Features

Apart from a few nuts and bolts, this latest addition to the V-series of Kodak has pretty much carried forward the feature-set of its predecessors. The only thing that I found different was the new body and paint job, and the CCD resolution.

As aforementioned, the V1003 also has a 1/1.8-inch CCD that delivers effective 10.16 MP resolution images.

This 10 MP camera features a 36-108 mm (35 mm equiv.) lens that allows you to print pictures up to 30 x 40 inch in size. A variety of ISO options like - ISO equivalent 80-160 (auto), and 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600 allow users to click normal scenes, party shots, or fast moving objects with ease.

The V1003 has Exposure compensation of +/- 2.0 EV with 0.3 EV steps. This gives the user complete freedom over the choice of light settings. Exposure settings vary from 0.5-8 seconds giving an enthusiast room to experiment, a bit more than usual. The Flash works in 3 modes viz., Auto, Fill, Digital Red-Eye Reduction.

The V1003 features multiple drive and self-timer modes like single shot, and 2 and 10 seconds self-timer. There's a 2-shot self-timer and a burst shot mode as well. Apart from the Auto Mode for shooting, the V803 features 22 different scene modes that allow you to shoot in a wide variety of environments. It can be a little confusing sometimes though.

One of the modes that I really liked was the Panorama mode; it allows taking up to 3 shots and that can be stitched together to give you a single pan image.

There are 5 different color effects (High Color, Natural Color, Low Color, Black and White, and Sepia), as well as 3 sharpness adjustments (Sharp, Standard, and Soft) available.

The Macro setting allows you to focus on subjects that are as close as 6 cm. The camera offers 3 auto-focus systems: TTL-AF, multi-zone AF, and center zone AF; one can choose from Single, Continuous, Macro, or Landscape focus. Exposure metering systems available are multi-pattern, center-weighted, center-spot, and an auto TTL-AE system. There's an AF assist lamp as well that helps achieve focus in low-light situations.

Video capture is continuous MPEG-4 with audio capture and full optical zoom as well. Videos are captured in VGA (640 x 480 pixels) at 30 fps and QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) at 30 fps. Length of the movie depends on the amount of memory you have.

A histogram is available in both, shooting and playback modes.

It also includes on-camera picture-enhancing features like cropping, auto picture rotation, digital red-eye reduction, blurry picture alert (digital image stabilization), and Kodak Perfect Touch. This model also integrates Kodak's Share button with its 'favorites' feature for storing multiple pictures in an on-camera digital photo album.

The V1003 uses a Kodak proprietary KLIC-7003 that can be charged in-camera using the 5V charger provided in the bundle. It supports the ImageLink and PictBridge printing standards.

I/O interfaces for the V1003 include an A/V output (NTSC or PAL, user-selectable), KODAK Camera Dock/Printer Dock Interface and a digital (USB 2.0) port.