I have used a myriad of pocket cameras in the past, including other Kodaks. Sometimes it seems as if Kodak will hit a home run and then take two steps back, but it seems as if they've broken through with consistent improvements (V550, V1253, M341, etc.). If it's one thing Kodak has understood well since they invented digital photography, it's make a camera easy to use, and produce pleasing photos.
Generally, on the point and shoot side, Kodak's attributes have been ease of use, beautiful display, great video (especially since they started doing HD a few models back), and beautiful, vivid pictures. They also make it pretty easy to update the camera's firmware when they correct a bug or improve a feature. Typically, Kodak pocket cameras have been weak in low light, sharpness has tended to suffer greatly under borderline lighting conditions, and speed to set up can be slow.
Recently they've really improved things with features like face recognition, the camera's ability to analyze scenes and 'figure out" your composition, and other attributes that make life easy for point and shooters, but unless the light was with you, you had to work at it more than you should.
It's been in a lot of Kodak's traditionally weak areas where I found this camera to have so many improvements. It's substantially faster than earlier models. There's no time to play a little "boot up jingle" because when you hit the power button, this camera is ready for action before you are.
Taking pictures in questionable light, with or without flash, is noticeably much better than in my past experience. Before I would have to fiddle with a "scene mode" and/or the flash, and/or the aperture setting to get something I could reasonably use when conditions were nominal. That's great when you have the time to fiddle with it, but not so hot when you're at a poorly lit reception or some other indoor event and you have to act fast.
What originally attracted me to the camera was the 8x zoom and previous success with features like smart capture (intelligent scene detection and analysis), and panorama mode. I know my wife will love face recognition - the ability to quickly find pictures of the kids among the hundreds of photos she accumulates on a memory card. Of course the ease of use is big...
I just got back from a "cruisin' weekend" at the beach with some buddies - thousands of classic cars. Nivana. My buddy had his Canon pocket camera and was reading the manual so he could figure out how to delete pictures. I looked at it and couldn't see the markings on some of the controls, much less figure out how to delete something. Kodaks always have had dedicated delete and review buttons. Also a menu button and joystick with 4 other controls for quick access to common features, a flash toggle button, scene mode button, etc.
You really waste no time getting up and ready to shoot. The main thing is we're instantly taking pictures and shooting HD video of hot rods that suddenly appear on the boulevard without staring at the back of the camera. Something I would take for granted - quickly deleting things we don't want were a luxury for him. That model he had might have been easy, but my attitude is, if you can't figure it out on the fly, then it's more complicated than it needs to be. If anything, that's a Kodak attribute, but I think some people overlook the deeper features because they assume the camera must not be very sophisticated because it's so easy to use.
The bonus this time was the near instantaneous readiness, clearer night shots, better color in low light, and less fiddling to try to make a useful shot in questionable conditions. It's obvious to me Kodak took a lot of the criticisms to heart, kept the good things, added a quality 8x optical zoom, and made the other things better. Kodak EasyShare M580 14MP Digital Camera with 8x Wide Angle Optical Zoom and 3.0 Inch LCD (Purple)
I read that ppl had trouble getting the battery to fully charge and that the camera would just freeze up for no reason, so that they had to pop the battery in and out to get it to go again so they could at least turn it off. I ordered it anyway hoping that those ppl just got a bad apple or they didn't know how to use it correctly. I just wanted something small enought to stick in my pocket, with a decent zoom and easy to use. It did have all that, but Unfortunately the bad reviews were right. I charged it for over 24 hours, kept going back to check on it but it never fully charged. I was going to NYC for the day so I took it anyway. It kept freezing up just as I had read it might. It took 53 pictures before the battery died. Too bad too because it took great pics, very clear, easy to use, the zoom was great. But who needs a camera that takes days to charge? And the freezing up for no reason is just annoying and makes one wonder if one of those times it just won't turn on again. So don't waste your time with this one! I returned mine and ordered a nikon. Amazon was great, which is why I shop here. They accepted the return for a refund and no shipping charges! - Kodak Easyshare - Point And Shoot - Freezing - Camera Accessories'
Detail Products
Detail Reviews
Click here for more information
