Kodak EasyShare DX4530 review

16 December 2003 16:21 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Kodak’s five mega pixel camera in its EasyShare range is an interesting one. On the one side, you have a camera range aimed at beginners and on the other you’ve got a mega pixel count that is normally found in high end larger models.

Kodak’s DX4530 therefore sits uncomfortably in the Kodak range. That is not too say that it is a bad camera - far from it, but why a newcomer attracted by the EasyShare qualities would want 5Mp was initially a hard question to answer.

The results however are very surprising. Taking on a dark gun metal grey colour the camera has a slightly cheap feel to it compared to your average 5Mp camera produced by other manufacturers.

The back of the camera follows in the same vein as others in the EasyShare range, and the DX4530 has a 1.8” display to view images on. Buttons are arranged around this with the scene jog wheel on the top of the camera. Compared to the other

There is an optical viewfinder on the rear of the camera but this is very small.

Inside and the camera boasts a 3x optical and 3.3x digital zoom and 32mb of internal memory to save your images on. Images are saved at a resolution of 2580 x 1932 and this supposedly gives you prints up to 20”x30”.

When it came to taking images, the camera did very well producing bold colours against a varying backdrop. Using the sports mode allowed us to capture the flame of the hot air balloon and the auto setting provided good all round performance. Skin tones were also well captured. Additionally, the cameras ability to cope well with clouds of all varies ad a clear blue sky proved this camera would be great for landscape shots.

Verdict

We looked at this camera with great scepticism but the results are actually very impressive. The images are as good as you would expect for a 5Mp camera and the EasyShare options will provide easy printing options when it comes to docking it with the Kodak printer dock. This camera manages to turn the need for 5 mega pixels on its head. Perhaps we do all need an easy to use camera that offers a high mega pixel count. This camera certainly suggests that, and will certainly help Kodak to make the transition as it axes film camera production in Western markets.

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Review Recap

Made by: Kodak
Price as reviewed: £400
The good: Familiar Kodak operation, large MP rating
The bad: Not many now street price has dropped
Quick verdict: Now we see 3Mp in the sales, 5Mp hurtles toward the midrange and you could do worse than this, so shortlist it
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