Kodak EasyShare V1273

Key Specs

Camera Class: Point-and-shoot
Resolution: 12 megapixels
Optical Zoom: 3x
LCD Size (Diagonal): 3 inches
Memory-Card Support: SD/SDHC
Built-In Memory: 32MB
Battery Form Factor: Proprietary
Video-Recording Support: Yes
Weight: 5.2 ounces

Kodak EasyShare V1273 Review

Kodak’s EasyShare V1273 is at once a delightful camera and an incredibly frustrating one. It scores high marks for looks and build quality, but it can also be very difficult to use.

The first thing one notices about the V1273 is that it is very good-looking—in fact, it’s probably one of the best-looking digital camera Kodak has ever produced. The V2173 is a matte grey, all-steel camera that looks hewn from a block of moon rock. Even better, the V1273’s build quality matches its excellent design.

In its specifications, too, the V1273 looks promising: It features a 3x optical zoom Schneider-Kreuznach lens (Schneider’s lens designs are celebrated in professional circles), a 12-megapixel sensor, a large 3-inch LCD touch screen, optical image stabilization, and even the ability to capture HD (720p) movies. The V1273 features a whopping 21 scene modes in addition to its handy Smart Capture mode. It offers all of this for an MSRP of $229.95.      

The V1273 is also capable of producing some very good images for a camera in its class. The V1273’s 12-megapixel sensor captures a lot of detail, producing images that can be enlarged for almost any use. Its noise control is fairly good and its images are, in general, properly exposed with vibrant colors. The camera’s video output isn’t bad, either, and it’s certainly good enough quality to capture birthday scenes or soccer games.

In terms of performance, the V1273 doesn’t stand out among cameras at its price point. Its startup time is slightly long at about 4.5 seconds and shot-to-shot time is just over 1 second. Kodak’s Smart Capture feature did reasonably well at choosing the right scene modes, which should make taking pictures a bit easier for novices.

On the other hand, the V1273 has a terrible LCD and a touch-screen interface that is not intuitive to use. The LCD is basically unusable in bright sunlight, and in low light, the display is extremely noisy. Compounding matters, the images displayed on the LCD appear dramatically different than what you see when you download them to the computer. The difference was so striking that, on the LCD, it appeared the camera got the wrong white balance when in fact it hadn’t. Overall, it's one of the worst LCDs we have seen in years.

As if the LCD weren’t bad enough, the touch screen interface is so complicated that it almost makes a mockery of the V1273’s physical simplicity. The menus are slow, and it's often unclear what each touch screen button does. In the hands of less-experienced shooters, controlling the camera is likely to be a challenge.

In the end, it's difficult to make a final judgment on the V1273. On one hand, it’s extremely well-built and it produces good images. On the other hand, simply taking pictures with this camera can be a challenge.

Price (at time of review): $229.95 (Direct Price)

Herlyscephas