Front
The front of the Kodak EasyShare V603 features a Schneider-Kreuznach C-Variogon 3x zoom lens, positioned on the right side of the camera when facing the front of the V603. This is an extending lens barrel with a focal length of 38 mm to 106 mm and shoots with an aperture range of f/2.8 to f/4.8. The lens barrel retracts into the body of the camera when not in use. An automatic lens cover snaps over the surface of the lens at the same time as the lens barrel begins retraction.

There are two sensors located above and to the right of the lens barrel, with one controlling metering and the other functioning as an infrared sensor. Moving to the left side of the lens, a horizontal polished silver bar bisects the camera neatly in half and extends from the edge of the camera to the edge of the lens ring.

The in-camera flash for the EasyShare V603 is located above this design detail and to the left of the lens barrel. If in-camera flashes are placed in line with the center point of the lens of a camera, the resulting image will have more even lighting. Lastly, there are five small recessed dots that function as the in-camera microphone for the camera when recording audio. This microphone placement has one benefit and one negative attribute; this positioning will place the audio recording device away from the noisy mechanics of the lens barrel. But the problem with this position is the close proximity between this feature and the edge of the camera. Users may accidentally cover the microphone with a finger when shooting. This will block or muffle all incoming audio.

Back
The back of the Kodak EasyShare V603 features a well sized 2.5-inch, 230,000 pixel LCD which is comparable in size and resolution to the screen on the Pentax Optio T10, although without the touch screen interface system of the Pentax system. The LCD screen is framed and raised slightly from the back face of the camera.

The zoom control is located in the upper right corner of the back, and positioned so that the thumb of the right hand can access the control with expediency. This zoom control is a push button rocking zoom toggle that is a bit undersized for comfortable use with larger hands. That being said, the zoom control did react well when used in shooting. When switched into playback mode, the zoom control doubles as a playback zoom up to 8x digital zoom and the control to access a multi-up image index.

A square four-way controller is located at the base of the right side and is sized with enough room to allow quick access to navigation. The four-way controller can act as a navigating control for the menu structures in shooting or playback mode. The four-way controller also has dual functions, which are labeled well in the case of the up and down arrow, and poorly in the case of the left and right arrow. The up arrow controls the amount of information displayed on the LCD from nothing to a grid with histogram. The down arrow controls whether the camera is in regular shooting mode, macro mode, or landscape mode when in shooting mode. And finally, the left and right arrows on the four way control... are blank. It’s up to the user to discern that the left and right arrows control exposure compensation. There is no way of knowing this, and this is unfortunate since most of the controls on the V603 have either full text descriptions or symbols present to represent their functionality.

An OK button is located in the center of the four-way controller. The playback audio speaker is located between the zoom control and the four-way control on the right side of the back face. On the left side of the LCD screen are a series of controls; from top to bottom they are: delete, menu, review and share, and each control is well labeled with a full text label that stood out clearly from the Midnight Black body of the show floor model. While certainly not the largest controls, these settings were provided with enough space to allow comfortable activation without accidentally triggering incorrect settings. In the upper left corner are three LED lights with symbols denoting their purpose, representing whether the camera is in favorite, movie or shooting modes.

Left Side
An uncovered DC in port is the sole feature located on the left side of the Kodak EasyShare V603.

Right Side
The right side of the Kodak EasyShare V603 has two features of note. A basic eyelet sits slightly above the surface of the camera frame. This eyelet is located halfway up the camera, slightly towards the back. An SD card slot is located vertically in front of this feature and should be hard to overlook, because it has no cover. While it could be argued that cramming something into the port would take some work, I would personally feel more comfortable having my ports protected with a strong cover connected via a strong hinge. The SD card slot easily accepts SD cards and cleanly ejects them.

Top
The top of the camera has a number of features, with all of the controls well labeled. A larger rectangular shutter button is located on the right side of the top and is easily activated with the index finger of the right hand. The flash button is located to the left of the shutter button, with the power on/off button next. Continuing left, the scene mode, movie mode and favorite mode buttons are positioned one after another. Their sizes and shapes are nearly identical to those of the power and flash control, so it will be harder for the user to identify what button controls what by feel. Like the controls located on the back of the camera, the controls on the top of the camera are well labeled and have enough room to allow easy and comfortable access.

Bottom
A port for the camera dock is located in the center of the camera base for exporting images to printer or PC direct from camera, while a metal tripod mount is located towards the front of this feature. The metal tripod mount is a distinct advantage to any point-and-shoot users who find themselves using a tripod constantly,, since it will be sturdier and last far longer than the plastic tripod mounts found with most lower-priced point-and-shoot cameras. A battery port is located on the base of the V603 underneath a cover that appears to be of a solid construction.

Intro	Page 2 of 10		Components
Kodak EasyShare V603 First Impressions Review Navigation
Intro	Physical Tour	Components	Design / Layout
Modes	Control Options	Image Parameters	Connectivity / Extras
Overall Impressions	Conclusion