Kodak PixproS-1 (699.99) with 12-45mm, 42.5-160mm, and 42.5-60mm lenses is the ultimate mixed bag. It's solidly constructed with tilting rear displays, in-body imaging stabilization and in-camera WiFi. But its value is predicated on two bundled lenses—as a body only ($499.99) it's not a great deal when compared with similar cameras from top-tier manufacturers—but those lenses are, in a word, junk.
It's not recommended if you add in slow performance. You can find a Micro Four Thirds camera for less than $299.99, such as the Olympus PEN PEN EPL6 (with 14-42mm lens) or you could spend a little more to get our Editors' Choice Sony Alpha 6000 at Dell Technologies ($549.99) which has superior features on almost every level.
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Design and Features
S-1 Micro Four Thirds cameras are a standard size, with dimensions of 2.7 by 4 by 1.4 by 1.4 inches (HWD), and weights 10.2 ounces. Kodak has two colors available: black and white. Olympus EPL6 is a smaller version of the EPL5 (at Amazon).The flash has no built-in flash. However, an external clip-on flash can be mounted in the hotshoe and does not require batteries.
It feels solid. The exterior of the body is mostly made from metal. There's also a small rubberized grip on the front. On the top is the shutter release and power switch. To the left of the tilting LCD, the rest of controls are located on the back. A dedicated movie button is located on the back, to the right of tilting LCD. There are four directional buttons and two Fn buttons. Menu and playback control controls can also be found there. The directional controls can adjust drive mode, exposure, information displayed on rear display and even engage focus or exposure lock.
Although the rear wheel spins freely, setting the aperture or shutter speed is difficult when using priority modes. Most cameras have controls that allow you to turn the rear wheel. To adjust these settings, tap the directional pad. Next, select the exposure control to be adjusted (EV Compensation and Shutter Speed and ISO). Fn1 is the default Picture Effect. Options include Vivid, Black, White and a few Kodak Film Emulation Modes and many art filters. Fn2 alters the focus area. Both can be changed via the menu.
Rear display: The standard 3-inch LCD you would expect from a mirrorless camera. JK Imaging, the company that makes the Kodak digital cameras, claims it has a resolution of 921k dots. However, it does not look as sharp to me as the Sony Alpha 5100 (Amazon: $489). You can tilt the display so that you can take photos at your waistline or directly above your head. However, it does not face forward when taking selfies. An adapter can be used to attach SLR lenses to the mirrorless camera.
Manual focus can be tricky—the camera will automatically magnify the center of the Live View feed when manually focusing a Micro Four Thirds lens, but there's no way to do this with an adpated SLR lens. This cherry blossom macro was taken with an older Pentax 100mm macro lens. However, focus was not what I expected. I couldn't get the image without magnification and my rear view wasn't good enough to confirm it.
Kodak offers Wi-Fi in-camera, and it works well. You can copy JPG and video from your phone to the camera by pairing it with Pixpro for Android or iOS. Your phone and tablet can be used as remote controls. You have full control of exposure. Live View is very smooth and you can adjust exposure settings via touch. To access Wi-Fi, there is an area on the mode dial.
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Conclusions and Performance
The S-1 is packed with useful features but its performance is poor. The camera takes an eternity—2.9 seconds—to start and capture an in-focus shot. Autofocus is also poky—in good light it requires an average of 0.35-second to lock focus and fire a shot. It is not consistent in speed. The camera locks on in some shots quickly, while slowing down to 0.6 seconds in other.
Based on two dozen photos, our average speed was approximately 0.6 seconds. Olympus E-PL5 is the same camera that the E-PL6 in budget-friendly mode. It starts up in 1.5 seconds, shoots continuously in 0.1-second and focuses consistently in 0.1-second.
In dim lighting, focus slows down a little. In these conditions it takes approximately one second to fire the camera and lock it. However, that is still a good result compared to other competitors. If you shoot in JPG mode, at a speed of 4.2fps and 35 shots per second, burst photography is possible.
However you will need to wait 7.6 seconds for the buffer to fill before you can capture another shot. In-body stabilization is a feature of the S-1 that stabilizes handheld photos. I found it possible to achieve crisp results with slower shutter speeds (as low at 1/15 seconds at 45mm), as well as long exposures where you can feel your sensor shift to compensate for shaking.
JK Imaging sent an S-1 equipped with a 2-lens set for our review. You can also purchase the S-1 as a body ($499.99) or bundle it with one lens. You cannot purchase the lenses separately. The included lenses—a 12-45mm f/3.5-6.3 and 42.5-160mm f/3.9-5.9—cover an incredible range, a 24-320mm field of view in full-frame terms. They are of questionable quality. Although the 12-45mm collapsible model is smaller than the Olympus M.Zuiko14-42mm ($224.99 Amazon)There's noticeable catch as you zoom and the all-plastic lens mount doesn't look durable.
Micro Four Thirds cameras are the S-1. Although some people use this term to describe all mirrorless cameras it is not. Each mirrorless camera from Fujifilm, Samsung and Samsung uses their proprietary mounts. Olympus and Panasonic, along with Kodak and Olympus share the Micro Four Thirds mounting, which allows you to use compatible lenses from Sigma or Voigtlander as well.
