Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE i-Pod of Digital Cameras, July 21, 2008
This is THE BEST digital camera I have ever used/owned. In the time we have owned the camera, the pictures, video, and ease of use have been incredible. It is really easy to use, has many features which make it VERY simple to use - which is what a point and shoot camera should be. I've used an SLR, but needed a simple camera to just take great shots w/o effort. It only has three buttons - one of which is an info button - providing answers to questions about whatever is on the current screen. I didn't buy it for the touch screen, but it is great for flipping through photos for the one you want.
If your comparing with a Canon you should check the Kodak V1073 out first. I tried using one other Kodak model, and it seemed study, yet compared about the same as the other digital cameras around. The V1073 seems to be an (successful) experiment in breaking away from the typical Kodak camera, so I would limit my recommendation to only this camera.
CANON: The main reason I switched from Canon was the photo quality. I don't know if it's the technology or the internal software, but indoor pictures were inconsistent, and poor quality. The same picture taken seconds later at the same object, place, etc would look different. It would use the flash the first time, and not the second time?? I read books, blogs, everything. Changed the ISO until the quality broke down, nothing. Overall, pictures mostly turn out very dark or too bright with a flash. I did discover that this seems to be a recurring issue with canon point and shoot cameras as I found on amazon comments. Tired of owners manuals, ISO settings, etc, I began searching for a new camera, and accidentally ran into this camera in a store. I finally gave a U.S. camera company a chance, and it was worth it.
Background: I've owned about 4/5 digital cameras, and have experimented with many more. For the most part, I have bought the Canon series because of the look, weight, fairly ease of use, and very sturdy construction. However, as with most digital cameras (and technology as a whole) they have way to many features and little clear explanation of proper use.
Comment on previous comments about this camera:
-"the Kodak camera lense periodically "clicks" as it tries to adjust for lighting changes" I have not had this issue during the video mode. The camera will allow you to lock the focus if is an issue.
-"The battery and memory card Door [poor quality]" I will admit, this is the one thing I dislike about the camera. However, my last $350 canon battery door was no better. I've had no problems, and really don't expect I will.
-"The battery only lasted for about 30 minutes" My wife took over 100 10mp photos and uploaded it to our MacBook Pro with another day or two of power left over. Holds a good charge.
"battery bay latch also very easily comes unhooked" Never happened once in the time I've owned it
-"horrible video HD playback on PC" HD playback is INCREDIBLE. However, you do need software (just like you need the right TV and DVD Player) to effectively play HD. If you have a Mac, you will love this camera and the HD video as the camera video is formated for quicktime. It also works flawlessly with iPhoto and iMovie. PC owners - you have an inferior machine which will continue to become more and more inferior as technology moves forward. That said, I've played the video on my old PC laptop (with a free pc version of quicktime) with equal quality (pc owner for 20 years - recently switched to Apple). However, I doubt you will have any problem with this camera and a PC. I bought this camera instead of an $800 video camera to take extended videos of our first 3 month old son - and it works great. Video and photos in one easy to use package. Not sure why people still buy a camera for photos and a video camera for video. So many people I talk to still don't realize you can take video on most of todays cameras.
Pros: Work right out of the box/great pictures - clear, well lit - Kodak's PerfectTouch does a surprisingly good job of instantly fixing the photo after taken/great functionality/HD video/Clear settings/Touchscreen/info button explains how to setup for 4x6 photos, or whatever you want/very good light adjustment/Apple compatible/delete button offered on the screen right after you take the photo (if it's just a bad shot you don't want)/switches from view photos to take pictures simply by pressing the snapshot button halfway down - so simple!/solid feeling gunmetal construction/many other well thought out features
Cons:Battery door not the best construction/Battery must be charged while in the camera - no separate charger/camera has locked up twice - just remove battery for a sec and replace it - no photos lost - no big deal/only 3x's zoom - i have found it works fine for overall use.
Hope this helps...
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kodak Easy Share V1073, June 26, 2008
We bought this camera for our 17 yr. old daughter who is a picture-taking fanatic. She had an older Kodak Easy Share and was ready for a new one. She is having a blast with this new camera. It's easy to use, she loves the touch screen. The pictures are so clear and vibrant. It's a fun camera for any age. We have a Kodak all in one printer and the pictures print out better than the ones we had done at a store Kiosk.
We haven't had a problem with the battery compartment sliding open like other people have stated. This camera was purchased primarily for pictures not for the video feature, so I can't say anything about that.
All in all, I would say if you're an amateur camera buff, this camera should work just fine for you.
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22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Frustratingly decent camera with severe limitations, July 29, 2008
It's hard to choose a Kodak subcompact today when Canon remains the standard, with consistent quality through the years. If a particular Canon model is not the leader in it's class it's always a solid 2nd or 3rd, and no company has maintained such consistent standards in this catagory over the years. With such a time-tested pedigree why would anyone choose to NOT buy a Canon? Kodak, by comparison, has nearly vanished from the high end, with the majority of its models sub 100$ generic mediocrities.
In this context, i purchased the v1273 (the 12 megapixel version of this camera), the second most expensive camera offered on the market by Kodak today. So how does it fare?
Suprisingly well, in fact, but with some significant drawbacks.
For the 12mp, the HD quality on my 42" TV is stunningly acceptable (which creates a zoomed in, 16:9 9mp image). Kodak's secret is it's "Smart Capture" function which automatically applies Kodak's "Perfect Touch" technology. Which is, in a nutshell, automatic post-processing. It increase saturation, contrast, and other similar values automatically, creating stunning first-time photos without tedius work on the computer after the shoot. It also retains full access to most manual functions, although this requires a bit of hunting and pecking because these functions are not explained in the manual.
And that manual functions are not explained is just the beginning to this camera's drawbacks. There is no battery meter! You have to guess about how much charge it has; and this is important, as the touchscreen devours energy. The screen is completely illegible in bright sunlight - not sort of/kind of dark but completely washed out (98%-99% washed out). You cannot preview your photos without turning on the lens, and it remains on. It takes dissapointingly average "HD" video, which is all but the exact same as a 4 year old Casio Exilim, only larger. A camera with better lenses and image stabilization, like the Panasonic FZ-18k, takes vastly better videos, despite the megapixel gap.
Perhaps the biggest drawback is with it's very halmark. The Perfect Touch pseudo-postprocessing technology does well in bright sunny days with blue skies and green plants - but it tends not to choose the correct settings in early or late hours, or at night. The rich colors of sunsets tend to be washed out as it attempts to brighten the whole scene and make everything equally visible, blue-ify the sky and green-ify the trees around with somewhat oversaturated "Kodak" colors. Sadly getting pictures to look half as good with manual settings is nigh impossible and often the result is comically bad, like some polarized nightmare.
Still, with all that said... out of the box, on full auto, it took a better landscape picture on automatic than a full 1000$ Canon Eos 40D on auto (we compared). If you're an obsessive control freak about RAW data, ect., this camera will not make you happy. If you want beautiful pictures, on full auto, to show on your 1080p HD TV that make non-photophilles go "wow! ooh, ahh!", without any post-processing effort, this, or it's cousin the v1253, which doesn't have a horrible touchscreen, might be the camera for you.
Just be sure to bring an extra battery.
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