Kodak Easyshare M580

The lightweight metal-built Kodak M580 is a lot more stylish that we expected, even in its brown incarnation, with silver and purple also available. Held in the palm it felt well worth the £160 asking price.

The technology in the camera includes a ‘folded’ 8x optical zoom lens that allows the body to be just under 3cm in depth. The resolution is an impressive 14 megapixels and it can even record high-definition video clips in the resolution of 720p. Recorded video can be downloaded to a PC or viewed directly on a flat-panel TV by connecting it to the camera’s HDMI output.

The cable you’ll need is an optional extra, though, and in keeping things simple Kodak has provided an adapter plug and lead that doubles up as power and USB cable in one. This means that its rechargeable battery needs to be replenished while inside the camera.

Though it’s stylish, we found the M580 difficult to fathom. The top plate buttons are thin and squashed together so it’s hard to tell between them when your attention is focused on the 3in screen. The power button needs to be pressed quite hard for the camera to respond, and there was a pause before the zoom kicked in.

Add in the fact that the delete button on the back is indicated with an icon that looks more like a biscuit tin than a trashcan, and generally the settings require some hunting around.

In Kodak’s defence, it has assumed that most of us will leave the camera in the automatic Smart Capture mode and simply point and shoot. But there are manually adjustable Program settings and 18 scene modes covering portraits, landscapes, fireworks, beach and snow subjects for anyone wanting creative input.

Given the camera’s modest price, the video it shoots is good, with sound nice and clear, colours realistically rendered and movement fluid. It’s easier to be critical of still images, which showed a disappointing amount of noise in moderately low light.

Ultimately there are easier to use, more reliable budget cameras available that are similarly priced to the Kodak Easyshare M580.