Product Reviews

Kodak's V570 is possibly the most stylish camera we've ever seen. It has a refined elegance that hints at art deco and it looks even more handsome when seated in its pedestal-style docking station. About the size of a mobile phone, it'll fit comfortably into a petite handbag or trouser pocket.

Even more remarkable are its dual lenses, each with a 5-megapixel CCD. One lens has a fixed, wide-angle focal length of 23mm (35mm-equivalent), which is perfect for photographing groups of people at close proximity or capturing panoramic views. The other lens has a more typical 3x zoom (39-111mm). The two together add up to a 5x zoom range. There's a sizeable jump in the view as you switch between the wide-angle and the zoom lens, but it's simply achieved with the zoom control so won't cause any confusion. Each lens has its own CCD, so the switch is instantaneous.

The camera is quick, at less than two seconds between shots, even when using the flash. Battery life is passable, surviving 233 shots in our test. The 2.5" screen shows

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a bright image, but this is often misleading; in low light, the preview image is often much brighter than the resulting photo. With limited control over exposure, the Night Landscape scene preset is the only way to get well-exposed shots in low light without the flash. Even then, results sometimes appear gloomy. The flash performs well at close range but lacks the power to illuminate large rooms. The overly bright preview makes it clear when your fingers have crept in front of the lens; the compact design and recessed lenses make this a common occurrence, particularly in wide-angle mode.

Manual control is basic, but we didn't have much cause to deviate from automatic settings. Colours were consistently flattering yet natural everywhere except in low light. High-contrast shots in direct sunlight were superbly exposed. However, both lens and CCD combinations exhibited a slight lack of focus and detail compared with the other 5-megapixel cameras we tested this month. It wasn't noticeable when viewing onscreen or printing at standard sizes, but enlargements and cropped photos looked a little vague. It's sharp enough for the VGA-resolution video capture, though. A fast, smooth auto-exposure, a working optical zoom and highly efficient MPEG4 compression add up to a capable video mode.

We've yet to see an ultra-compact digital camera with exceptionally high image quality. The V570's poor performance in low light is regrettable for a camera that's otherwise so well suited to a glamorous nightlife. Still, if the elegant, compact design and wide-angle lens are what you're after, we would cautiously recommend it.