Kodak Easyshare M530 12 MP Digital Camera with 3x Wide Angle Optical Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Carbon)

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.

On of the things i like most about this camera is the size, its the perfect size, it fist in your hands great, and the menu buttons and the 4-way navigation feels great even with the smal size. The price is unbeatable, with the lithium rechargable battery, the cable and charger, and of course the quality of the hardware you are getting a great deal.The Pros:- Rechargable battery. Is durable, and it charges quickly.- Quality value for small price, is a great piece of hardware, when you pick it up you can see is sturdy, with a good weight but not to heavy, and made from durable plastic.- The camera always start in smar capture mode, wich is great for inmediate photos, anyone can pick it up and take the picture.- The program mode is extense, gives you plenty of room to experiment, with ISO, exposure compensation, long time exposure up to 8 seconds (light painting), white balance, and even sharpness. Great for begginers.- The share button. I think this is the greatest thing about this camera, setting up the software takes no longer than 3 minutes, and once you are done, you can hit the share button in the camera and it will instantly upload to facebook, flickr, kodak, and even some emails that you add to the camera. The software auto optimizes the pictures so that the file size is about 300 Kb, and the picture stays with a good resolution.- The review mode. Any camera has a good review mode, but what makes the kodak m530 great is the flexibility, you can review all pictures, favorites (previously declared as favorites), from an especific date, and the best, with the face recognition software in the camera you can tag your family and friends, after taking about 10 pictures of the same person the camera identifies him/her and you can tag the face, in the review you can select the name of the person, and the camera will automatically filter the files and show you only the ones where that person you chose from the menu appears.The Cons:- Battery doesn't last that long, one advice is to set the AF mode to single, so the lens is not constantly focusing, but only does it when you press the shutter button halfway- The shutter button, the power button, the mode button, the flash button, all of this buttons are located in the upper part of the camera, and they are very small, and kinda hard to press if you have big hands.- For those who think smart capture does not make the the right selection 100% of the time. This is not the camera for you. This camera is a low price, point and shoot digital camera, is made for that, begginers in photography. And the smart capture does the best job in taking the job off editing options before the moment passes and you didn't get a chance to take the picture.- The colors are a little blend, so you might wanna edit the color option to "Natural Color" or in some cases "High color"

Easy zoom feature

My senior (75) neighbor wanted to buy her first digital camera so I assisted her. She first found this selling at a local camera store at list price ($129.95). I assured her she could get a much better price. After checking the Kodak website, then Amazon, we ordered it through my account here. It's an entry level point & shoot, and as such, in my view, has good & weak features. It's very small, small buttons not always clearly identified or easy to use. A challenge for those of us with larger fingers. Better have a stylus handy. It has enough features for an entry level camera, but not as "user friendly" as other Kodaks I have owned and used. It took some experimenting to figure out the "menu" system as well as what should be a simpler setup. We fired off a few test pictures today, and I am impressed with their color, clarity, and sharpness as viewed on my computer. The battery must be charged while in the camera. Removed the settings will be lost. Also, that means not being able to charge a second battery except in the camera. It does not date stamp pictures, which I would never use anyway, but that info can be added later. My main objection is that it could be easier to use. My neighbor loves it so far. For me, there are probably better choices in this price range. I see it is being discontinued, replaced with the Kodak M532 14mp.