Kodak V610 Design

The Kodak V610 is an eye-opener in the Kodak EasyShare lineup and even among its stablemates in the Pocket series. Featuring a plastic faceplate with a circular pattern, it seems to draw light to its two zoom lenses. Combined, the two lenses give the Kodak V610 the power of a 10x zoom in a package that you can fit in your pocket. Measuring only 4.3 x 2.2 x 0.9 inches (11 x 5.5 x 2.3 centimeters), and weighing only 5.6 ounces (160 grams) without the card or battery, the V610 is at home in shirt pockets and small purses, and comes with a small wrist strap to save it from damage should it slip out of your hands. We recommend a case to keep from scratching the nice finish on the Kodak V610.

The Kodak V610's dual lens platform is just off center on the camera's front panel, with an automatic sliding lens cover that remains just below flush with the front panel so that there are no protrusions to snag on pockets. The lens remains behind the front panel when powered on, keeping the camera extremely low-profile, even while shooting. The camera's microphone sits behind a series of small holes in the top left corner while the flash occupies the right corner. Also protected behind the Kodak V610's lens cover and nestled between the two lenses are a light sensor and a video/self-timer lamp.

The right side of the Kodak V610 (as viewed from the rear) holds a tiny eyelet for the wrist strap.

The opposite side of the Kodak V610 hosts the DC-In connection.

The Kodak V610's top panel is flat with low-profile controls. From left to right, the Favorites, Movie, and Auto are grouped slightly to the left of the Power, Flash, and Shutter buttons. Cool blue LEDs light the mode buttons when the camera is powered on and charging. When the V610 is plugged into a power supply or sitting in its cradle, these lights serve as a gauge of how the charge is progressing, starting with one, and ending with all three lights illuminated. It's a nice touch.

The rest of the camera controls are on the rear panel, along with the 2.8-inch LCD monitor. A Zoom rocker button in the top right corner controls optical and digital zoom. Directly below that is the multi-controller, which actuates Up, Down, Left, or Right, and navigates menu options. Pressing the center of the button acts as the OK button. The Up and Down controls also cycle through the Monitor Display and Focus modes, respectively. Lining up on the left side of the Kodak V610's LCD monitor are the Scene, Delete, Menu, Review and Share buttons. A tiny LED Ready lamp to the right of this column of buttons lights to indicate camera focus or flash status. Directly below it is the speaker grill.

On the bottom panel of the Kodak V610 are the tripod mount, dock port, and battery/memory card compartment. The metal, threaded tripod mount is in the right corner, far from the battery compartment for quick battery changes while working with a tripod. The battery compartment itself features a locking, hinged door, which slides forward to open. Inside, a small sliding lock holds the battery in place. There's also a slot for an SD/MMC memory card, which pops in and out of place with a downward press of your finger. The dock connection jack connects the camera directly to the EasyShare dock for quick image downloading.

 

Kodak V610 External Controls

Shutter Button: Located on the far right of the Kodak V610's top panel, this button sets focus and exposure when halfway pressed, and fires the shutter when fully pressed. In Playback mode, pressing this button returns the camera to the selected Record mode.

Flash Button: To the left of the Shutter button, this button cycles through the Auto, Fill, Red-Eye Reduction, and Off flash modes.

Power Button: Just left of the Kodak V610's Flash button, this button turns the camera on and off, illuminating the currently active Record mode.

Auto Mode Button: To the left of the Kodak V610's Power button, this button enters the Auto exposure mode when pressed once.

Movie Mode Button: Directly to the left of the Auto button, this button enters Movie mode, for recording video clips with sound.

Favorites Button: The final button in the series on the Kodak V610's top panel, this button puts the camera into Favorites mode, which lets you view images tagged as "Favorites" in a type of digital photo album.

Zoom Rocker Button: In the top right corner of the Kodak V610's rear panel, this two-way rocker button controls the optical and digital zoom in any record mode. In Playback mode, the lever controls the amount of digital enlargement applied to captured images, to a maximum of 8x. Pressing the Wide (W) button zooms out to a 9-thumbnail view.

Multi-Controller and OK Button: Located in the lower-right corner of the Kodak V610's rear panel, this joystick-like rocker button navigates through menu screens and options. Pressing the center button confirms menu selections. Outside of the menu system, the right and left buttons adjust the exposure compensation. The up button controls the LCD display mode, while the down button cycles between Normal AF, Macro, and Landscape focus modes.

In Playback mode, the controller scrolls through captured images, when moved left and right.

Scene Button: The first button in the column of controls on the left side of the Kodak V610's back, this button displays a tidy screen of Scene options. Three rows of Scene icons are neatly arranged in the bottom half of the screen, leaving the top half available for a text explanation of the currently selected one. Options in this mode are Portrait, Panoramic L-R, Panoramic R-L, Sport, Landscape, Close-up, Night Portrait, Night Landscape, Snow, Beach, Text, Fireworks, Flower, Manner/Museum, Self-portrait, Party, Children, Backlight, Panning Shot, Candle light, Sunset, and Custom preset shooting modes.

Delete Button: Below the Scene button, this button calls up the Delete menu in Review mode. You can delete individual images or all images on the card. There's also an option to cancel.

Menu Button: Next in line below the Delete button, this button displays the settings menu in Playback or Record modes.

Review Button: Beneath the Menu button, this button activates Playback mode when pressed in any Record mode. Once in Playback mode, pressing the button again, or the Shutter button, returns to the Record display.

Share Button: The final button in the series on the left of the LCD monitor, this button lets you tag images for printing, emailing, or as a favorite image. (A heart icon appears on "favorite" images.) Pressing this button in Record mode automatically enables Playback mode, and displays the Share menu with the following options:

• Print: Designates the number of copies of the current image to be printed.
• E-Mail: E-mails a low-resolution copy of the image to a recipient, based on a saved address book.
• Favorite: Marks the current image as a "favorite."
• Bluetooth: Accesses the Bluetooth controls, allowing you to send images and set up Bluetooth options.
• Print All: Sets the camera to print all images, and allows you to set how many copies.
• Cancel Prints: Clears all checkmarks from images currently marked for printing.
• Select All: Allows you to quickly select all images for printing, emailing, sending to Favorites, or sending via Bluetooth.