Customer Reviews

Kodak Easyshare V603 6.1 MP Digital Camera with 3xOptical Zoom (Black)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Kodak EasyShare V603 is a great camera. It is an underdog in the digital camera world. Many digital camera websites on the internet have a bias that Canon and Nikon are superior cameras, while Kodaks are considered inferior ----- but V603 proves that this is not true. The V603 is very small, takes great pictures with excellent exposure, and is built better than any ultra-compact Canon and Nikon has to offer. In my review, I'll try to mention aspects that other reviews haven't covered as yet.

Pros:

1) Instant picture taking. The V603 focuses really fast and takes a picture in less than a second. It doesn't matter if you pre-focus by pressing the shutter button halfway --- it's still fast. Canon Elph cameras (even with their "super fast" Digic II processor) aren't as instant because their mechanical auto-focusing takes a while to lock on focus. The Schneider-Kreuznach lens (German engineered) on the V603 is high quality, giving you sharp photographs and fast focusing.

2) Great, bright 2.5" LCD screen. It has 230,000 pixels of resolution, a lot more than its competitors. Basically, when you take pictures and view them, they will look very sharp, and life-like. If you check the specifications for other similar cameras made by Canon and Nikon, they tend to have around 130,000 pixels of resolution, often giving pictures a grainy appearance. There is only one flaw to this LCD screen, which I'll mention later on.

2) No red eye pictures. The manual mentions a hidden feature the V603 has ------- it actively scans eyes in the photographs you take, and automatically removes red-eye. (Page 9 + 33 in the manual) The camera also let's you set the flash to flash twice in order to remove more red-eye in pictures, but it is redundant since the post-processing in the camera automatically removes red-eye.

3) The battery life is good. Ultracompacts are known to have poor battery life, but on average, the V603 gives me about a whole day's worth of picture taking, video taking and picture reviewing. By the time I got home, it finally gave me a low battery warning. The low battery warning is great ------ the camera let's you take pictures for half an hour more before finally shutting off. Canon Elph cameras barely give you 5 minutes before shutting off on you. The V603 at least gives you the opportunity to finish up taking photographs.

4) Amazing panaramic feature. It's easy, you take 3 photographs, and the camera automatically stiches it inside of the camera! What's really amazing is that there is no overlap whatsoever ---- it combines into one seamless picture. Cameras from other name brands don't even do this. It can also enhances pictures, and crop inside of the camera. This is great if you are the type of person who likes printing directly from your camera to your printer, for you do not need a computer to enhance your pictures.

Cons:

1) The LCD smudges way too easily with fingerprints. It is not a problem when you're actually using the V603, because when the LCD is lit, you do not see the dust and fingerprints which accumulate on it. You will only see it when you turn off the camera. Honestly, it'll only affect you if you want to show off your V603 to other people, but it does not affect the operation of the camera in any way. Wiping it off with a cloth will be a necessity every now and then.

2) Quicktime video format. The V603 takes videos in Apple's proprietary format, which Windows Media Player does not natively understand. Keep that in mind if you have a PC. If you want to burn your videos on DVD, (since V603 takes TV quality video) you have to make sure your DVD video editing program handles Quicktime's .MOV files.

3) Some of the camera's features requires the Kodak software. I'm especially referring to the Favorites feature, where you can keep a portable photo album of 150 pictures in the cameras internal memory ------ yet, if you use a program other than Kodak's Easyshare to transfer your photographs, there's no way to make use of this Favorites feature at all. This is important to point out because not everyone likes the Kodak software ---- I think Google's Picasa is better at organizing photographs in your computer, but it cannot access the camera's Favorite mode.

Improvements from the older V550 model: The older model of this camera is the V550. This V603 has better buttons which are easier to press, the viewfinder was completely eliminated, is more battery efficient (perhaps due to improvements in internal circuitry or powersaving software), 6 megapixels vs 5 megapixels, and it doesn't with the photo frame stand which let's you sync and charge by dropping it in. Instead, the V603 comes with USB sync and an AC adapter wire to charge the camera. This is better for traveling as you don't have to take the big photo frame dock with you everywhere you go.

