Kodak C663 Optics

Zoom
A typical 3x optical zoom range, with good performance.

The Kodak C663 zooms over the equivalent of a 34-102mm range, fairly typical for its class. Detail is good at wide angle, with minimal softness in the left corners of the frame and mild coma distortion in the tree limbs. The 5x digital zoom takes it out to 15x total with some loss of quality, but still fairly good detail for digital zoom.

Macro
A small macro area with good detail and high resolution. Flash had trouble up close.

The Kodak C663's macro setting performs very well, capturing a small minimum area of 2.08 x 1.56 inches (53 x 40 millimeters). Detail is strong and resolution high, with only minimal softening in the corners from the lens. (Most cameras have some softening in the corners in macro mode.) The flash had trouble throttling down, and overexposed the frame with a strong shadow in the lower right corner from the lens. (Plan on using external lighting for your closest macro shots with the C663.)

Distortion
Slightly higher than average barrel distortion at wide angle, a tiny amount at telephoto.

This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel--usually at wide angle) or inward (like a pincushion--usually at telephoto). The Kodak EasyShare C663's 0.9% barrel distortion at wide angle is a little higher than average among the cameras we've tested, though the 0.07% amount at telephoto is barely noticeable.

Chromatic aberration
Moderate, relatively small effect on images at edges.

Chromatic aberration in the C663 is low to moderate, a bit higher at wide angle focal lengths, slightly lower at telephoto ones. The shot above, captured at a medium focal length is pretty representative of what you'll find across the board. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.)

Corner Sharpness
Slight softening in the left corners of the frame at both wide angle and telephoto.

The Kodak C663 produced slightly soft corners in a few shots, most noticeable in the left corners of the frame with the lens at full wide angle. At telephoto, details are slightly soft throughout the frame, with only a small amount of additional blurring in the corners.

Coverage
Optical viewfinder a bit tight, though very good accuracy from the LCD monitor.

The C663's optical viewfinder was somewhat tight, showing only about 85% frame accuracy at wide angle, and about 83% at telephoto. However, the LCD monitor showed about 101% percent frame accuracy at wide angle, and about 99% at telephoto.