Announced today, the Kodak EasyShare V570 claims to be the camera with the widest angle of view among all current consumer digital cameras in the market. Thanks to its proprietary Kodak Retina Dual Lens technology, the camera is able to seamlessly switch between its ultra-wide angle lens (23 mm) and its optical zoom lens (39 – 117 mm) automatically. The camera decides which lens to use, depending on what zoom level the camera is currently at.

Other notable features of this 5-megapixel camera includes 5x optical zoom, Schneider-Kreuznach C-Variogon lens which doesn’t extend out of the camera body, in-camera panorama stitching, TV-quality video (MPEG4) up to 30 fps, built-in image stabilization technology, a 2.5-inch LCD screen, 32MB of internal memory, and a SD card slot for additional memory.

Kodak says the EasyShare V570 will be available worldwide beginning later this month, at a suggested retail price of US$399. But if wide-angle lens is not what you need, you may want to check out the Kodak EasyShare V550 on eBay. It could save you some bucks.