Other notes: Although it seems the V603 is meant for amateurs, there are features that photographers using SLRs would appreciate. The V603 does have a shutter priority mode, letting you keep the shutter open for up to 8 seconds, while the camera controls the aperture and other settings. It has the ability to show you a live histogram, letting you analyze a picture in real time to see if the camera will take a good exposure or not. It has a framing grid to help you frame your shot too. Last but not least, V603 also has an interesting blur warning system which rates every picture you take using a hand sign and color, letting you know if it's a good sharp picture or not. The scene modes help you adjust manual settings too. (For instance, selecting the Panning Shot mode allows the V603 to select an aperture setting which allows the background to blur, while keeping the foreground sharp and focused)

Overall ----- it is a great camera. People on the internet have a bias that Canon and Nikon are good cameras. The truth is that perhaps their $1000 SLRs are great, but their reputations shouldn't be rubbed off on cheaper point and shoot cameras. For point and shoot cameras, Kodak V603 outperforms any Canon Elph, Nikon or Casio camera you can use. The proof is in the great pictures, and the fast operation of the camera, which is easy and intuitive.

This is the third camera that I have tried out for my main family snapshots. This is an outstanding blend of style and performance and it is small enough to easily fit into your pocket. I was looking for good picture quality with a fast shutter/auto focus speed and this camera fits the bill. In addition, it shoots high quality (TV quality) video compressed in MPEG-4 meaning you can store 30 min of video on 1 GB of memory. This camera is truly a pocketable still and video shooter ready to capture anything you throw its way. I have tried the camera in many different lightings and it has performed very well with outstanding pictures all around. I would highly recommend this picture for anyone that wants good quality and fast performance in a small package.

On camera picture editing is OUTSTANDING where you can apply Kodak Perfect Touch processing to improve lighting and then crop the photos before you even take the pictures off the camera. The improvement from initial to quality print is amazingly easy with the camera editing. In addition, you can instantly see if the camera was still enough for a good picture or if it was shaky and time to try another shot. With this camera you can truly take all quality images.

Innovative design features! No more flimsy little plastic doors to access your memory card and charge your battery. The battery is charged by plugging a power cable directly into the side of the camera. Also, the memory card fits into a slot on the side of the camera for easy removal, but is very secure and will not accidently fall out. It is incredible nice not having to worry about carefully opening and closing plastic slide doors every time you want to download pictures or charge the battery!

The other cameras I tried included the Casio Z60 which is a great little camera, very fast, but shoots marginal quality pictures. I also tried the Sony W50 long enough to find the shutter/Autofocus lag totally unacceptable for pictures of my kids in motion. The Kodak beats both of these cameras hands-down.

V603 is a very small and well made compact point-and-shoot'er. I liked it's small size, brilliant LCD, and overall metal body. However, it uses too small battery that always make me nervous about the juice. (The camera won't show you the charge level unless it's almost gone) Also, V603 doesn't have any fancy mechanism like vibration reduction.
However, I'm very happy with it's software side, I mean, the operational software that's inside the camera.
It has a nice panorama stitching function, which lets you combine up to 3 pictures. Creates a very sharp and seamless panorama that was better than any similar software I've seen that runs on the computer. Another fun widget is called Perfect Touch, which compensates underexposures typical to a flash indoors shot. Of course you can do the similar thing in Photoshop, but hey, it's just more handier.
I recommend V603 for its low price, nice looks, and some of those fun and easy functions.

The first day I got my new v603 I used it to take a bunch of pictures of my new apartment to send to family and friends. I was impressed with the indoor shots, and the flash worked well when needed. Yesterday I used the camera extensively at an air show, and got amazing pictures and movies of the planes both in the air and on the ground. I could not be any happier with my choice, so check it out if youre looking to spend about $250 on a pocket camera that is packed with useful features. I cant believe how far these cameras have come in the few years since I bought my last camera! It is so easy to use, and though the buttons are smaller than on previous generations of cameras, they are easy enough to use and fit the compact design of the camera. If you want a bulky camera with bulky buttons to match, look for another product.

