The Kodak EasyShare M530 shows that Kodak is really keeping up with our digital times and making it easier for us, the users, to keep up with all of the social networking that we do on a daily basis. On any given day, we post photos of our kids on Facebook, YouTube an amusing pet antic or Flickr something interesting or funny for all to see. With this cool camera, you can simply “just press Share” and have your photos uploaded!
Pros
No CD to upload – In order for many cameras to interact with a computer, you have to use a CD/DVD to install software, but with the EasyShare M530 (as well as the other M-series digital cameras that Kodak offers) all you have to do to get started is plug the camera into your computer. Generally when we get new electronics in our household, I hand all of the pieces to my husband and ask him to get it working, but I decided to test this product on my own to see if it’s really as easy as they say.
Lightweight & cute – The first thing that struck me is how light it is and how pretty the metallic blue is (the camera also comes in green, red, gray and orange. The camera weighs only 13.6 ounces, and is less than an inch thick, making it convenient to carry in a shirt pocket or even a small purse (I plan on carrying mine in the small back pockets of the cycling shirts I wear when I go out for a ride).
Simple instructions – To give you an idea of how techologically clueless I am, I had to look at the instructions to make sure I was putting the strap on correctly! The instructions are easy to follow, so I got the battery in, attached the charging apparatus that comes with the camera and plugged it in. When the battery is charged, the light stops blinking. I think I can do this!
The camera was charged in under 2 hours, so I removed the charging adapter from the USB cable and just plugged the USB cable that comes with the camera right into my computer! I like the simplicity so far. Installation of the software took about 10 minutes at most.
This camera has a lot of cool features.
When you take a picture, you can “share” it and decide which sites you would like to have each photo shared on when you plug the camera back into your computer. You can choose one or all, so there is no double or triple posting to deal with.
The camera even has tagging abilities for sites like facebook and has facial recognition. In other words, it will notice where a face is in the picture and eventually “remember” specific faces by name.
You can take video with one of the many “SCN”modes that are offered, including “fireworks,” “children” and “Candle light.”
Cons
The first time you take pictures, you can plug the camera into your computer and go through and set up add your Kodak Gallery, YouTube, facebook, and flickr accounts so that you can “just press Share” later on. I got a little lost at this point, even reading the directions. When I pressed “Share” on the camera in the review area, I was given an error message telling me that the social networking options only work with pictures on a memory card, which the camera does not come with.The camera does have some built-in memory, which is how I was able to take a couple of pictures to start testing.
If I had received this as a gift, gotten it all set up, only to find that it wasn’t really “Ready to Go,” (as Kodak’s website purports) I would have been pretty disappointed. Perhaps more technologically advance people know that you need to purchase the memory card with a camera, but not me!
I emailed Kodak’s reps and told them the issue with the card and they said that Kodak will be changing the wording on their site to reflect that a card is needed. I am glad I could help humanity in this small way. Nothing is worse than getting a present you can’t use right away. Other than this issue, I think it’s a very cool camera, and one that any mom, the technophile or technophobe, can use with relative ease (and maybe their kids can give them a hand too!)
Check out more about the “>Kodak M530 here.
Kodak provided the M530 camera on loan for this review.
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GretaBlau
Greta is mom to a 4-year-old boy and wife to the smartest guy in the world. She writes about food ingredients and exercise on her blog, MiddleAgedJock.com.
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