The Kodak EasyShare V803 enters the market at a time when consumer electronics are often expected to double as fashion accessories. Kodak’s V803 is offered in eight different colors and, at an inch thick, is compact enough to stash in a pocket. The fashionable point-and-shoot carries basic specs: 8 megapixels, a 3x optical zoom lens, and a 2.5-inch LCD screen. It retails for $199, putting it in the emerging niche of fashionable budget digital cameras.

A sub-$200 camera isn’t going to produce the same quality of images that come from a high-end camera, but consumers should expect cameras to produce realistic colors and make decent-looking 4 x 6-inch prints. We’re not sure the V803 can even deliver on that premise. We ran the V803 through a series of scientific tests in our imaging lab and found that the camera’s performance is subpar.

Images produced by the V803 appear sharp in the center, but are fuzzy at the edges of the frame. Color accuracy is held back by very poor white balance, resulting in photos with an unattractive color cast. The 7-megapixel Casio Z75 produces more accurate tones, and sells for the same price. Noise levels on the Kodak are outrageous, especially at high ISO sensitivities. Pictures taken in low light don’t look good, but it’s hard to find a camera that can take decent low light pictures for less than $200.

The Kodak EasyShare V803 has one of the slowest startup times ever recorded. Once the power button is pushed, it takes the camera a whopping 6.8 seconds to capture a photo. Therefore, users should have this camera fired up long before any action takes place. The autofocus system crawls, too; it can take up to 2 seconds to focus before taking the picture.

The V803’s components don’t meet modern-day standards. The 2.5-inch LCD is the same size as the V603’s screen, but the resolution is lower; 230,000 pixels versus 153,000 pixels. Add the incredibly loud 3x optical zoom lens, which adds an electronic hiss to movies, and a weak flash unit that can hardly illuminate subjects 10 feet away, and the Kodak V803’s components just aren’t built for great performance.

This EasyShare has an Auto mode, 22 Scene modes, a Panorama mode, and a Movie mode. The Auto mode’s simplified menus are very easy to use, and the scene selection covers the basics and then some. The Panorama mode stitches three pictures together in the camera; most digital cameras that include a Panorama Assist mode stitch the panorama together after photos are uploaded to included software. The Kodak V803 and the GE G1 are among a small handful of cameras that stitch panoramas directly in the camera.

The V803’s Movie mode should be avoided when possible. It records decent 640 x 480-pixel files at 30 frames per second, but the picture often flickers from poor metering. Videos recorded in low light conditions are also difficult to discern through the abundance of speckled noise. The Canon SD40 has a better Movie mode in an equally-trendy body.

The Kodak EasyShare V803 is outwardly attractive, but takes mediocre pictures. The camera’s weak components and automated modes unfortunately don’t warrant the $199 price tag – even if it does come in colors like “Pink Bliss” and “Golden Dream.”