Kodak EasyShare V530

Color (5.94)
Kodak prides itself in producing realistic colors with its Kodak Color Science Chip in its EasyShare digital cameras. Many times Kodak cameras perform well, but there are more factors that contribute to color accuracy than just the chip. To see how well the V530 can reproduce colors, we took several shots of a GretagMacbeth color chart, often used as a standardized reference for color elsewhere in the digital imaging industry. We uploaded the Kodak V530’s photos of the chart into Imatest imaging software, which analyzed the pictures and compared the colors of the original chart to the camera’s produced colors. The software output some figures and data to help us understand the accuracy of the colors. Below is a chart that has been modified by Imatest. The outer square shows the color that the Kodak EasyShare V530 produced. The inner square shows the exposure-corrected ideal. The inner vertical rectangle shows the original color of the GretagMacbeth chart.

Many of the colors don’t look quite right. To get a better view of the results, Imatest output the following graph. The circles show the Kodak V530’s produced colors while the squares show where those colors should be on the spectrum. The line between the two shapes shows the color error; the longer lines represent increasingly inaccurate colors.

Many compact digital cameras exaggerate the red portion of the spectrum the most; doing so usually enhances skin tones in digital photos. The Kodak EasyShare V530 went in the other direction. The blue part of the spectrum is completely inaccurate and terribly exaggerated. This will make the sky look gorgeous, but skin tones will look greenish. The testing was done with the automatic white balance setting and the tungsten setting because there is no option to manually white balance this model. The automatic setting performed horribly, so the tungsten results are what we have reported. Overall, the V530 received a color score of 5.94 with a high color error of 11.9. The camera over-saturated colors by a high 19.2 percent. The Kodak V530 performed worse than most of its EasyShare cousins in terms of color accuracy.

Still Life Scene
Below is a shot of our slice of life scene captured with the Kodak EasyShare V530.

Click on the above image to view a full resolution version.

Resolution / Sharpness (2.01)
The Kodak EasyShare V530 has a 5.36 megapixel CCD with 5 effective megapixels. To see just how effective the pixels are at imaging, we took several images of an industry standard 12233 resolution chart and uploaded them into Imatest for analyzing. The results are reported in line widths per picture height (LW/PH), which is a unit of measurement that describes how many alternating black and white lines could theoretically fit in the V530’s frame before the camera starts blurring them together. Traditional measurements are reported in line pairs per picture height (LP/PH), but because that unit does not account for the various sizes of imaging sensors we use LW/PH.

Click on the res chart above to view full size image

After taking shots at various focal lengths and apertures, the sharpest results came from a focal length of 18.6 mm and an aperture of f/4.8. Horizontally, the Kodak EasyShare V530 read 1225 LW/PH. It read 763.7 LW/PH vertically. These results returned a lackluster 2.01 overall resolution score. For comparison's sake, the 5 megapixel Canon PowerShot S2 IS read 1490 LW/PH horizontally and 1373 vertically. The 5.1 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 read 1723 LW/PH horizontally and 1835 vertically. Granted, the Kodak EasyShare V530 doesn’t have the great lenses of the S2 or H1 – but it does advertise 5 effective megapixels and should have performed a bit better.

Noise - Auto ISO (4.55)
When the Kodak V530 is set to automatically select the ISO rating, its ISO range shortens to 80-160. We tested its noise levels in our brightly lit studio and the camera responded by producing about the same amount of noise found at the ISO 160 setting. While this wouldn’t be an acceptable behavior for many cameras, the Kodak EasyShare V530 happens to have fairly low noise levels – even at ISO 160. Therefore, the V530 returned a positive 4.55 overall automatic ISO noise score.

Noise - Manual ISO (7.32)
Many compact digital cameras produce exorbitant amounts of noise in their pictures. We tested the noise levels at each manual ISO setting to see how clear pictures are on the Kodak EasyShare V530. Below is a chart with the horizontal axis showing the manual ISO ratings of 80, 100, 200, and 400 (there is also an 800 setting but it is only available in the tiny 1.8 megapixel image size). The vertical axis shows the resulting amounts of noise.

The Kodak EasyShare V530 had a strong showing with its relatively clear photos. There is a steady increase in noise from 80 to 400 with a slight jump between 200 and 400, but for the most part this Kodak did very well. For such great results, the V530 received a 7.32 overall manual ISO noise score.

Low Light Performance (1.5)
To test the low light capabilities of the V530, we used the Night Landscape scene mode because it had the longest shutter speeds available and disabled the camera’s flash. We took pictures at decreasing light levels of 60, 30, 15, and 5 lux. The first two light tests mimic fairly common lighting situations. 60 lux is common in a living room after dusk where there are two soft lamps and a host of family to take pictures of. A single 40 watt bulb produces 30 lux. The 15 and 5 lux tests are done simply to assess the imaging sensor and see how it responds to long exposures and adverse conditions.

Low Light Tests
60 Lux	30 Lux
15 Lux	5 Lux

We tested the V530’s low light performance in the camera’s full Auto mode as well as its Night Scene preset. Images attained using the Auto mode exhibited far better color (using the Tungsten preset) and seemed cleaner overall (stemming from the camera’s truncated auto ISO range), although with the limited sensitivity, the drop to 30 lux and below garnered extremely underexposed images. The switch over to the V530’s Night Scene mode helped with exposure and general illumination in the images but resulted in far less accurate color reproduction and increased noise levels. Therefore, while the camera offers multiple means of shooting in low light conditions, neither yield acceptable results.

The images displayed above were shot using the camera’s Night Scene preset to garner the longest exposures the camera was capable of recording.

Noise levels remained fairly consistent through about six seconds, and then the camera's performance took a dive. Overall, the Kodak EasyShare V530 performed better than some of Kodak’s older models but could still use some work. This model does better in suppressing noise than most compact cameras and should do well as long as the shutter speeds are kept below ten seconds.

Speed/ Timing
Start-up to First Shot (8.33) 
The Kodak V530 doesn’t take long to get up and get going. In a relatively quick 1.67 seconds, the camera powers up, flashes a Kodak logo, extends its 3x optical zoom lens, and takes its first shot. This is equivalent to gulping down your cereal and getting to work ten minutes early.

Shot to Shot (9.28)
When the burst mode is off, the camera is slow moving. When the burst mode is activated, it speeds up to take 5 shots at a pace of 0.25 seconds per shot. After the little burst, it took 10 seconds to write to the memory card, but this is still impressive for a slim digital camera.

Shutter to Shot (8.89)
The focus was quite unreliable, but once the camera was focused it didn’t take long to grab the shot. There was a 0.1-second lag from the time the shutter release button was pressed to the time the picture was recorded. In low light and when the subject is moving, it can take up to 2 seconds to take the picture.

Intro	Page 2 of 12		Physical Tour
Kodak EasyShare V530 Digital Camera Review Navigation
Intro	Testing / Performance	Physical Tour	Components
Design / Layout	Modes	Control Options	Image Parameters
Connectivity / Extras	Overall Impressions	Conclusion	Specs / Ratings