Digital Camera Review

First Impressions Review

Jan 16, 2006 - By Richard Baguley
Priced at just $139, the Kodak EasyShare C530 is one of the cheapest digital cameras we’ve ever reviewed. And, for the price, the 5 megapixel resolution is not bad, along with the 16MB internal memory and direct printing ability. But you get what you pay for in other ways: there’s no optical zoom, only a 1.5” LCD screen, no A/V port, no scene presets, and a limited selection of features. The C530 will cost $139.99 and be available this February.
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Front
The front of the C530 holds the front element of the optical viewfinder, the flash and the lens. As the lens cannot zoom, the lens does not protrude from the camera body at all. Towards the left, you see a raised ridge on the case that acts as a finger grip, ensuring a tight hold. That’s all—there’s no microphone, AF assist light, or self-timer LED on this model.


Back
On the back of the camera, we have the 1.5-inch LCD screen. Along the top from the left we have the optical viewfinder, the ready light (which glows green when the camera is ready to take a picture) and the flash mode button. Six raised dots work as a thumb grip in the upper right corner. To the right of the LCD screen are buttons for deleting images, accessing the menu and reviewing recently taken pictures. Further right of these buttons is the 4-way navigational control, the OK button (for selecting options within menus) and the infamous Kodak share button. While this may be a very stripped-down camera, Kodak is not about to leave off their hallmark. The much-touted Kodak share button brings up a menu in which you can flag images for emailing or printing via the Kodak EasyShare software.

Left Side
The only significant feature on the left side of the camera is the USB 2.0 port for connecting the camera to a PC. There’s no A/V port or DC In option.


Right Side
The camera’s right side holds the wrist strap eyelet and a couple of screws. The lack of features on the C530 might drive a more fidgety individual to poke at these screws, but it’s probably best not to play with them. The entire camera might fall apart if you unscrew them, and that wouldn’t be covered by the 1-year warranty.

Top
The top of the camera holds the mode dial (with settings for playback, off, auto mode and movie mode) and the shutter button forward and to its right.


Bottom
On the bottom is the cover for the SD card and battery slot, plus the dock connector. This can be used to dock the camera to a number of Kodak printers for computer-less image printing. As of this publication, the C530 does not come bundled with a printer, however.


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