Here’s a short preview of the award-winning dual lens consumer camera from Kodak.

We really wished the V570 had a stylish name to go with its compact and elegant form factor. Having roughly three weeks to play with the camera, we were able to do some urban and beach snapping.

At the very core of the V570 is the dual-lens. Consumers have been baffled by what it means for a point-and-shoot cam to have two sets of lenses linked to one CCD. The first is a 39-117mm 5x optical zoom lens, which comes as no surprise. The second is an ultra-wide angle 23 mm “fishbowl lens” capable of panorama stitching 3 shots for a full 180 degree view of the horizon. I must note that each lens has its own CCD - which links to main 5MP CCD sensor of the camera.

So how does this work exactly? The ultra-wide lens kicks in when you zoom out (zooming in starts the digital zoom after the camera has exhausted the optical zoom). We noticed that the 2.5 inch LCD flickered for a split second, which was the indication that the second lens has been activated, allowing you to take wide angle shots and do amusing fishbowl distortions.

Catch the full review plus a travel log feature with this neat phone inside April’s m|PH. Available in stands this week!