Kodak EasyShare V610

Conclusion
The Kodak EasyShare V610 follows the dual lens V570, but still creates a new genre of digital cameras. Features such as 6 megapixels, a 2.8-inch LCD screen with 230,000 pixels, and a 10x optical zoom lens set it apart. This digital camera is also the first to include Bluetooth wireless technology so it can communicate with other Bluetooth enabled printers, cell phones, laptops, and other devices. Kodak keeps the wireless transfer simple, too, so even the most technologically crippled people can figure it out. The V610 has some very enticing features: its 10x optical zoom, available in both still and video modes, provides a long focal length in a skinny 0.9-inch thick body, making the V610 the slimmest 10x camera on the market.

This trendy EasyShare also has 22 scene modes, with a text guide that helps beginners distinguish between them. All users will appreciate the Kodak Perfect Touch technology that is built in to the playback mode, which brightens pictures and saves them as separate files or overwrites the originals. Unfortunately, this feature cannot fix blurred pictures. That would be helpful, as the V610 can’t focus too well unless the flash is used—and the flash makes already unnatural colors look even worse. The camera’s biggest performance issues are substantial shutter lag, terribly slow processing time, and a very short battery life. Its other major downfall is the zoom control on the 10x lens system: when going from the wide lens to the telephoto lens, users have to jump from 114mm to 130mm. This not only causes a break in the picture but is obnoxious: users have to push the zoom control over and over again to get the camera to zoom in on a subject. This is the price that must be paid for a skinny 10x camera.

Kodak also expects consumers to pay a hefty price in dollars. $449 to be exact. This retail price tag is way too expensive for a camera that doesn’t take absolutely beautiful pictures, lacks optical image stabilization, and only comes fitted with 22 scene modes, an auto mode, and a movie mode. The Kodak EasyShare V610 is a great concept with its 6 megapixels, 10x dual lens system, and Bluetooth compatibility, but it just doesn’t deliver.