is this cheap camera worth it?

[hungerformore]

Hi,

I found this cheap camera called the Kodak EasyShare C530. I see that it is 5MP which is enough for me. I do not want to spend a lot of money on a camera, but $80 seems like a good deal. What do you think? I would like to buy it for my parents.

Link: http://www.boddit.com/productlink.php?l=/showthread.php?t=367605&goto=newpost

[cdifoto]

It would be ok if you do not want any creative control whatsoever, and never plan to learn about photography. It's also "focus free" which means you can't actually focus the camera. You take what it gives you and work within its effective range of focus.

In other words, no. That's probably the most stripped down, featureless digital camera Kodak has ever made.

[tim11]

Looks like it doesn't even have optical zoom. Spend a bit more and buy a more decent Kodak. I see you mention MegaPixel..... MP is a physical size of the image - not a measurement of quality.

[BonjiB]

Depends on the needs of your parents to be honest. I gave my girlfriend the cheapest camera i could find a couple years ago cuz i'm poor and she didn't care about anything manual or really anything but pushing the button. It's a samsung with a fixed lens and all you hafta do is make sure it's either set on infinity or macro... that's it and it takes the picture. To be honest, it does a good job for what it is (an 80 dollar camera.) For me personally that camera would be a peice of junk that i'd never use because it lacks all of the features and controls that i want to use when taking pictures but to someone who is brand new to digital photography they can't miss what they never had. So it's up to you... if 80 bucks is all you can spend then sure, grab it up, they'll have a camera now that they wouldn't otherwise. If you can spend an extra say $52.59 or so then i too would recomend grabbing something a little better. Something like a Canon a530 would fit the bill nicely costing only 134.95 at b&h and providing much better results and handling than the kodak. Good luck man.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=12056&A=details&Q=&sku=425439&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

[hungerformore]

Thanks guys. It's been helpful.

[bascom]

For $130 you could get a Canon A530 which is probably quite a bit better.