Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 Digital Compact Camera Review

Features
Handling
Performance
Verdict
Specification


Kodak Easyshare Sport C123

The Kodak Easyshare Sport has been around for a few months and has proved to be popular with retailers such as Amazon. It is waterproof and dustproof and is available for under £50.00, making it one of the cheapest waterproof digital cameras available.


Kodak Easyshare Sport C123

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 Features

The C123 has a 12 megapixel sensor but doesn't have any optical zoom, only 5x digital zoom. It is waterproof to a depth of 3m. and is sand, dirt and dust proof. There is also a Share button which makes it easy to tag photos in camera ready to share them on your favourite social networking site, such as Facebook or Flickr or a Kodak Pulse Digital Photo frame.

When shooting underwater the camera has an appropriate white-balance mode, helping to give true-to-life colours in the pool or sea. There are a range of scene modes available including auto, sport, portrait, snow, fireworks and backlight as well as five colour modes: vivid, full basic colour, black & white and sepia. There is also Face Detection with automatically adjusts the cameras settings for shots of friends and family.

The rear of the camera has a 2.4 inch LCD screen and the camera is powered by AA batteries. Videos can only be recorded in VGA as there is no HD recording available.


Kodak Easyshare Sport C123

Key Features:

• 12 megapixel sensor
• Waterproof to 3m
• Dust, dirt and sand proof
• Kodak Share button
• 2.4 inch LCD screen
• Powered by AA batteries
• VGA video recording
• Five colour modes
• Scene modes
• Face Detection

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 Handling

The C123 has the feel of a toy camera, and is built like a brick, but it really easy to hold thanks to the rubber grip on the front and is textured throughout. The buttons are easy to press, these include the Share button as well as menu, playback, delete, flash and mode select buttons. The menu system is easy to navigate especially as there aren't many mode options available. The screen is quite small at just 2.4 inches and it's dull and not particularly high resolution, so it's hard to get a good idea of what your pictures will look like until you see them on your computer.

The camera has a fixed focus, so it's rapid when pressing the shutter. The C123 is ready to take pictures within a couple of seconds and in continuous shooting it is capable of around 1.3 fps. Power is supplied by AA batteries and gives around 150 shots with alkaline batteries.


Kodak Easyshare Sport C123

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 Performance

When shooting without any zoom, image detail is OK but there is no optical zoom, the zoom is just digital, therefore a cropped version of the wide-angle image. It is impossible to shoot close up to anything so there are no macro sample shots to view. Images produced are well exposed and colour reproduction is also good but there are signs of vignetting.

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 Lens test images

1/640 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 100 High-Res	1/640 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 100 High-Res

Noise is evident in the images at the lowest setting of ISO80, it doesn't get much worse by ISO100 but you can clearly see a loss of detail and sharpness at ISO200. Images are starting to look blurry at ISO400 in patches and even more so at ISO800, with colour seriously affected. At ISO1250, the noise is so bad you can see it in the thumbnail without having to view the large image. Whites aren't particularly affected but all the other colours are full of noise.

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 ISO test images

ISO 80 High-Res	ISO 100 High-Res	ISO 200 High-Res
ISO 400 High-Res	ISO 800 High-Res	ISO 1250 High-Res

The following examples have been taken using some of the scene modes available. Portraits are OK, with decent skin tones and no red-eye.

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 Sample Photos

1/400 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 100 High-Res	1/1000 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 100 High-Res
Portrait | 1/60 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 160 High-Res	1/500 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 160 High-Res

Whether using the AWB setting or incandescent or fluorescent presets under the respective lighting, the images are all consistent with a good white-balance achieved and it is therefore unlikely you'd need to change from using the AWB setting. Pictures under fluorescent do tend to be a little underexposed.

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 White-balance test images

AWB preset - incandescent lighting | 1/15 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 100 High-Res	Incandescent preset - incandescent lighting | 1/15 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 100 High-Res
AWB preset - fluorescent lighting | 1/8 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 100 High-Res	Fluorescent preset - fluorescent lighting | 1/8 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 100 High-Res

The following images are all examples taken using each of the colour modes available.

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 Digital filters

Basic colour | 1/8 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 290 High-Res	Black and white | 1/8 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 267 High-Res	Full colour | 1/8 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 279 High-Res
Sepia | 1/8 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 270 High-Res	Vivid colour | 1/8 sec | f/4.5 | 6.3 mm | ISO 267 High-Res

Video Mode

The below video is a 640 x 480 VGA as there is no HD recording available on the C123.

Value For Money

The Easyshare Sport C123, priced at about £50, is one of the cheapest cameras around and is certainly the cheapest waterproof camera going. If you are looking for a camera and have a tight budget, take a look at our Top 10 Best Budget Digital Cameras. If you want a waterproof camera, we have a roundup of our Top 7 Cameras For Active Photographers.

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 Verdict

Testing the Easyshare Sport C123 was an interesting experience. The camera can take a good picture but it is best to avoid using an ISO setting higher than ISO200. There is no optical zoom and no macro facility by the camera is very cheap and waterproof. If you're the kind of person that is in the habit of dropping or losing expensive equipment or are looking for a present for a child the C123 might just appeal.

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 Pros

Very cheap camera
Waterproof
Easy to share photos
Easy to grip
Colour modes

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 Cons

No macro facility
High levels of noise at the lowest ISO settings
No optical zoom

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 Specifications

Manufacturer	Kodak
Lens
	Max Aperture	No Data
	35mm equivalent	38mm
	Optical Zoom	1x
Image Sensor
	CCD pixels	12Mp (Megapixels)
	Pixels (W)	4000
	Pixels (H)	3000
	Sensor Type	CCD
	Sensor Size	1/2.3 inch
	Sensor Size (width)	6.16mm
	Sensor Size (height)	4.62mm
	Aspect Ratio	4:3 3:2 16:9
LCD Monitor
	LCD Monitor	2.4in
	Screen resolution	112,000 dots
	Touch Screen	No
Focusing
	Min Focus	No Data
	Focusing modes
Exposure Control
	Shutter speeds shortest	1/1400sec
	Shutter speeds longest	8sec
	Exp modes
	Metering
	ISO sensitivity	80 - 1250
	White balance
	Exposure Comp	+/-2
Shooting Options
	Continuous shooting	No Data
Video
	Movie mode	Yes
	Video Resolution	640x480 VGA
	Video FPS	30
	Stereo Sound	No
	Optical Zoom with Video	No
Other Features
	Image Stabilisation	No Data
Interface
	HDMI	No
	USB	USB 2
	Wi-Fi	No
Storage
	Card Type	SD SDHC
	File Type	JPG
Power Source
	Battery Type	2 AA batteries: alkaline, lithium, or Ni-MH
	CIPA Rating	0
Box Contents
	Box Contents	Kodak Alkaline AA Batteries or equivalent, Wrist strap, USB cable, User Guide
Dimensions
	Weight	175g
	Width	90mm
	Height	65mm
	Depth	30mm

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