The Kodak EasyShare
V550 camera is one of a new series of camera, which like
the LS series before it, offers high quality finishing and
construction.
The V550 is currently the top model of two V-series cameras,
providing a 5 megapixel image resolution, a 3X optical zoom
and a large 2.5 inch LCD monitor.
At the top of the camera a
large section of the steel band becomes a row of four buttons,
each group of two formed by a half of a scroll-cut "S"
shape, and each button is identified by an icon. When the
camera is powered on, the scroll-cut is lit in blue, and when
one of the buttons is pressed, its icon also lights up in
blue.
All four of these buttons serve to select the shooting mode
of the V550. The first on the left is the Auto mode,
and is selected by default whenever the camera is powered
on.
Auto: with this
mode, as with all others, the camera handles the selection
of both the aperture and the shutter speed. However
other parameters such as exposure compensation, white
balance, ISO selection, etc. are selectable. Moreover,
and only in this mode, a long exposure time can be selected
for night photography. In effect, the Auto mode is the
most advanced shooting mode of the V550.
Portrait: the camera
tries to use the largest aperture possible — f2.8
at the wide angle end and f4.8 at the telephoto end
— to have the subject in focus while the background
is slightly blurred; an effect that can be maximized
if the zoom is used. Sensitivity is automatically decided,
allowing the camera to adjust it from 80 to 125 ISO.
The next button accesses any of the 19 Scene modes
of the V550:
When pressed, the button
displays all the modes available, and the specific mode
is selected using the 4-direction control on the back
of the camera (see further):
Sport: maximizes
the shutter speed to freeze action. Sensitivity
is automatically selected between 80 and 160 ISO.
Landscape: the
camera sets the focus to infinity, Daylight white
balance is used and sensitivity is set from a range
of 80 to 160 ISO.
Close-up: makes
the camera use a wide aperture to maintain a relatively
high shutter speed so as to avoid camera shake.
Focus and metering are set to Spot, and sensitivity
is automatic between 80 and 160 ISO.
Night Portrait:
uses the flash set to Red-eye reduction mode and
a long exposure so that the camera captures both
the foreground and the background. Sensitivity can
go as high as 125 ISO.
Night Landscape:
focus is set to infinity and the flash is forced
off. Exposures can be as long as 2 seconds while
sensitivity is forced to 80 ISO to minimize noise.
Snow: is designed
to compensate for the effect of very bright and
reflective snow on the metering by adding +1EV of
exposure compensation. Sensitivity can range from
80 to 125 ISO.
Beach: uses the
same settings as the Snow mode but also uses Daylight
white balance.
Text: uses Macro
focus, centre-weighted metering, multi-zone focus
and +1EV of exposure compensation. ISO sensitivity
is automatically set between 80 and 160 ISO.
Fireworks: requires
the camera to be stabilized on a tripod as the exposure
time is 2 seconds. Sensitivity is set to 80 ISO
and focus is set to infinity.
Flower: uses
the Macro focus mode and the camera's widest aperture
to ensure that the shutter speed can be maximized.
Sensitivity is automatically set between 80 and
160 ISO.
Manner/Museum:
forces the flash to Off, and mutes all sounds produced
by the camera to avoid disturbing anyone. The slowest
shutter speed is 1/8 sec. and sensitivity is automatically
adjusted from 80 to 160 ISO.
Self-Portrait:
uses the macro mode to allow the camera to focus
on the subject, the flash to Red-eye reduction,
and sensitivity to 80 ISO.
Party: also uses
the flash set to Red-eye reduction, but allows the
sensitivity to be adjusted automatically between
80 and 125 ISO.
Children: prioritizes
the shutter speed to freeze the movements of playing
children. The flash is set to Auto as well as the
sensitivity which allows the camera to adjust it
as necessary up to 160 ISO.
Backlight: forces
the flash On to provide fill-in light to a subject
that is backlit. The camera uses a large aperture
and sensitivity is automatically set up to 125 ISO.
Panning: is designed
to capture a fast moving subject while allowing
the background to blur so as to give a sense of
movement. Sensitivity is automatically set between
80 and 160 ISO.
Candlelight:
forces the flash Off and allows the exposure to
be as long as 1/2 second. White balance is set to
Daylight and sensitivity can go as high as 200 ISO
if necessary.
Sunset: has a
minimum shutter speed of 1/60 second, sets the white
balance to Daylight and allows the camera to automatically
adjust sensitivity between 80 and 125 ISO.
Custom: allows
all the selectable camera parameters to be modified
by the user and these settings are retained after
the camera has been turned off.