I love my little V603! I am so pleased, because every other camera I have tried has horrible shutter lag. This little baby takes the picture the INSTANT you push the button. That sold me on it.

But to add icing to that cake, it's packed full of features, and is small & stylish to boot! I'm still learning about all the settings (getting indoor pictures looking better), but my initial review is that I LOVE IT.

I received the Kodak V603 camera last Christmas from my parents, who wanted to get me a camera that was small enough to fit in my purse but that I would be able to take great pictures with. This camera met all those expectations and worked great for months. I took tons of pictures and video (which both came out great - the pictures were excellent quality, and when you watch the videos you would never guess that they were dont with such a little digital camera!) In July of this year, I charged my battery and my spare battery, as I was going to a wedding and wanted to use the pictures as part of their wedding gift. We made the trip down there, only to find that my camera was not working - with either battery. The camera would turn on, ask for the date and time to be reprogrammed, and then immediately shut off. Kodak advised me to send the camera to them, as it was still covered under warranty. They have since received it, and after inspecting the camera they told me that they would have to charge me for the repair, stating that I must have dropped it for the camera to not be working properly. I can assure you that I have never dropped my camera; I took great care of it the entire time it was in my possession. The insane part of all this is that they want me to pay $160 to repair the camera. It only cost $200 to begin with! And if you don't repair it, they charge you $50 for inspecting the camera and shipping it back. The only other option is to "scrap" the camera - which of course is a great option for them, as you lose the camera and they get to refurbish it and sell it again. Either way, they get their money for the camera twice. I would pay to have it repaired, but I have no way of guaranteeing that this won't happen again. I know that I did not ever drop the camera, so if that's not really the reason for why it stopped working, how am I to know that it won't happen again? As a result of this, I have chosen to do a little research and purchase a camera from a different company. I absolutely loved this camera while I had it, and I don't deny that it took amazingly crisp, perfect pictures almost every time. I am just extremely unhappy with the service from Kodak, and I feel that before you purchase the camera, consider the service you will receive if it does stop working.

This camera has been great, I've been using it for about 4 months, but i just got error E45 on screen -- lens will not retract. I am going to mail it in for warranty repair.

When I first bought this camera I loved it. It took great pictures and has great features.

After less than a year the screws have started to come out; the bottom is being held together by duct tape. Every once in a while the flash will dim so that none of my indoor pictures come out and then it will eventually return to full brightness for no apparent reason.

Now if I zoom in to full optical zoom the camera shuts off. This means I can't use the digital zoom at all and if I'm taking video and zoom "too far" I'm screwed. I've missed some of my dog's cutest moments because my camera shuts off when I zoom in.

Sometimes the camera won't turn on. I'm assuming this is because the battery loses it's connection; if I take it out and put it back in the camera turns on fine. It's annoying because whenever I change the battery I have to re-set the date and time, which is something I've never had to do with a camera before.

It also seems that my close up pictures aren't coming out as nicely as they used to; they're coming out mid-quality rather than high quality. This means that they'll come out slightly blurry when at full size making quality resizing impossible.

My last digi was a Kodak EasyShare as well and diminishing quality over time seems to be a regular thing with Kodak cameras.

As w/the other review, this camara is fantastic and produces quality fotos. The problem is w/the lense. It stopped retracting and now i have to buy a new one. I sent it in to be repaired once already for 150$ for the same problem. I have the V550 and now buying the V603 or higher since i already have the printer dock.

This camera arrived not working properly. I sent it to Kodak's warranty company and it was sent back as "repaired". I then stored the "repaired" camera for about 3 weeks till I used it again. It was not repaired and again did not work properly. I returned the camera again and was denied warranty. Not only that but Kodak's repair company wanted the same price to repair this camera again as buying an updated version. They also required rediculous return shipping and "evaluation" fees - $35 to get a unusable camera back. So I completely lost out. This was the very worst experience I have ever had with a company. Kodak has lost my business forever.