Kodak Easyshare V610 Digital Camera Announced, Smallest 10x Optical Zoom

[Ben Stafford]

Grabbing the title of "World's Smallest 10x Optical Zoom", the Kodak Easyshare V610 uses the dual lens system, previously seen on the Kodak Easyshare V570, to get a 38-380mm (35mm equivalent) focal length.  The camera, that looks almost exactly like the V570, packs the long zoom range into a body that is only 0.9 inches thick.  The V610 will be available in "coming weeks" at an MSRP of $449.

(view large image)

The V610 features two Schneider-Kreuznach C-Variogon all glass lenses and a 6 megapixel sensor for each lens.  One lens has a 35mm equivalent focal length of 38-114mm, while the other has a range of 130-380mm.  The dimensions of the camera, slightly larger than the V570, are 4.4 x 2.2 x 0.9 inches.  A 2.8 inch LCD with 232K pixels of resolution provides a large way to to view and share images.

V570 on left, Kodak Easyshare V610 on right (view large image)

Another innovative feature is that the V610 will be Bluetooth enabled.  A Bluetooth 2.0 radio will allow image transfer to other Bluetooth devices within range.  You can send images to mobile phones, PDAs, Kodak printing kiosks or Kodak Easyshare printers.

The zoom range can also be used during movie capture.  Capture movies at up to a resolution of 640x480 at 30 frames per second.  Digital image stabilization during movie capture keeps the MPEG-4 encoded movies as shake free as possible.

Kodak will also be introducing their new patent-pending algorithm for noise reduction.  In order to minimize blur and the telephoto end of their 10x zoom, the camera will shoot at up to ISO 800.  To combat the extra noise, a noise reducing algorithm becomes a must.

Other features of the Kodak Easyshare V610 are:

• Kodak Perfect Touch technology - corrects lighting after the image is capture
• Panorama stitch mode - stitch together up to 3 pictures in-camera
• 22 scene modes, 3 color modes, and one custom mode
• Selectable exposure metering, exposure compensation, focus zones, ISO, and single/continuous auto-focus for precise control
• 28MB of internal storage and an SD memory card slot for more storage
• Favorites mode, that will store 100 pictures in an on-camera album for sharing and synchronizing with the Kodak Easyshare Gallery online service

For more product details, see the Kodak Easyshare V610 Data Sheet (PDF)

[UFG]

It's kind of disappointing that the lenses are both so slow. I guess if most people are taking shots outside at disneyland or something, it won't matter too much, but f3.9-4.4 for the 38-114mm is kind of sad, and the f4.8 for the 130-380mm is just abysmal.

[Ben Stafford]

Yeah, I'm sure there are some decent sacrifices that need to be made in order to get the hardware packed into the small body.