Kodak EasyShare M853

Kodak’s new M-series of cameras aims to “redefine the consumer’s expectations of style and features within the mid-priced segment”. Consumers looking for slimmer cameras can no doubt benefit from the ultra-compact form factor of the M-series. However, I’ve observed that Kodak cameras can often be a hit-or-miss affair.

The M853 is the cheapest offering in the M-series and is surely aimed at people looking for a one-click solution. To begin with, the camera has very little to boast about; it’s simple, small and entirely free of manual controls. It’s an 8MP camera with 3x optical zoom.

Let’s look at the build first. The design of the M853 has been kept very simple with a few buttons to accommodate a handful of features. It comes equipped with a 2.5-inch LCD screen that is capable of displaying up to 154,000 pixels. Beside the screen, on the right, are the delete, menu and review buttons. The zoom in and out keys are placed on the upper right corner, just above five-way D-pad.

The mode dial is placed on top, beside the shutter release button. Everything you need can be found on the dial itself; the two most useful being the Auto mode and the scene modes. The camera doesn’t offer any manual settings, except for exposure controls.

Your best way out is to select the auto mode and be damned, or simply select the right scene modes – you can choose from self-portrait, children, backlight, candlelight, sunset, portrait, panorama, sport, landscape, night portrait, night landscape, snow beach, text, fireworks, flower and manner/museum.

One good feature is the Panorama mode. Like most Kodak cameras these days, this one too features the auto-stitching facility. Just click and it stitches your panorama on its own.

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This 8MP camera also features multi-zone AF (auto focus) so it can detect more than one object to focus on. You can reach the macro mode directly through the dial, so there is no mucking around with menus etc. Having said that, it still brings no new wonders as the macro shots were very bad. There is very little detailing, and pictures from a close range look kind of sodden.

Shooting during daylight is not a problem, but night time shots can be a pain. Unlike most cameras in this range, the M853 suffers from shutter lag. Firstly it takes ages to focus on anything and in the end still manages to deliver out-of-focus pictures. Also, in the night scene mode, pictures had an avoidable reddish tinge.

Even though the M853 has a macro mode to take pictures of objects within 28 inches, it hardly gives good results. I’ve taken better pictures than the one I managed on the M853.

The overall performance of the camera is below par. Pictures are noisy, with smudging problems prevalent in most. Detailing in images is minimal, and much as I hate to say this, you will find a lot of purple fringing. The images are not as crisp as you’d expect either.

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As I mentioned earlier, low light conditions render the camera useless. The battery life is decent though. With one charge I got about 90 shots with minimal flash. The camera costs Rs 11,999 but is frankly a bad bargain even at this rate. I’m therefore hesitant to recommend this camera to anyone other than a big Kodak fan. You could consider the Fujifilm A800 instead. It costs about the same and does a better job.

Specs

| Dimensions | 93 x 58 x 23 mm