Customer Reviews

Kodak EasyShare DX4530 5MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I wanted to get a camera that was good enough to keep up with technology for the next couple of years. I then came upon this camera. It has 5 MP max resolution, but if you want to save space or you have a small card, it can be lowered all the way down to 1.2 megapixels. The camera comes with 32 MB internal memory, which is very nice, like if you are on a trip and you card gets full, you can easily switch to internal. I got this on Christmas, and it did not come with a memory card, and no stores were open. But i was still able to tqake 16 5MP pictures. The next day i went to target and got a 128 MB card for $60. (Not the best deal but i was anxious and had money to spend). This camera uses Sd/MMC cards (secure digital/multimedia card). the Kodak Dock is nice but it is not necessary, especially for its $80 price tag. Just but rechargeable batteries and charger for $20. I would reccomend the Kodak Easyshare starter pack along with this. It is $35, but it has bettery pack, charger, and a bag, and some other accesories.

This is as of 12/25/03 (This exact product)

Includes
USB Cable (Kodak Easyshare Dock is nice but it is not necessary)

Kodak DX4530 5MP Digital Camera

Video Cable ( for slideshows on TV)

Product manual ( i suggest you read this)

Kodak Easyshare software ( nice software, with a simple, but effective and fun editing program.)

5 sheets of trial photo paper.

Other ads and papers reguarding registration.

AS i conclude, i have one last thing for those interested in it's 10X zoom. optical zoom(3X) is the actual lens zooming in. digital zoom(3.3X) is just the camera enlarging the pixels. What is done with digital zoom is something that can be easily done on a photo editing software. So if you're paying over 5-10 dollars for just extra digital zoom, id not. The optical is what you really want.

Overall, i have been EXTREMELY pleased with camera, and i would recommend it for anyone. The movie mode is very nice, although you can't zoom while it is recording. But, what more could you ask for, hopefully you aren't buying this to make a movie. My only complaint is that the movie mode is slightly blocky, but is still fun to play with. This camera is very user friendly, and i would say it could be used easily by 10 years old and up. The manual is easy to comprehend and read. Kodak also has a good support staff, and my camera came in perfect shape. Thank you for your time, and i would strongley suggest this camera for anyone.

I got this camera a few months ago, and absolutely love it. The picture quality is outstanding, and it's extremely easy to use. I swore I'd never get a digital camera until I could get a 5.0 MP, and I'm really glad I waited!

I've had lots of people tell me the Kodak camera docking station isn't necessary, but let me tell you, it sure is convenient to use, one button, and the pictures download to the computer. The best part is it's always charged and ready to go, no dead batteries!

You won't go wrong with this camera no matter what your photo taking experience may be!

I have had this camera about 2 weeks now and I can honestly say there is not a single thing I dislike about it. I took it on a trip to Estes Park, CO and the pictures came out fantastic. The detail is amazing and the color was spot on.

I've also had no problems with the indoor quality of my pictures and what I don't like I can easily correct with my photoshop program.

The unit is lightweight and fits nice in the palm of my hand. It has 5 seperate modes (auto, sport, night, scenery and macro) and it even takes Quicktime Video!

I specifically purchased this unit becuase of the Kodak name and the cameras ability to accept SD cards. I think that CF (compactflash) is on the way out and I already had a SD card for my PPC.

The camera hooked up to my WinXP machine without any trouble and I was transferring photos and video within minutes.

Where I think this camera really shines is the Kodak Easy Share software. It lets you unload your camera, create albums, modify the photo (very basic stuff though), and even order prints online! I've already taken advantage of the online ordering and the quality is fantastic. I highly recommend you have a broadband connection though, since the file size on "best" setting is rather large.

Dont be afraid to try this camera!

If you don't know what an F Stop is, have no idea how shutter speed effects your photograph, or don't know aperture from temperature then this camera is for you. Kodak's Easyshare is your basic "turn it on, aim and shoot" type camera. All it takes to operate this camera is the ability to insert a battery.

The picture quality is amazing in normal lighting conditions, but does suffer a little in low light without some user knowledge or a tripod. The camera has a few features that you can tweak, such as small exposure adjustments. My favorite feature on this camera is the movie mode. Having mini movies with sound is such a joy when you want to show people something, and a still picture just doesn't cut it (like baby's first steps). I almost find I am making more movies then taking pictures these days.

