5:28 AM
Looking for a good point and shoot camera, the Kodak Pixpro FZ53 - also called the Kodak PIXPRO Friendly Zoom FZ53, is a slim 16MP compact camera with an affordable price tag and a 5x zoom lens that features the famed Kodak friendly zoom.
The Pixpro FZ53 is indeed inexpensive, compact, has a rechargeable battery and 5x optical zoom, which should be enough for a casual shooter.
Trust me, for the price, the Kodak Pixpro FZ53 is appealing on the surface and it comes with a familiar brand name, and a sleek, attractive design.
But its probably where this Kodak FZ53 review ends the good story as the Kodak Pixpro FZ53's image quality is pretty disappointing; has a slow focus, no optical stabilization, video limited to 720p and has no Wi-Fi - in this age?
Not sure why Kodak added it but that 5x zoom lens actually lags behind the latest smartphones in image and video quality, and doesn't include any sort of wireless connectivity.
To be harsh, rather skip the Kodak Pixpro FZ53 and keep snapping shots with your iPhone or Galaxy Note, or spend more on a better camera.
Kodak FZ53 Design
The Kodak Pixpro FZ53 is very small, measuring just 2.2 by 3.6 by 0.9 inches (HWD) and weighing a mere 3.7 ounces.
Its body is plastic, but it doesn't feel cheaply made and is offered it in black, blue, and red.
Kodak FS53 camera lens
The Kodak PIXPRO Friendly Zoom FZ53 is called that because of a zoom lens that is a 28-140mm f/3.9-6.3 design, a 5x ratio.
The Kodak FZ53's widest angle of coverage isn't as wide as some other low-cost cameras, like the Canon PowerShot Elph 170 IS. The Power Shot boasts an optically stabilized 25-300mm f/3.6-7 zoom.
While the Kodak zoom is stabilized digitally, but chances are that you will ended up with
blurry handheld images when zoomed. On extreme closeups, it also gets a blurry.
For most photographers it's probably a great idea to leave the FZ53 on full automatic mode and not tinker with the manual controls available.
Like most point and shoot digital cameras, the Kodak FZ53 can shoot in Auto (the default), Anti-shake (which enables digital stabilization), Portrait, Movie, Panorama, and 20 other different Scene modes.
Because of the the FZ53 is so small - it literally fits in the palm of your hand, its 2.7-inch LCD is smaller than you get with most point-and-shoots. It also has poor quality with its 230k-dot design.
Like said above, there's no Wi-Fi on the Kodak FZ53 - a feature you expect to see in pretty much every camera nowadays.
The FZ53 takes a long time to start, focus, and fire - about 4.8 seconds. The autofocus system is also slow, requiring about 0.4-second to lock on to our static test target.
You can enable a 2.6fps continuous shooting mode, but doing so cuts image resolution to just 4MP. If you want to shoot a series of images at the full 16MP size, expect to wait about 3.3 seconds between each shot.
Storage and battery
Images are stored on an SD card and the FZ53 includes a rechargeable battery. There's a standard micro USB port on the side to charge the battery.
I like that it uses a rechargeable camera instead of AA/AAA's.
Be warned that the battery won't keep a charge under enormous use. Many other people have had problems with the FZ53's battery as well and changing it does not seem to solve the problem.
Be aware that it does not come with a memory card but when you receive this camera it does state to insert the battery and then the memory card. I read all about this camera before buying it and nowhere did it say no memory card included.
Kodak FZ53 overall verdict
If you are on a budget and you are a casual photographer or you don't want to take out your expensive camera or smartphone, the Kodak Pixpro FZ53 could be the tool for you. I have a hard time holding a camera still when I take pictures, but with the FZ53 the pictures still come out in focus.
But remember, if you are looking for somewhat serious photography, your iPhone or Samsung Galaxy probably takes better photos until you can afford a decent camera.
The Kodak FZ53 is camera is not very user friendly. The buttons and very small and hard to use. The screen is so small as to be nearly useless.
The Kodak Pixpro FZ53 is ultimately a nice little camera as long as it works.
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