Kodak EasyShare V530

Auto Mode (7.0)
The auto mode is the most accessible shooting mode on the V530. When the digital camera powers up, the auto mode is activated as the default. While this mode doesn’t allow access to aperture or shutter speed adjustments (no mode does on this model), it does let users change settings such as metering, auto focus mode, white balance and ISO. The auto mode is easy to use but is ironically the most manual mode on the V530.

Movie Mode (7.5)
Kodak is heavily marketing the EasyShare V530 as a slim camera that has hybrid capabilities. This digital camera shoots MPEG-4 video clips at resolutions of 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 pixels. Both sizes shoot at a smooth 30 frame-per-second rate. The V530 records movies up to the capacity of the memory or 80 minutes - whichever comes first.

Users can also enter the menu and choose whether to make 5, 15 or 30-second clips if shooting indefinitely is not desired. The 3x optical zoom lens works while recording video and is complemented by a digital image stabilization system that works a lot better than I’d expected. The auto focus can be set to continuously focus or can be turned off. Unfortunately, the continuous focus seemed to get stuck occasionally in a blurred state. Even more unfortunate is the noise made by both the continuous auto focus and the optical zoom lens. However, these tendencies won’t distract anyone at, say, a piano recital unless there’s a dramatic rest in the song. The feature that may distract people is the useless green LED that lights up on the front of the camera when recording video. This is simply an indicator, but shows up as two green rings on subjects who wander close to the camera.

When a movie is recorded, the camera automatically saves a nine-frame index print of images from the movie. Users can also create photos from the movie footage as long as the resolution is at 640 x 480 pixels. Overall, the resolution and movie options are decent but the green light is haunting.

Drive / Burst Mode (6.5)
In any image size and quality, the Kodak EasyShare V530 can take 2.5 frames a second, which is quick for a slim model like this. The burst must be activated within the shooting menu and only lasts for five shots before writing to the card. Still, this is impressive. The flagship Kodak V550 has an even faster burst mode that takes 3 frames per second.

Playback Mode (7.75)
Once a picture is recorded, it automatically appears on the screen for a few seconds. Users can delete the photo at this time or choose to do so within the playback mode. A designated Review button sits to the right of the LCD screen. This accesses photos and videos and lets users scroll through them quickly in index print style or individually. Users can organize pictures into albums or stash them in their Favorites folder. There is on-camera cropping, but no other editing functions are available. Users can erase, protect and copy pictures. The Share button accesses a menu full of options for printing and emailing. Individual photos can be magnified 1-8x and an automatic picture rotation function can be activated in the setup menu.

The Kodak EasyShare V530 is designed to attract a gathering of onlookers and is prepared to flaunt its photos with its fancy slide show function. In fact, there are many features for the discerning slide show fanatic. Slide show intervals can be changed from 1-60 seconds, the show can be put on a loop to play continuously and the transitions can be set to the following: vertical blind, center to left/ right, left to right, right to left, center to top/ bottom, top to bottom, bottom to top, block, and off. When movies are played back, the volume is controlled by the up and down arrows of the multi-selector and fast-forwarding and rewinding can be done with the left and right arrows. Users can pause the movie with the OK button and scroll frame by frame if desired – and can then choose frames to make into still image files.

Overall, the playback mode on the Kodak EasyShare V530 is thorough and easy to access and use. Users can also review images with the Favorites mode, which has its own designated button atop the camera. This mode is simply an abbreviated playback mode that shows the user’s (previously designated) favorite photographs and options to view them in thumbnails or slide shows.

Custom Image Presets (8.25)
The V530’s 20 scene modes can be accessed by pushing the auto mode button twice. By doing so, a plethora of icons appears in the bottom left corner of the LCD screen. Users can scroll through the icons with the multi-selector to choose a mode. There is a live view of the lighting as the icons are scrolled through and the name of the scene mode appears in the center of the screen. The following modes are available: Portrait, Sport, Landscape, Close-up, Night Portrait, Night Landscape, Snow, Beach, Text, Fireworks, Flower, Manner/Museum, Self-Portrait, Party, Children, Backlight, Panning Shot, Candle Light, Sunset and Custom. This is certainly a thorough list for point-and-shooters.