Kodak's V1253 camera is slim and fairly small, but it manages to include a large and wide 3in screen for composing pictures. There's no optical viewfinder so such a big screen – which takes up almost the entirety of the back panel – is handy for lining up shots and reviewing them afterwards.

The 12-megapixel resolution is good enough for almost all kinds of printing, and overall quality was very impressive. We saw little noise even in relatively low light conditions, and colour balance was generally excellent. Like all of Kodak's recent models it's very easy to use, with simple menus accessed using the buttons mounted by the side of the screen.

However, the Kodak menus take a bit of getting used to, although once you get the hang of them they make a certain amount of sense. In addition to still images, it can take video in high definition. While not up to the level of a proper camcorder, the videos are fairly good. It takes SD memory cards, but annoyingly it uses a non-standard USB cable for the computer connection, so if you lose it, it's extra cash.

That aside this is a very impressive camera.

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