictures with a dominant point of interest but landscapes (where the focus often tails off) can look lacking in detail and this is a shame since otherwise this camera is so suited to landscapes.
I think Kodak are slightly optimistic quoting 20 X 30 as the maximum print size but you should be very happy with A4 pictures from this camera.
Shooting
The v570 is ready to shoot about 3.5 seconds after pressing the power button which is a little sluggish but shutter lag is a respectable 0.3 seconds and drops to 0.2s using the ultra wide lens. Shot to shot time is 1 second and in burst mode you can shoot 4 frames at rapid 2.3 frames per second.
There are 22 scene modes covering almost any imaginable scenario. Just set the camera to the right mode (e.g. backlight if the subject is backlit, panning if you want to pan) and it will make some sensible choices. The most commonly used one after auto is likely to be “close up”. This allows you to take pictures down to about 2 inches (5 cm) - but only with the zoom lens. This makes sense but is the opposite from the v610 where the wider lens is used for close ups.
Just like its big brother, the info button lets you choose 4 different display modes. These range from a minimalist focus area only up to focus area, shooting information, alignment grid and live histogram and it's great to see all this feedback on a camera at this level.
What's not to like
It's the same story as the v610 in some respects, the screen is nice and big but it isn't great in strong sunlight and isn't as sharp as is could be. There are plenty of pixels in the twin CCDs and the lens is decent enough but if you look at your pictures they can look blurred on the screen when they really aren't - the lesson here is not to delete pictures from the camera but check them on your computer first.
The zoom range of the zoom lens could be a little better. It runs from 39mm to 117mm but personally I would forgive it that for the ultra wide 23mm lens.
Battery life is a little better than the v610 but not great. 150 pictures per charge but that will plummet if you like to look at your masterpieces on the LCD or use flash a lot. The camera retails for around £220 which seems a little pricey for 5MP but it's well built and has enough interesting features to get away with it.
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I started off with this camera thinking it was just a smaller cheaper v610 but really it has a character of its own. The ultra wide lens sets it apart from pretty well anything else on the market and if that's what you are looking for then this is the camera for you. Other features are adequate rather than outstanding but it does the job. The looks and build quality also set it apart from other similar cameras. If you want a camera for wide angle use and landscapes then this will more than satisfy and will also work well as a general camera.
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Kodak EasyShare V570 specs
| Mega-pixels: | 5 |
Photo: | JPEG |
| Optical Zoom: | 5x |
RAW: | No |
| Digital Zoom: | 4x |
Aperture: | f/2.8-4.4 |
| LCD: | 2.5 inch |
Focal Length: | equiv. 39-117mm |
| Dimensions: | 104 x 74 x 69mm |
Shutter speed: | 8 sec to 1/1448 |
| Weight: | 125g |
Exposure: | ISO 80 to 800 |
| Storage: | SD/MMC (32mb int) |
Movie: | MPEG (640x480@30fps) |
| Battery: | Li-Ion KLIC-7001 |
Microphone: | Yes |
| Interface: | USB 2.0, AV |
PictBridge: | Yes |
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Included accessories:
Li-Ion Battery KLIC-7001, Battery Charger, USB and AV cables, Lens cap with strap, Neck strap, KODAK EASYSHARE Software, Getting Started Kit, Custom camera insert for optional KODAK EASYSHARE Camera and Printer Docks |
