Kodak PIXPRO SL10, SL25 And SL5 Smart Lenses Hands-On Preview

We had a look at Kodak's new Smart Lenses at their launch event held at Warner Brother Studios in Leavesden, near Watford. These novel devices connect to a smartphone via Near Field Communications (NFC) and Wi-Fi, and are controlled via an app on the phone to convert your device into a fully-functional compact camera with zoom.

Kodak has developed these products as they realised most people use their phones for day-to-day photography and enjoy the ability to be able to share images instantly via apps on the phone, such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. As phones have become more sophisticated, many image editing solutions have been developed such as Adobe Photoshop Touch and Google Photos, this could make a very interesting mass-market product for those who enjoy taking images via their smart phones, but also want to use optical zoom. 



The smart lens comprises of self-contained unit with a zoom lens, sensor, zoom control and shutter button and rechargeable battery, leaving the app, which will be available for Android, Apple and Windows phones to take care of exposure, composition and other settings. The only physical connection between the lens and the phone is a folding expandable clip, which holds the lens securely to a phone or tablet. As the lens is connected wirelessly, the lens can be operated independently of the phone.

wo models will be available at launch both sporting high zoom ratio lenses, but with no built-in flash. The SL10 will sport a 10x zoom lens providing a field of view equivalent to a 28-280mm lens on a 35mm camera and will cost between £149 and £159. The SL25 sports a 25x zoom lens equivalent to 24-600mm and will cost around £179.



At the launch event, we were also shown a mock-up of the SL5, which will be launched sometime in the future. This smart lens sports a 5x zoom lens, equivalent to a 28-140mm lens on a 35mm  camera, but also includes a built in xenon flash, which should provide better performance in low light than the LED based lights currently used by smart phones to illuminate the scene.

Kodak PIXPRO SL10 Hands-On Photos of Equipment

Kodak PIXPRO SL25 Hands-On Photos of Equipment

Kodak PIXPRO SL5 Hands-On Photos of Equipment

Kodak PIXPRO SL10 Specifications

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