Kodak PIXPRO S-1 Review

Features

Handling
Performance
Verdict
Specification

The Kodak PIXPRO S-1 is a new Micro Four Thirds compact system camera from JK Imaging Ltd, who are using the Kodak name under license from Kodak. Announced last year, the camera has been introduced with a Kodak PIXPRO 12-45mm f/3.5-6.3 lens, a 42.5-160mm telephoto zoom lens, and a 400mm fieldscope telephoto lens. The camera features a 16 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor, a 3inch tilting screen, FullHD video recording, sensor shift image stabilisation, built in Wi-Fi, and 4fps continuous shooting.

Kodak PIXPRO S-1 Features

The Kodak PIXPRO S-1 comes with a new Kodak PIXPRO 12-45mm kit lens starts at a wider than normal 12mm (24mm equivalent), and zooms to a slightly longer than most 45mm (90mm equivalent). For more optical zoom there is the Kodak PIXPRO 42.5 - 160mm f/3.9-5.9 telephoto zoom lens, equivalent to 85-320mm in 35mm equivalent terms, and the Kodak PIXPRO S-1 will be available as a double lens kit with both lenses in the box. 

There is a 3inch tilting screen on the rear with a 920k dot resolution. The camera has built in Wi-Fi for remote control as well as easy image transfer to a compatible smartphone running Android or iOS. Sensor shift image stabilisation is built into the camera and should work with any lens attached. The camera doesn't have a built in flash, but instead features a separate pop up flash in the box, that attaches to the cameras hot-shoe. The camera records Full HD video with stereo sound at 30fps, 720p video at 60fps and high-speed 640 (VGA) video at 120fps.

Scene modes include panoramic shooting, multi-exposure (burst shot), face beautifier, as well as cat / dog mode, designed to automatically take a photo when a cat or dogs face is detected. There are a number of effects available including Kodachrome, Ektachrome and Kodacolour Kodak film emulation modes. 

Key Features

• 16 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor
• Micro Four Thirds lens mount
• Sensor shift optical image stabilisation
• 3inch tilting screen, 920k dots
• Built in Wi-Fi connectivity
• FullHD Video, 30fps, 720p video at 60fps, VGA video at 120fps
• ISO200 to ISO12800
• 4fps continuous shooting
• 360 panoramic shooting
• Available in White and Black

Kodak PIXPRO S-1 Handling

The body is a combination of metal and plastic, with the top plate and rear of the camera being made out of plastic, and there is a good sized rubber grip from the front of the camera going around to the back of the camera. At the back is an area for your thumb, and a recessed video record button. The camera feels quite well made with the camera body feeling solidly constructed. 

To change settings on the camera, you can press the OK / Q button on the back, and an on-screen set of options will appear letting you quickly change: self-timer, exposure metering, AF area, white balance, AF type (including centre, spot (49 areas selectable), multi, and object tracking), Picture effect, Flash, and WDR. To change exposure options such as exposure compensation, ISO, shutter and aperture modes you press right on the 4-way controller / scroll wheel on the back. The menus are neatly spread out over a number of clearly labelled screens, and the Fn1, Fn2 and AE/AF lock buttons can be customised. 

Kodak Pixpro App Main Screen	Kodak Pixpro App Photo Mode	Kodak Pixpro App Playback Mode

To control the camera from your smartphone you need to install the PIXPRO Remote Viewer software available for Android and iOS devices. This lets you adjust the image size, self-timer, white balance, shooting mode (as well as selecting HDR), exposure, ISO and stopping and starting video recording. In playback you can view, share, download and delete photos. You can also touch the screen to set the focus point.

It can be quite difficult to view the rear screen outdoors depending on how sunny it is although the fact that you can tilt the screen does help here. The screen resolution is good and the screen is clear when visibility is good.

Battery life - Battery life is rated at 410 shots according to Kodak / CIPA test results, which is very good for a mirrorless class of camera. Charging is via the provided MicroUSB cable and USB AC Adapter.

Speed - We took a number of shots to test the camera's responsiveness, from switch on to first photo, shot to shot, focusing speed etc. We take a number of shots and then use the average to ensure accurate and consistent tests, making it easy to compare with other cameras.

The camera has reasonably quick focus, but is noticeably slower at focusing than other Micro Four Thirds cameras available. Continuous shooting isn't available with RAW or RAW+JPEG selected, and instead is only available when shooting JPEG images.

Introduced at the same time as the Kodak PIXPRO S-1 was a new fixed aperture telephoto Fieldscope 400mm f/6.7 lens, that gives the equivalent of 800mm when used on Micro Four Thirds cameras. The lens is manual focus, aperture is fixed, and there are no electronic connections to the camera. The lens comes with a tripod mount that can be adjusted, but can't be removed. 

Kodak PIXPRO S-1 Performance

The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.

