Model Design / Appearance (8.5)
The Kodak EasyShare V570 is skinny, rectangular, and very horizontal. Its overall shape is rectangular and its buttons mimic its skinny shape. The body is constructed from black metal and the back has a silver metal plate on it where the control buttons and LCD are housed. The 
buttons are on both sides of the LCD screen on the back of the camera and give it an overall eye-pleasing and organized look. The Kodak EasyShare V570 is designed to be sleek and portable with its non-extending lenses and sturdy lens cover. The camera is completely flat, but its silver highlights and dual lenses add interest to the plainly shaped body. The flat camera body makes this Kodak EasyShare fit right into the slim V-series line of digital cameras.
Size / Portability (7.5)
Kodak is so set upon making the V570 portable that it came up with its Retina dual lens technology so that it could have 5x optical zoom in a 0.8-inch thick body. This slim camera is flat enough to slide into a pocket, but may be a little too long for some people’s preferences. The EasyShare V570 measures 4 x 2 x 0.8 inches and weighs 4.5 ounces without its battery (which is quite light anyway). This is slightly thinner than the other V-series models but definitely more horizontal. The V570 comes with a tiny wrist strap that attaches to the eyelet on the right side of the camera. Overall, the Kodak EasyShare V570 is long and skinny and very portable.
Handling Ability (5.5)
The Kodak EasyShare V530 is composed of completely smooth surfaces except for the slightly dotted surface on the left side of the LCD screen. The camera is flat except for a silver and blue highlight that protrudes ever so slightly where the right hand grips the camera. This is the only feature that aids in gripping the camera. There are no slopes or divots or rubber surfaces or anything. The Kodak V570 was not built for long photo shoots. It was built, however, to look sleek for those few moments it is pulled out of a pocket for a quick picture.
Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (5.0)
While many point-and-shoot digital cameras have the LCD screen on the left side of the back and the control buttons crammed to the right, the Kodak EasyShare V series departs from such 
tradition. Instead, these cameras center the LCD screen on the back and surround it with control buttons. The Kodak EasyShare V570 falls right in line with five neatly organized buttons on the left side of the LCD and the zoom toggle and navigational joystick to the right of the LCD. This setup keeps both hands quite busy. Putting buttons on the left side of the screen isn’t an ergonomically practical decision. The left hand is a little cramped and when the buttons are pressed, there is nothing to support the camera on the bottom. The right hand is kept busy between the zoom toggle, navigational joystick, and shutter release button. All of the buttons on the V570 are properly sized and spaced, but the strange positioning doesn’t make for the soundest gripping stance. The zoom toggle is very small and could be problematic for users with larger digits. The navigational joystick is easy to push around, but its edge is quite sharp and will irritate sensitive thumbs beyond 30 seconds of continuous use. The joystick can be pushed in every direction for navigation and pushed inward to make selections. This setup is a problem because there isn’t much difference between an inward push and a push to the left or right. The Kodak V570 has a few dedicated buttons for the flash mode, menu, review mode, share mode, and deletion. The buttons on the V570 all look nicely organized but are more about form than function.
Menu (8.0)
The Kodak EasyShare V570 has a dedicated Menu button to the left of the LCD screen. It looks exactly the same as the other buttons on that side, so users have to look around for a few moments to find the Menu button in the center. The menu that appears depends on the mode that the camera is in. The still shooting mode brings up the following options: Self-Timer, Burst, Picture Size, White Balance, ISO Speed, Color Mode, Sharpness, Exposure Metering, AF Control (Still), Focus Zone, Long Time Exposure, Set Album (Still), Image Storage, and Setup Menu. The features’ titles appear at the top of the screen while the features’ selected options appear in the list that users scroll through. The menu is imposed over a live view, but that doesn’t mean the options grant access to truly live views. For instance, when users scroll through the white balance options the fluorescent view looks just the same as the daylight view – until a selection is made. To the left of the list of items are icons to represent each feature. Most of these icons are difficult to understand and therefore quite useless; it would be better to look at the feature title at the top of the screen. The menu font is nicely sized and easy to read, but scrolling through menu options can be tough with the multi-selector. The control consists of a joystick that can be pushed sideways and inward. Scrolling through items is usually not a problem, but if users try to move too fast they will probably end up somewhere they don’t want to be.
The Setup menu is quite lengthy, which is too bad as there is no way to bypass options with pages or anything. Here’s the list of options: Return, Camera Sounds, Sound Volume, Digital Zoom, LCD Dimmer, Auto Power Off, Date & Time, Video Out, Photo Frame, Distortion Compensation, Orientation Sensor, Red Eye Preflash, Date Stamp, Video Date Display, Blur Warning, Language, Format, and About. The ordering of the menu items is a bit baffling. The lens distortion compensation, red eye pre-flash, and other menu items that directly affect the quality of a picture should be placed higher on the list so they are a bit easier to find.
The Playback menu can be found by pushing the Review button followed by the Menu button. Its options are View by, Album, Crop, Slide Show, Multi-up, Copy, Protect, Image Storage, and Setup Menu. An Edit Video option appears in place of the Crop option when a movie clip is being reviewed. Overall, the menus are decent but could be improved with a better multi-selector.
Ease of Use (8.0)
Since the target audience of the Kodak EasyShare V570 is stylish point-and-shooters, this camera should be easy to use. Nevertheless, it has its pros and cons like the other V-series cameras. The pros: a designated Share button makes printing easy, an included Photo Frame Dock allows the camera to easily connect and transfer pictures, the menu options are nicely sized with an easy to read font, and the body is slim and easily portable. The cons: no ergonomic features to make handling easier, the joystick on the multi-selector doesn’t always scroll the way the user prefers, and buttons on both sides of the LCD screen keep both hands busy at all times (which doesn’t allow proper support of the camera either). Overall, the V570 has the same challenges that its V-series siblings have and many of the same challenges that slim models run into, but it is still easy to figure out so users can grab the shot.