The Olympus M.Zuiko 12-mm f2.0 lens ($699.99 Amazon) was mounted perfectly and focussed well. Only problem is the S-1 uses a slightly lower level of in-camera correction to Olympus cameras than Olympus bodies. This means that photos taken with wide-angle lenses with Olympus are more likely to show barrel distortion.
Also, quality control can be a problem. The first 12-45mm lens that I tested would almost always misfocus when used with the S-1. Although the camera showed a green indicator of focus, it fired up a shot. However, as you will see, reality was not what they had in mind. This behavior didn't occur when the lens was paired with an Olympus digital camera. JK Imaging sent us a second lens copy, which was able to focus on the S-1 without any issues. However, it is not good news that the retail lens that was included in our review kit had a problem.
Imatestwas used to test the sharpness and contrast of the lenses. In terms of sharpness, the 12-45mm lens is superior to the other lenses. It shows 2,001 lines per inch on the center-weighted sharpness testing at 12m f/3.5. This is more than we need to see in an image. It also shows a lot of quality throughout the frame. The outer third is the most murky with 1,366 lines.
A modest improvement can be made by dropping to f/5.6 (2,105 lines on average and 1,632 lines around the edges). The sharpness of the edges is at 2,079 lines and f/8 (1704 lines). If you purchase this camera you will probably be shooting JPG. However, if your intention is to shoot Raw you should know that the barrel distortion at 12mm (2.6%) can cause significant problems.
The 45mm lens still looks great, with 1,929 lines and a very small f/6.3 aperture. At 1,608 lines, edges aren't bad. The overall score is improved to 2,218 lines by reducing the f/8 setting. This gives a fairly consistent performance edge to edge. The pincushion distortion of about 1 percent in raw images gives straight lines an extremely slight inward curve.
It is not nearly as sharp as the 12-15mm. It shows 1,980 lines when it is at its broadest angle and aperture (42mm f/3.9), and 2,238 lines when it is at f/5.6. JPG photos exhibit a little barrel distortion (1.7%), while Raw photos display a noticeable 2.7%. This is the best lens you can get. At 84mm f/4.6 the sharpness score drops to 1,620 lines—you'll want to stop down to f/5.6 for the best image quality (2,067 lines). Raw and JPG images are free from distortion, but at the very least it isn't.
The lens' edge performance is compromised at 112mm, where f/5.1 sharpness drops to 1,518 lines. Blurry is evident in the outer third, with only 891 lines. However, f/8 increases the score to 1,957 lines. Edges are still blurry at 1,179 lines. It drops to 160mm f/5.9, showing only 1,222 lines and blurry edges of 849 lines. Although it is better with f/8 (1.756 lines), the edges only display 1,159 lines.
Imatest checks for noise as well. This can affect detail and make photos look grainy if you shoot at higher ISO levels. ISO can jump when you shoot in low light or with narrow apertures. You can use the included lenses to achieve this, particularly if you reduce their aperture down to f/8. This will improve image quality. Although the S-1 performs well at ISO high shooting, it is not as good as other cameras of its type. The S-1 keeps ISO 6400 noise below 1.5 percent when it shoots JPGs with default settings.
However, a closer examination of the test images on our calibrated NEC MultiSyncPA271W ($999.00 at Amazon)shows that there are very poor image quality. The ISO 3200 photos are more impressive, while the Olympus PEN E-PL7 at Amazondisplays similar quality images when pushed up to ISO 6400.
Raw mode will allow you to take the camera further. Although noise is a problem, detail can be maintained through ISO 6400. ISO 12800 is also available. This camera is not the best choice if your goal is to shoot in Raw or need a low-light performer. Olympus E-PL7 and the Sony Alpha 6000 are all excellent mirrorless options.
QuickTime supports video at 1080p30 resolution. It's not as sharp as I expected. Textures are blurred, and bold text is a bit too sharp at the edges. It takes a while for the camera to adjust the focus and is quite loud. An external microphone cannot be connected to the camera, however there's a micro HDMI connector that can connect to an HDTV. You can plug your camera into the standard micro USB port to transmit data or to charge it with an AC adapter. An external charger is recommended if you purchase an additional battery.
The $700 Kodak PixproS-1 kit, which includes two lenses and sells at a lower price than the retail price of its components, isn't worth it. The 12-45mm lens is poorly constructed, and while it features a collapsible design, it's a little bit bigger—and not of the same quality—as the 14-42mm lens that Olympus bundles with its Micro Four Thirds cameras. The 42.5-160mm lens is mediocre in quality, even though it has telephoto reach. You can either spend less for a single lens kit or buy a camera body and use it with other high-quality lenses. However, this is not as affordable as the more expensive options.
The $300 Olympus PEN EPL6 includes a 14-42mm lens. It is hard to beat that. Its one drawback is the lack of Wi-Fi, but you can always grab an Eyefi Mobi card ($12.99 at Amazon) to add that functionality. Olympus' E-PL7 has Wi-Fi built in, is the same price as the S-1 and offers a better overall option. The Editors' Choice Sony A6000 mirrorless camera is our favourite. It has a 11.1fps burst speed and an electronic viewfinder. Although it does not use the Micro Four Thirds lens system, you can get a 16-50mm zoom at the same price.