I was initially unhappy at the ease of use, since I am a photography junkie that loves total control of everything. However, as time has gone by I find that I am getting exactly the types of pictures that I want to get, but I don't have to do all of the thinking anymore. If you don't mind letting the camera do most of the work then look no farther. For price, quality, and ease of use I would give this product an A+.

Lastly, I would recommend that you purchase rechargeable batteries and a charger, and also at least a 256k memory card.

Happy photographing.

I bought the Kodak 5 MP camera as an up grade for my HP 320 2MP camera. I notice another person here mention that he was displeased with his Kodak because he couldn't tell the difference between his new 5 MP camera as compared to his old 2MP camera, so he returned it. My experience is the same as his - at first. If I take a picture of my room with both cameras, I cannot tell the difference at all at casual glance simply because the 2MP camera I have does such a wonderful job of normal picture taking. I really recommend people who just want normal pictures and don't want to part with a lot of dough to stick with the 2 MP cameras, because it costs half of what a 5 MP camera costs.

However, I must stress that there IS a difference between the picture qualities of the 5MP and the 2MP camera. It is just that the difference isn't that obvious, and you have to look very carefully to see it. The 5 MP camera is definitely better and if you look at its pictures long enough, you will notice it. The main reason I bought this camera is so that I can take close-up pictures of dishes I cook so that I can show off my cooking to friends. Without a doubt, the 5 MP camera takes clearer pictures of close objects, but this is not to say that the 2 MP camera can't do it. It just doesn't do such a good job, but it does do an acceptable job - a friend said the shot of my lasagna with the 2MP camera made her mouth water. The 5 MP cameras don't do a perfect job of it either when compared with the professional pictures I see in cook books, but it is better by about 20%. You have to be picky to see the difference.

Overall, the Kodak 5 MP camera has the following major benefits over the HP 2 MP camera:

1. It has a lens cap.
2. It does short little movies.
3. It allows you to delete pictures selectively from within the camera. This is a very nice feature when you go on trips because then you can get rid of messed up pictures and not take up as much memory space.

4. It has a close up option for objects between 2 to 28 inches.
5. It has a night option to allow you to take pictures in the semi-dark.
6. It has a sport option to allow you to take pictures that are moving. (The HP camera does a fine job of taking pictures in a moving vehicle, however.)
7. The LCD screen is clearer and brighter.
8. There is a TV plug-in that allows you to look at the pictures from the camera directly into a TV (I can't imagine why anybody wants to do that, but it is an option)
9. It has an easyshare button to send pictures directly to printers, but I find this option pointless because printing pictures costs a lot (ink and photo paper), so why wouldn't anyone look at the pictures on the computer first and choose the best ones before they try to print it or email it?

There is one drawback to the Kodak camera package: the software that comes with it isn't half as powerful as the HP software. My main complaint is that you can't crop a picture completely at will. What's worse, when the picture is cropped, it still just as big as the original one in memory, and even if you shrink it, it is still humongous and slow to send. For example, I have the same picture cropped and shrunk to identical size (about 5 by seven inch) by the two programs. The resulting pictures look identical, but the HP software's picture is 43 kB whereas the Kodak one is 304 kilobytes! When you have a dial-up connection and have a lot of pictures to send like me, you will find the Kodak software very irritating. I can't believe they call themselves "easyshare" when it isn't easy to share at all.

The conclusion is that if you are stingy and uncomfortable with dishing out a lot of dough, you are better off with a 2 MP camera. It does an excellent job of point-and-shoot. If you like to have a camera that does everything and you don't want to be caught with a cheap camera, the Kodak one is the way to go. Don't be surprised, however, if you can't tell the difference.

A word of warning to those who wants the 2 MP camera: My HP 320 has a very high customer rating at Amazon.com when I bought it six months ago. Since then, however, I notice that HP came out with a newer version of HP320 that Amazon is selling. It costs only half of what I paid, and the customer rating isn't as good either. I cannot speak for that new model, but I can say that my HP 320 takes perfectly clear pictures.

When I decided to buy my first digital camera recently I was quite dazed by the number of choices. I checked magazines, Consumer Reports, etc...there were so many to choose from and what's more...digital cameras seem almost obsolete as soon as they come out.

I was stunned by the number of different models available from such big names as Canon, Fuji, Kodak, HP, etc...

