Kodak EasyShare M530 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Wide Angle Optical Zoom and 2.7 Inch LCD (Carbon)
- 12-megapixel resolution for stunning prints up to 30 x 40 inches
- 3x optical zoom
- 2.7-inch LCD with KODAK Color Science Technology
- Kodak’s Smart Capture feature; Face Recognition feature
- Capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)
The Kodak EasyShare M530 digital camera features a unique stylish slim body with a 12MP 3x wide optical zoom and a 2.7″ LCD. This smart camera has Smart Finder with Face Recognition, Smart Capture, and features the Smart Share destination tag to YouTube™ , Facebook, Flickr , Kodak Gallery, and email via the Share button for upload when you connect to your computer.
List Price: $ 129.95
Price: $ 129.95
I’m Happy With It,
This camera was a last-minute rush order for my trip to Vietnam. I had a couple of uptight days when Amazon sent me an email telling me my Kingston 4gb SDHC card was shipped separately, and “the remainder of your order will follow as soon as those items become available.” Since it was rated “in stock,” I was wondering what the issue was. However, Amazon got it to me by Tuesday night after I’d ordered it the previous Friday. So, Whew! good going, Amazon.
I’m fairly electronic-gadget functional, but I’m no techno-wizard. I had a little time to check my camera out the night I left, and while waiting at the airport. Buttons and controls are laid out well, and the learning curve is pretty easy. The last thing I wanted to do was stand there fiddling around with buttons while people waited. In that respect, it worked fine- the Smart Mode, the default start-up mode, worked in most cases. I was able to quickly engage the flash settings when needed (most of the time.) I tried some daytime and night time panoramic shots; the internal stitch feature worked flawlessly. I learned that the night-time panorama and landscape modes keep the shutter open for a looong time; if you move the camera, the shot blurs. So you need a solid surface to rest the camera on when you do stuff like this.
I’ve learned what most of the 22 different “Scenes” automatic feature-settings are, but I haven’t reached the point where I can push the button, and go right to the appropriate setting. The on-screen description of each “Scene” setting tells you what you need to know.
I found the view screen to be large enough both for shooting and sharing. People were always looking to see how a shot turned out.
I’m very happy with picture color, clarity, and sharpness. I took a few shots under an awning where it was bright outside, and the subjects under the awning were not quite light enough. I can upgrade that in post-photo processing. There’s a “Scenes” setting for both backlit and forelit shots, but, as I said, I didn’t spend the extra time to access the setting before the shots.
My obligatory bee-on-a-flower and butterfly shots were made using the 3x zoom feature. Due to the 12 megapixel rating, I can magnify the shot and still get excellent detail. I shot the bee close up in Smart Mode and the butterfly from a distance. I wish I’d used the close-up or flower settings in “Scenes,” but I just wanted to get the shots quick while they were happening. I had to delete a couple of the bee shots due to camera-motion blurring, but the ones I kept have plenty of clear detail. 3x zoom is a little minimal, but, hey, I didn’t even pay a hundred bucks for the camera.
My rain and fog atmosphere shots came out the way I wanted them, with visible rain coming down. Landscape shots are sharp and detailed.
We ended up at a karaoke and dance club, and every shot there came out just the way I wanted it. Everyone was happy with the shots I took of them, both around the table, or on the dance floor or at the mike. The flash was adequate for the dim interior. I used the pre-flash non-red-eye setting for all the night club shots.
Charging and up-loading is super-simple. There’s a mini plug for the camera, with a USB at the other end of the cable. There’s a two-prong plug to insert into a socket for charging; you plug the USB into the plug. Upload via USB to the computer was quick and easy. Battery life held up fine for the week I was using the camera. I entered a lot of email addresses for the “Share” feature, but I haven’t used that yet. There’s an on-screen keyboard that makes email address entry quick and simple; accessing this list is also easy.
