Kodak Easyshare Sport C123

Let me start by saying what I was looking for in a camera.  I wanted a camera that would obviously take above average photos, was waterproof, compact, yet buttons were easy to get to with wet cold fingers, had the ability to do video and was not too expensive.  The expensive part was the most critical for me.  There are plenty of cameras out there that I looked at online and in stores that met all of the above but were a little too pricey for me.  Price was such a major concern for me due to the fact that where this camera will be primarily used there is a better than average chance of it getting lost at the bottom of a river or lake.  I would much rather spend a little less on a camera and have to replace it due to loss than have to replace one that cost several hundred dollars.

That being said so far this camera has worked out very well for me.  The camera in question is the Kodak Easyshare Sport C123.  This camera was bought for me as a birthday present from my wife so that I could have a camera other than my cell phone while kayaking, fishing and doing whatever else we might do while outdoors. 

The camera came in the package with a standard wrist strap, USB cable, 2 AA batteries and user manual.  Unfortunately it did not come with a SD card or a floating wrist strap as some did.  I picked up a 4 GB Sandisk SD card for about $12 along with the camera and plan to get one of the floating wrist straps at some point.  Here are some of the specifications for the camera from the Kodak website:

Effective Pixels - 12MP (4026 x 3026)
Zoom - 5X Advanced Digital
Display - 2.4 in. 112K TFT color LCD
Dimensions - 3.6W x 2.6H x 1.2D
Weight - 6.2 oz with batteries and SD card

You can find the full specifications on the Kodak site at the link above.

The first time the camera was used was by my wife on our kayaking trip last week.  We were on the water for about 6 - 7 hours and over 180 pictures were taken.  The camera performed remarkably with no problems at all.  The pictures turned out great and some can be seen in my Kayaking Photo Album.  I was very impressed with how well the camera took action photos.  Several pictures my wife took of Jordan fly fishing caught the rod in motion with no blur or anything.  She also snapped a picture of some geese taking flight that looked like they just froze in midair. 

The camera buttons were very easy to get to even with my larger hands.  There are not a lot of buttons on the camera to push which is a bonus in my opinion, especially how this camera is used.  It was easy to use and the menus were not over loaded with too many features to make them hard to get around in. 

The LCD stayed clear all day even with the heat of the sun and cold temperatures of the water.  It was also very easy to make out the display in the glare of the sun.  I was very impressed by this as most electronics like cell phones and such are next to impossible to read in the glaring sun.

The camera didn't spend a huge amount of time in the water but it was splashed several times and hanging from my wife's PFD it was submersed a few times when she got out of the kayak.  I also intentionally dipped it a couple of times just to see how it would react.  It never appeared to get any water or condensation into the camera itself.

One thing of note that the camera does that I have yet to try out is take underwater pictures.  There is a mode just for this.  I have read a few things online about this mode that says it works quite well.  Although we never used this option it does take pictures looking into the water quite well for not having a polarized lens. 

The only draw back that I found to the camera was the battery life.  As I said earlier the trip lasted about 6 - 7 hours and a little over 180 pictures were taken.  By the end the battery meter was showing half way.  this was with turning the camera off and on quite often.  I am sure that uses quite a bit of battery life so I will have to try it some time with just leaving it on the entire trip.

Overall I am very pleased with this camera.  At a price of about $70 it is well worth every penny.  There are better out there I am sure but at a much higher cost.  I would highly recommend this camera to anyone who is looking for one with uses much like my own.