Kodak V570

Reviewed June 2006

Test Photos

STILL LIFE PHOTO

This subject is photographed in a room that has a mix of fluorescent and incandescent light, but which is not brightly lit. The camera's flash is used to add fill light. The backdrop is 1.95 m (6.5 ft) from the camera.

The wide angle lens of the V570 captures a wide field of view, both horizontally and vertically and is ideal for interior shots. Sensitivity is best left on Auto however, as the small built-in flash has a limited ability to light a wide area.

For this shot, where the subject is relatively close, the camera boosts the sensitivity to 200 ISO, ensuring an acceptably bright image.

The 23 mm (equivalent) lens yields an image that is a touch soft, and which has sustained a strong compression (approx. 18.6:1). Moreover, although not noticeable with this particular subject, the wide angle lens causes objects or people placed near the edges of the frame to appear wider than normal.

Switching from the wide angle lens to the 3X zoom lens, the difference between 23 mm and 39 mm — the widest angle of the zoom lens — is quite noticeable, since there is an abrupt jump over 16 millimetres of focal length. However, at the 39 mm focal length, barrel distortion, or corrected barrel distortion, is much less noticeable.

ZOOM PHOTO

Now we zoom in on the centre of the image above to gauge the sharpness of the image at the zoom's maximum setting. The camera remains at the same distance as in the preceding photo.

At the telephoto end of the 3X zoom lens, image is noticeably sharper, and the compression is less (approximately 13.6:1). Although some softness remains, more details are visible and noise is minimal, appearing only in shadow areas.

As it was with the wide angle shot shown above, the sensitivity is set to Auto, and was automatically increased by the V570 to 125 ISO to brighten the image.

MACRO PHOTO

The use of the Macro mode with the V570 is limited to the 3X zoom lens. The Macro mode is not accessible with the wide- angle lens. Set to the wide end of the 3X zoom, the macro mode allows the camera to focus on a subject that is between 5 and 70 cm (2 to 27.6 in.) from the front element of the lens, and from 30 to 70 cm (11.8 to 27.6 inches) at the telephoto end.

The nearest focus distance yields a field of view, as measured horizontally, of approximately 4.6 cm (1.8 in.). Barrel distortion is noticeable around the periphery of the frame.

BUILDING PHOTO

This image is our outdoor test. The architecture of the building, in particular the angled girders, immediately show the presence of jaggies. The shadowed entrance can also often reveal the quality of the exposure.

The comments made with regards to the still life test photos shown above could be repeated with these outdoor shots. Using the 23 mm wide angle lens, the camera is able to produce an image that gives a feeling of space that more accurately portrays the subject. Colours are well-saturated, and the photos shows no trace of over- or under-exposure. Moreover, there is no visible chromatic aberration.

Nevertheless, sharpness is average and some elongation on the edges of the frame is detectable, most notably in the shape of the cement planters.

Switching from the 23 mm focal length of the wide angle to the wide angle end of the 3X zoom, the jump in magnification is noticeable, as can be seen below.

ZOOM PHOTO

Zooming in on the entrance of the building, the shadowed entrance takes on a greater importance for the metering and can cause an overexposure of sections that are directly lit.

At the maximum telephoto setting of the zoom lens, equivalent to a 117 mm, the V570 yields a sharper image that is devoid of any distortion, or chromatic aberration.

The compression applied to these images is quite strong, and appears to lessen the detail that can be seen in comparison to other 5-megapixel cameras. The wide angle shot, for instance, has a compression ratio of 15.1:1, and the zoom shot at right has a ratio of 16:1.

NIGHT PHOTO

Since this camera is capable of long exposures, a photo taken at night is included here.

Using either the Auto or the Custom mode, the V570 offers an LT (Long Time exposure) option in the menu that can be set to capture an exposure as long as 8 seconds. Likewise, the sensitivity can be manually set to 64 ISO — the least noise-prone level — and the white balance can be set to Tungsten, best suited to the artificial lighting that dominates this subject.

The wide angle lens offers the most natural looking perspective, with the long pier extending into the inlet and the distant downtown peninsula visible in the background.

Comparing the wide and telephoto shots, it can be seen that while the colours remain consistent from shot to shot, much more detail is visible in the telephoto shot than in the wide angle.

This difference may be in part due to the compression. The 23 mm shot above has a file size of 488 KB, which is a compression ratio of 29.9:1; while the telephoto shot shown at left has a file size of 818 KB corresponding to a compression ratio of 17.8:1.