So, overall, I’m as pleased as I can be with how this camera works. I basically kept it in my pocket and whipped out & turned it on whenever I wanted. It starts up almost immediately, and being bounced and constricted in my pocket didn’t seem to bother it at all. I didn’t experience any buffer delay before the next shot was available.
I shot a few trial videos just to learn how to use video, but I didn’t take any permanent video. It’s easy to shoot, and seems to work, from my fiddling around.
I ordered it with the Kingston 4 gb Class 4 SDHC card featured on the same page as the camera. They seem to be a good match- the Kingston’s a good price, with plenty of photo space.
One tiny complaint- the camera battery & card door kept coming open when I pulled the camera from my pocket. This is probably more due to how I use the camera, but a better latching system is surely in order. I googled “Kodak M530 battery door problem” and didn’t see any rash of complaints on this.
As a non-high-tech camera guy and a short-time owner, I’ve gotta give this camera an enthusiastic two thumbs up.
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|Great camera for a great price,
I usually shoot on a Canon DSLR, but am getting ready for a summer trip and wanted something small to carry in my pocket. I did some research and looked around and after messing with a few cameras in hand, I stumbled upon this kodak and impressive it is. For the price it cant be beat, at 12mp with a nice sleek design and very easy to use the buttons are very user friendly. The layout of the buttons are also user friendly no fumbling around at all. Basically at the size of a credit card it easily stores away in my pocket. It also has a “smart” feature which basically just adjusts everything for you instead of having to mess with settings. Its pretty fast when taking a shot, I was expecting a slow response time, but again have been pretty impressed how fast it actually is for a little point and shoot. The pictures have all been really crisp and gives very vibrant colors. Easy downloads of all photos and its a quick painless transfer. It also has a function to connect to your facebook or flickr account if you have one, which I didnt use, but is convienant regardless. If you looking for something quick easy and fun this is a great deal, if your want something more advanced than look elsewhere.
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|So many problems out of the box…,
Our previous camera died so we bought one of these M530′s. My wife liked the Kodak name and has used Kodak before. Unfortunately for us, the camera is problematic and it’s not just ours judging by complaints and reviews I’ve read online now.
On the plus side this camera takes video with sound, in addition to normal photos. There are a variety of menu options and picture types to choose form, though to be honest you’re going to take 95% of your pictures in the default “Smart” mode anyways.
It’s the problems though that keep it from being a recommendable purchase.
First off, almost as soon as it was out of the box the LCD screen has a tendency to go white after it’s been on once. If you turn it on, take some pictures, turn it back off, then on again a few minutes later the LCD display will ALWAYS go white, no exceptions. You can still take pictures, but can’t possibly see what it is you’re taking of course. I’ve read online this is sometimes due to a loose wire internally, but find it hard to believe it’s a loose wire because it always happens after it’s been on once already then magically disappears if you leave it off for 10 minutes or so. This is a huge problem because nobody leaves their camera one for an extended period of time, and judging by reviews is not unique to this specific model but is a problem with many, many different Kodak cameras. I don’t know or care what the reasoning or excuse is, but this kind of problem is not acceptable out of the box.
Secondly, the camera takes a rather large amount of light in order to take pictures. My kids have fairly cheap cameras that require less light to take a simple picture. I don’t know what the problem is with the M530′s light filter, but for a company like Kodak this kind of problem really isn’t acceptable either.
Lastly, to do something as simple as add a date and time stamp to your photos is not possible without going in and selecting each photo individually and then adding the stamp. This is just plain dumb. An option to turn On and Off automatic stamping is all that’s needed here, and as it stands this way stamping your photos will not be an option unless you just have loads and loads of free time to waste by adding them individually.
Overall, my verdict is to stay away from this camera. The problems aren’t minor, but are medium to major and it’s just not a good value. Quite frankly Kodak seems to have the same problems with various camera models and lines, so perhaps staying away from Kodak altogether is your best bet. You’d think a company like Kodak would be able to put out a better product than this.
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