Polaroid X530 4.5MP Digital Camera with 3x Zoom

by Polaroid

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.7 x 3.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000B640M2
• Item model number: X530
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,333 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 24, 2005

Product Description

Manufacturer Description

The Polaroid X530 is the world's premier digital-image maker, creating pictures with a quality that has never been seen before. This has all been made possible by the Foveon X3 direct image sensor which, based on the color film principle, captures all of the color information in three pixel layers, and a newly developed chip: the ASF19.

As a result, color is reproduced naturally on each pixel location and the signal is converted with total precision into image information. This method differs from all other digital cameras, where several pixel locations were used to calculate the signal.

The Polaroid X530 also comes with unique PhotoLab software program which includes the Foveon X3 Fill light tool to assist in situations where the picture does not quite work out due to difficult lighting. With this tool, sensational results can be achieved without any prior knowledge of image editing. What's more the X530 also offers an image editing menu which enables pictures to be edited directly on the camera, right on the spot.

What's in the Box
X530 digital camera, CD-ROM software, lithium ion rechargeable battery, AC adapter, SD/MMC card reader, USB cable, TV cable, neck strap, 32 MB memory card.

Product Description

Polaroid X530 4.5 MP Foveon Digital Camera

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice camera with great software, April 19, 2006

By 

Lincoln Reagan "The World is a Wonder" (East Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Polaroid X530 4.5MP Digital Camera with 3x Zoom (Electronics)

I have waited a long time for a non-SLR digital camera to come along with the Foveon imager. I finally found one and bought it last summer (2005). It is very easy to use. It only comes with a 32-meg card, so at the best setting you may only get a few pictures on it. I picked up two 500-meg (the largest size the camea will take) memory cards. Depending on the detail of a picture, using the best detail setting I can get 55-80 pictures on one card.

- The camera has many features and settings. We have mostly just used it on 'Auto' mode. I don't usually worry about having enough light on the subject because of the great software where you can correct for under or over exposure very easy with just a sliding of a tool-bar button.

- The pictures I've taken in the 'RAW' format have been over 7.2 meg. Depending again on the detail, the pictures I've converted to full jpeg have been as large as 6-meg.

- Due to the nature of the imager, where each pixel point captures the full red/green/blue spectrum, the effective detail is much more than 4.5 meg when compared to other cameras with the normal cmos imager. I had the opportunity to stand in the end-zone for a Phialdephia Eagles football game last year, and I took shots of plays running out of the endzone. The ones i blew up to 8x10's were incredible. You could make out the faces of people half a stadium away when a regular 5 megapixel camera would show a blur.

-Downsides? Well, the caera has a built in automatic lense cover that opens/closes automatically when you turn the camera on or off. That's good. But they also have a plastic cap, attached by a string, that can go over the lens cover as well. When the camera is just in your hand, that cap has a tendency to come off. No big deal, just more of a nuisance.

The editing software is very powerful, and generally easy to use. Due to the nature of the imager and the RAW file format, if you choose to do your own editing (it has auto editing options as well), you may notice a slight blue tint to the pics. This is easily over come by adjusting the color filter.

The size, in my opinion, is a plus too. It has a nice sized display in the back. The battery charge lasts a long time too.

All in all, I am very happy with the camera. The price has come down a lot since I got mine which makes it even more of a great deal. AS mentioned, the imager is what is key in a camera, and this has the best one out there. No mosaicing to worry about. And none of the other goofey things that can afflict CMOS imagers. If you are looking for a camera that will do great work make great images even larger than 8x10's, this is the one you should get.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The poor man's ticket to Foveon photography.., June 16, 2006

By 

P. Witek (Jacksonville, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Polaroid X530 4.5MP Digital Camera with 3x Zoom (Electronics)

The other two reviews of this product have hit the benefits and limitations of this camera quite nicely, so I won't go too far into details about that. I bought the X530 as it was an affordable way for me to experiment with the Foveon sensor - as long as you have researched and read some reviews and know what it can and can't do, this camera should satisfy.

The real power of the Foveon imaging comes when you start working with the raw X3F files - so I wanted to let current and future X530 owners that it is worth the time to go to the Sigma Japan website. The software that ships with the X530 is "Polaroid PhotoLab", but it is a renamed version of the same software that ships with the high end Sigma SD9 and SD10 digital SLR's with Foveon imaging sensors. However, the version packed with my camera was version 1.0; version 2.1 of Sigma's PhotoPro software is available for download on their website - sigmaphoto.com under "support".

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Coulda been a contender, but still an interesting novelty w/ Foveon sensor, January 17, 2007

By 

Stephen Lang "madmaxmedia" (Woodland Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Polaroid X530 4.5MP Digital Camera with 3x Zoom (Electronics)

John Buckingham's review sums up the camera pretty well for 2007. The camera is practically unusable in this day and age due to VERY slow focusing, slow shot-to-shot times, and horrible ISO 200/400 performance. Movie mode is very poor, compared to the VGA 30FPS MPEG4 video most compacts can do now. The camera is light but chunky, and definitely NOT pocketable.

However, now that prices have dropped significantly, this is still an intriguing project camera for those who want to experiment with a Foveon sensor. The camera comes with the same processing software that comes with the Sigma DSLR's (rebranded for Polaroid), and working with RAW images is a joy. The 'Fill Light' feature is in particular very noteworthy. The main negative is that shooting in RAW format slows down the camera even more (we're talking maybe 6-7 seconds between shots, I didn't time it.)

Also, the image quality of the camera is quite good (within the aforementioned constraints.) You can lock the camera at ISO 100 (too bad you need to set it again if you power off the camera). Colors and resolution are excellent, and 8 x 10 prints look very good- really! The colors seem very full and stand out, without seeming overly-saturated. I think the Foveon sensor acquits itself very well in this regard.

Finally, macro performance is excellent, with a focusing distance of under 1 inch. Images can be very sharp and have excellent detail.

This might be a great second camera for you to play with, and you will probably be surprised by the quality of many of your images. But don't buy this expecting it to be your everyday camera, it's far too slow and limited for that.

If anything, this camera shows the promise of the Foveon sensor in a compact digicam, if low light performance can be improved. In fact, Sigma is releasing the DP1 compact with a 28mm fixed lense in 2007, and I will definitely look out for that one. That camera may deliver all the strengths of the x530 without the weaknesses.