Kodak EasyShare M580

Low price earns the Kodak EasyShare M580 a spot on a few experts' recommended lists, but even those reviewers warn of some drawbacks. On the plus side, the EasyShare M580 offers an 8x optical zoom lens, the ability to shoot 720p HD video (although you can't use the optical zoom while doing so), an HDMI port so you can easily hook up the camera to an HDTV for viewing (HDMI cable not included) and a big 3-inch LCD screen (no optical viewfinder). Critics say the slim, angular design looks great, but it gets mixed reviews for ease of use: Gavin Stoker at PhotographyBlog.com finds the stylized buttons hard to press, and Kyle Schurman at About.com says learning the EasyShare M580's menu structure "will take some practice." Several professional testers and owner reviews also complain that the camera's shutter speed and shot-to-shot times are frustratingly slow.

As for image quality, reviews are equally mixed. The Kodak EasyShare M580 packs 14 megapixels onto a 1/2.3-inch sensor. About.com says its photos look good "in all types of lighting conditions," and PCMag.com's testers find that photos look fine as long as there's good light or they use a flash. Without the flash, PCMag.com says low-light photos are so noisy as to be unusable. PC World testers say images shot on a tripod look fine, but handheld shots look blurry -- they suspect the EasyShare M580's image stabilizer is to blame. PhotographyBlog.com reports "burned-out highlights" even under ideal lighting conditions, and unnatural colors in others. In short, the consensus is that the Kodak EasyShare M580 can't quite compete with its rivals from Panasonic, Sony and Canon, such as the top-rated Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS (Discontinued).

PhotographyBlog.com publishes a very thorough, expert review of the Kodak EasyShare M580. Tester Gavin Stoker bases his opinions on data and points out better-performing cameras. Tests at PC World, About.com and PCMag.com aren't as detailed, but they still give valuable alternative opinions about the EasyShare M580. Amazon.com posts both positive and negative reviews.