I finally decided on the Kodak4530. My choice was based on Consumer Reports ratings as well as the Kodak name.

I'm pretty good with tekkie stuff but this was my first digital camera. No problem. This was one easy to use camera and really no different from a standard film camera.

On the menu you can select from 4 grades of quality although beware that the higher quality makes the file size quite large if you plan on uploading or e-mailing it.

The quality of the pictures is just fantastic. sharp as glass...took a picture of our two year old playing with a garden hose and you could see the drops of water just frozen in mid air...clear as day!

The camera can take short videos as well as pictures and comes with such features as zoom, red eye reduction and more.

The 4530 doesn't have some of the bells and whistles of more high end cameras but a 5.0 mega pixel camera at under $300 is a great deal. I highly recommend it.!

I purchased this camera before a recent family trip to Disney World. I bought the camera, loaded the software on my laptop and was up and running in less than 2 mins. The docking station is a must for quick transfers of pictures. I am also impressed with the software, as it is super easy to create albums, crop pictures, and order prints (Kodak uses Ofoto- which has been a good service for us).

My only complaint (and it is a big one) is taking pictures at night is a pain in the rear. The engineers must have been drunk when they designed the camera, as they put the flashing green light next to the viewfinder -making it virtually impossible to see through the viewfinder at night. It is completely annoying. That being said, the quality of night pictures are good (if your lucky enough to hit your target through the viewfinder). Overall, I am pleased with this little camera.

Let's start with the negative first to get it out of the way. This camera does not take good dim light zoomed shots from a distance (as in from the back of a theatre to the stage). Everything else about this camera is great. It is easy to use, and well-lit or flashed photos are beautiful. The picture settings do help in different situations. The action setting is so good that I was able to take blur-free pictures of my cat jumping in the air after a string. Other settings include night shots, close up, and distance. You can also adjust the flash for red-eye, fill, or turn it off. Due to the delay from the time you press the button to the time the picture is taken, hold the button down slightly prior to taking the picture. When you do press, it will snap instantly.
The movie mode is actually nice. I didn't think I'd use it, but it's great to have when you want to capture more than just a picture.
As an added bonus, the software that comes with it to retrieve and view your pictures is very easy to use.
I highly recommend this camera, but you should also get a memory card so you can take more pictures.

I must say this is my first purchase of a digital camera, but I am very pleased with my choice. I was looking for a resonably priced yet high quality digital camera. I don't think you can find another 5.0 megapixel camera for this price. Another thing I liked about it was the option to that videos with sound. That was something I wanted in a camera. Unfortunately, you have to buy a decent size card in order to get any length at all. I bought a 256 MB card, and I take 1-3 minute clips. It works out great for me. I think with the card, I can take a little over 16 minutes of video, plus a few high quality pictures. I bought the card from accupc.com which I ran across while looking for a the least expensive card. I don't have the dock because I order my prints online from clarkcolor.com (can prepay for prints at 19 cents each), which to me is more cost efficient than the price of the docking station and paper, etc. Plus I have a CD burner on my computer but not a DVD burner. I found a program called EOVideo for 34.95 which converts the videos (in Quicktime format) to SVCD which can be burned on to a CD and then played on most DVD players. Pretty good quality video too...about the same as any typical home video. Bottom line, I LOVE IT!!!

I finally decided to go digital, and got this camera right in time for the Memorial Day weekend. I couldn't be happier. I'm using the second best level, and the pictures are incredible, very, very crisp. I ordered some of the pictures online, and also blew one up to 10x8 using the Kodak machine at the local grocery store. They all came out beautiful!

One thing that worried me, however, was that after a while the camera wouldn't turn on by itself when the cap was on (I had to turn it on and off 2 or 3 times). But that wasn't a big problem, as it worked fine if I took the cap off manually. I have also noticed that you have to be extra careful not to shake while taking pictures inside, as they can get a little blurried. But that didn't happen at all with the pictures taken outside.

The other negative for me was the software included. I installed it at first, but noticed it overrode my Windows XP photo viewer -- and the annoying thing is that using the Kodak software, there was no arrow to go back or forward to view another picture on a bigger scale. I removed the software, and am doing fine downloading my pictures using XP's scanner/camera automatic detection, and fixing them with an editing software I have used for a few years.

Despite all the little problems listed above, for the price, you can't find a better camera. But shop around -- the day after I found it with a $50 rebate at an office-supply retailer...