The last of the group of four buttons on top of the camera
is to turn on the Video mode:
Set to the Video mode the
camera is able to capture video clips with sound at
30 frames per second and with an image size of either
640 x 480 pixels (VGA), or 320 x 240 pixels
(QVGA). The recording time is limited to the available
space on the memory card, or can be preset to 5, 15
or 30 seconds.
During the recording, the optical zoom remains useable
and white balance and exposure are adjusted as required.
Moreover, if selected in the Setup menu, an electronic
image stabilization system can be used (see the Interface
and Software section of the review).
Three other controls complete those on the top side of the
V550:
While the round button is
the Power Switch, the small square button to its right controls
the Flash modes:
Auto, Forced On, Red-eye
Reduction with pre-flashes, and Forced Off.
Last, on the far right of the camera's top is a large rectangular
2-stage shutter release that provide Auto Focus Lock (AF-L)
and Auto Exposure Lock (AE-L) when pressed and held halfway.
Turning to the back of the camera,
most of it is occupied by the large 2.5 inch monitor with 230,000
pixels.
In addition to the large LCD
monitor, Kodak also provides an optical viewfinder situated
at the top left of the camera's back. The viewfinder has no
markings of any kind and has a noticeable barrel distortion.
Nevertheless, it is available and can be used on the rare
occasions when the screen is difficult to decipher, or if
power needs to be conserved.
A pinpoint LED, embedded just
above the viewfinder's exit pupil, lights up green while the
camera is saving an image.
Four buttons are stacked on the left side of the screen,
below the viewfinder:
The delete button allows deleting an image while
it is being saved, or when the camera is in Playback, one
or all images.
The menu button displays the menu that corresponds
to the mode in use (see the Characteristics section
of the review for a detailed look at the menu options).
The review button start the Playback mode.
The share button is marked with a red dot and also
places the camera in the Playback mode, displaying the Share
menu superimposed on the last captured image. The Share
menu offers options concerning how images will be used ((see
the Characteristics section of the review for a detailed
look at the options of the Share menu).
More controls are positioned
on the right side of the LCD monitor. At the top is the Zoom
control which also serves to zoom in (up to 8X) and out
of a photo being displayed on the monitor in Playback.
Auto, the
standard mode for either capture or playback, or Favorites
which allows access to the Favorites memory location of the
camera, where images that have been tagged as "Favorites"
are stored.
The last external control
of the V550 is the 4-direction control which serves to navigate
menus and:
when the camera is set to Auto mode, adjust the exposure
compensation over ± 2EV in 1/3 EV increments with
the right and left arrows.
select the Scene mode after the SCN on top of the
camera has been pressed.
switch from one image to another when the camera is set
to the Playback mode.
At the centre of the 4-direction control, a button labelled
OK serves to confirm selections made in the menus,
and additionally to display the Scene selection menu and/or
a short explanation of a shooting mode.
Similarly, the Up and
Down arrows of the control provide access to other
functions:
the up arrow selects
the way information is superimposed on the monitor,
and also turns it On and Off.
In the capture modes a first press of the button removes the information that
is superimposed by default on the monitor (flash mode,
image size, shot counter, memory in use, metering mode,
capture mode, and any other parameter that can be modified),
leaving only the AF brackets showing. Pressing the button
a second time returns the information display and adds
a real-time histogram that represents the distribution
of brightness in the frame. A third press of the button
turns off the monitor.
When the camera is set
to the Playback mode, pressing the button once also
removes the information shown by default, indications
such as possible camera shake, image counter, memory
source for the image, etc. A second press of the button
adds the histogram for the image under review in addition
to its shooting parameters.
The down arrow controls the Focus mode while
the camera is in a capture mode:
The first press of the button
starts the Macro mode which lets the V550 focus
on a subject that is between 5 and 70 cm (1.95 to 27.3
inches) from the front element of the lens when the zoom
is set to the wide angle end, and from 40 to 70 cm (15.6
to 27.3 inches) when it is at the telephoto end.
Pressing the button a second
time switches the focus mode to Infinity, intended
for capturing distant scenes and ideal for capturing night
scenery when the camera may have difficulty focusing.
Finally, with the V550 set to the Playback mode, the down
arrow also serves to display index screens (9 thumbnails
per screen) of the images that have been captured.
Without a doubt,
the new V550 is a beautifully finished and crafted camera
that is so simple to use that it requires little technical
know-how.
It offers a good ergonomic design and its controls, which
are well-placed and easy to master and use, respond quickly.
Likewise, the large high resolution monitor is comfortable
and it is rare that there is any reason to use the optical
viewfinder.
Introduction