Kodak PixPro S-1 Sample Photos

Sample Photos - JPEG images are occasionally over-exposed, and can be recovered by converting the raw images, which are saved as AdobeDNG. Colour is reasonably good, although if it is not to your tastes then it can be improved by converting using the raw images. Photos taken with the pop-up flash show very little red-eye, although the camera has had to boost the ISO setting quite high, as the flash does appear to be quite weak. 

Kodak PixPro S-1 Lens test images

Lens Performance - The 12-45mm lens gives a wider than normal 24mm equivalent at the wide end, zooming to 90mm equivalent at the telephoto end. The camera produces images with quite high contrast on default settings when shooting JPEG images, and better dynamic range can be recovered by shooting raw. Images show vignetting and barrel distortion at the wide end of the lens, although there is very little pincushion distortion at the telephoto end of the lens. Purple fringing and chromatic aberrations were low, unless shooting images with high levels of contrast, such as trees against a bright sky. Macro performance is reasonable, although other kit lenses do give better results. 

Kodak PixPro S-1 ISO test images

ISO Noise Performance - For the lowest noise and best detail possible we would recommend using ISO200 to ISO400, as images have low levels of noise and good levels of detail. For lower light situations ISO800 to ISO1600 still provides good results, although noise increases and detail is reduced. At ISO3200 and ISO6400 noise reduction becomes quite strong with a noticeable drop in detail. ISO12800 shows the highest level of noise, and lowest levels of detail, and we would recommend avoiding this setting if possible, although results may still be useful if resized and used on the web. 

Kodak PixPro S-1 White-balance test images

White Balance Performance - Auto White Balance (AWB) performs well with a very slightly warm result under tungsten lighting, with the tungsten preset giving an accurate result. AWB performs very well under fluorescent lights, with the fluorescent preset giving a very slight green tint. 

Panoramic 2 | 1/309 sec | f/5.6 | 12.0 mm | ISO 200

Panorama mode - The camera features an automatic panoramic mode, where you simply press the shutter release button and pan the camera from one side to the other. Results are average, and well stitched together, with a low resolution image produced.

Kodak PixPro S-1 Digital filters

Digital Filters - The camera has a number of picture effects, including Normal, Vivid, Black and White, Dreamy, Vignetting, Ektachrome, Kodachrome, Kodacolor, Salon, Punk, Negative, Reflection, Sketch, Fisheye, 4 grids - stylish, 4 grids - partial colour. When shooting with the effects enabled the camera automatically disables raw recording, and images are saved as JPEG only. WDR mode - wide dynamic range.

Video - The camera records full HD video, with stereo sound. Image stabilisation does not appear to be active when recording videos.

Value For Money

The expected retail price of the Kodak PIXPRO S-1 is around £300 with one lens with the camera available from the Kodak PIXPRO website, which makes it excellent value for money, with the following cameras alternatives:

Olympus PEN Mini E-PM2, £330 with 14-42mm lens
Panasonic Lumix GF6, £299 with 14-42mm lens, Wi-Fi
Fujifilm X-A1, £339 with 16-50mm lens, Wi-Fi
Samsung NX3000, £399 with 16-50mm lens, Wi-Fi
Samsung NX Mini, £299 with 9mm lens, Wi-Fi
Sony Alpha A5000, £299 with 16-50mm lens, Wi-Fi
Nikon 1 J4, £499 with kit lens, Wi-Fi

You'll also need to buy a memory card and a case or bag to keep your camera safe and protected - have a look at our complete guide to camera bags.

Kodak PIXPRO S-1 Verdict

The Kodak PIXPRO S-1 offers very good value for money, as well as built in Wi-Fi, and with it using the popular Micro Four Thirds lens mount, there the widest range of lenses available of any mirrorless system, with lenses available from Olympus, Panasonic, Sigma, Tamron, Samyang, and more. Occasionally images were slightly over-exposed on default settings, and better results are possible by converting the raw images. For those that want a compact system camera that has built in Wi-Fi, on a budget, then the Kodak PIXPRO S-1 may be worth looking at, particularly as the kit lens is wider than most, and gives a good zoom reach. Once you have this camera, there are a number of lenses available to expand your photography, as well as improve image quality by investing in a prime lens. 

Kodak PIXPRO S-1 Pros

Good value for money
Good battery life
Kodak film colour modes
Wide-angle zoom lens
Wide range of Micro Four Thirds lenses
Built in Wi-Fi
AdobeDNG raw files

Kodak PIXPRO S-1 Cons

Telephoto zoom lens poor (pre-production)
Screen difficult to see in bright sunlight
Continuous shooting not available when shooting RAW

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
VERDICT

The Kodak PIXPRO S-1 offers good value for money with a wide-angle zoom lens and built in Wi-Fi. 

Kodak PixPro S-1 Specifications

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