Pros & Cons
Kodak EasyShare LS753 Specs
| 35-mm Equivalent (Telephoto): | 100 mm |
| 35-mm Equivalent (Wide): | 36 mm |
| Battery Type Supported: | Lithium Ion |
| LCD size: | 1.8 inches |
| Media Format: | Internal |
| Megapixels: | 5 MP |
| Type: | Compact |
Company:
Eastman Kodak Co., www.kodak.com
Price:
$399.95 list
Pros:
Sleek, handy design. Crisp, well-exposed images. Quick shooting.
Cons:
Tests show somewhat low resolution for a 5-megapixel camera. Unimpressive video mode. No shutter/aperture priority modes.
Bottom Line:
Sharp pictures and a rich feature set make the handy LS753 a good choice for snapshots. The fact that its 4MP (and $50 cheaper) cousin did better on our tests, however, makes the LS743 a better choice over the LS753.
Review
Kodak's follow-up to its Editors' Choice-winning 4-megapixel Kodak EasyShare LS743 is the 5MP Kodak EasyShare LS753. While this new offering is a solid, dependable, handy...
Kodak EasyShare LS753
Kodak's follow-up to its Editors' Choice-winning 4-megapixel Kodak EasyShare LS743 is the 5MP Kodak EasyShare LS753. While this new offering is a solid, dependable, handy little camera that produces crisp pictures in flash and daylight conditions, it didn't score as well on our resolution tests as its 4MP cousin, and it costs $50 more. For our money, we'd stick with the LS743.
Still, there's much to like about the LS753. Similar to the LS743, it is well-designed and solid, with plenty of conveniently placed and easily accessible controls, a sharp, 1.8-inch LCD, and an optical viewfinder. Its f/3.0 to f/4.9, 6 to 16.6mm (35-mm equivalent: 36 to 100 mm) Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 2.8X optical zoom lens retracts into the body, making the camera easily pocketable. We like that the camera includes a generous 32MB of on-board memory to supplement the SD cards it accepts (the LS743 has just 16MB of internal memory). The camera's single lithium ion battery (included) provides good life.
The LS753 has many shooting presets and EV compensation, as well as user-controllable white balance, metering, and ISO levels, though it lacks shutter or aperture controls. This is fine for point-and-shooters, but enthusiasts will want more direct controls. We also appreciate Kodak's sharing and saving features, which let you tag pictures as favorites and treat the camera as a portable picture album. The camera offers a modest burst mode, which lets you fire off four shots at up to 2.4 frames per second. The video mode is disappointing: At a maximum resolution of 640 by 480 pixels, it can shoot only at 13 fps. Dropping the resolution to 320-by-240 lets you bump the frame rate up to 20 fps—still less than what many competitors offer.
The LS753 fared poorly on resolution tests considering its 5MP sensor, distinguishing only 1,150 lines of resolution average (compared with 1,275 lines for the LS743). On the other hand, it had a very good pixel transition score of 2.3 percent, which resulted in crisp still-life images. Our simulated daylight shots were well-exposed, with vibrant colors that popped. Flash images showed Kodak's usual well-balanced illumination, though the shots had a distinctly cool cast. Performance was somewhat mixed: While boot time was nothing special at 4.3 seconds, the recycle time of 1.6 seconds was very good.
If you can find the LS753 at a good price, you won't be disappointed. But if it's side by side with the LS743, go with whichever is cheaper.
More digital camera reviews: