Clearly based on
the LS743,
the Kodak LS753 offers the same sleek, slim and elegant
body design as the LS743, but this time with a blue gun-metal
tint.
But, while the Kodak LS753 shares
the body design of the LS743 with few modifications, it is equipped
with a 5 megapixel CCD instead of 4.
The modes themselves are selected from a row of 6 icons, with
the currently active mode indicated by the icon lit in red.
The camera's designers took advantage of this unusual mode selection system
to create a start-up display. When the camera is turned on or off, each
mode lights up in succession, creating a cascading effect that is accompanied
by a twinkling sound...
A multi-purpose control dominates
the right side of the LS753's back. It consists of a joystick-like
control which is used to navigate the menu and to make some selections
by pressing it straight in [OK], and of a zoom control
that acts as a way to zoom in — up to 8X — and out
of an image in playback. Furthermore, the joystick control has
some additional functions:
with the capture modes and with the playback mode, the up arrow
controls the information superimposed on the monitor;
with Auto, Portrait and Macro modes, the down arrow
starts exposure compensation (±2 EV in 0.5 EV increments),
and the right/left arrows serve to adjust the exposure
compensation;
with the Scene modes the right/left arrows serve to
select the Scene program. In playback, pressing the down arrow
presents thumbnails of the images in memory (9 per screen);
and with all the capture modes, pressing the OK button
(pressing the 4-way controller straight in) turns the LCD monitor
On or Off.
As noted above, the capture modes are selected using the Jog
Dial. The six modes available are:
Auto: turns the LS753
into an easy to use point and shoot. The camera handles everything,
but the user can change a number of settings (sensitivity,
metering, focus). However, all changes are lost when the
camera is powered off.
Portrait: the camera uses
a wide aperture to blur the background (the effect is more
pronounced if the zoom is used), and fires the flash in Fill-in
mode and at low power to lessen shadows and make the subject
stand out.
Close-up: a Macro mode,
allows the LS753 to focus on a subject from 5cm to 1 m distant
(2 to 39 inches) when the zoom is at the wide angle end,
or 30cm to 1m (11.7 to 39 inches) when the lens is at the
telephoto end.
Scene modes, the specific
mode being selected with the joystick:
Night Landscape:
for use with distant scenery at night. The flash
is forced off. The longest shutter speed is 1/2
sec. and the sensitivity is forced to its lowest
value, 80 ISO.
Night Portrait:
uses flash with red-eye reduction to capture
the foreground, and a slow shutter speed — down
to 1/2 sec. — to capture the background.
Sensitivity is set to Auto and can increase up
to 140 ISO.
Sport: gives
priority to a fast shutter speed to freeze action,
providing a range of 1/30 sec to 1/1500 sec.
Sensitivity is set to Auto.
Landscape:
focus is set to infinity and forces the flash
to off. The shutter speed range is from 1/1500
sec. to 1/8 sec. and the sensitivity is set to
Auto.
Snow: for
use with bright snow scenes. Exposure compensation
is set to +1EV and sensitivity is forced to 80
ISO while the flash is set to Auto.
Beach: uses
the same parameters as the Snow scene mode (80
ISO and +1 EV), but sets the white balance to
daylight.
Party: starts
the flash in red-eye reduction mode, and uses Auto
ISO and white balance.
Self portrait:
sets the camera to wide angle, macro mode and sets
the flash to red-eye reduction mode. Sensitivity
is set to 80 ISO.
Manner/Museum:
disables flash and sounds so the camera can be used
in quiet surroundings. Sensitivity is set to Auto
(up to 140 ISO) and the shutter speed range is from
1/8 sec to 1/1500 sec. Auto white balance is used.
Fireworks: should
be used with the camera on a tripod. The longest
exposure time available is 2 seconds, the white balance
is set to auto and the sensitivity is set to 80 ISO
while the focus is set to infinity.
Backlit: forces
the flash on, and uses auto ISO which can range up
to 140 ISO.
Flower: sets the
camera to macro mode and cancels the flash. Auto
ISO is used (up to 140 ISO) and the shutter speed
range is from 1/8 second to 1/1500 second.
Children: prioritises
the shutter speed to capture kids at play under bright
light. The flash is set to Auto, and so is the ISO,
allowing the camera to increase sensitivity up to
140 ISO.
Video: allows capturing
MPEG 4 video with sound (16-bit, 16kHz mono sound) at either
a frame size of 320 x 240 pixel (QVGA) at 20 frames per
second, or at a frame size of 640 x 480 (VGA) at 13 frames
per second. During video recording, the optical zoom is
deactivated but exposure and white balance are dynamically
adjusted. The length of video recordings are determined
by the capacity of the memory card in use. It is however
possible to pre select a maximum recording length (5, 15
or 30 seconds).
Favourites: to view
images that have been tagged as Favourites(see
the Characteristics section of the review).
Worth noting, the camera returns to its default of Auto mode after
it has been turned off.
A 1.8 inch LCD monitor with 134,000
pixels, the monitor of the LS753 has precisely the same characteristics
as those of the LS743. To its left, a row a 4 buttons complete
the external controls of the camera.
At the top is the delete button, used to erase an image in the capture
mode if it is pressed immediately after the capture. In Playback,
it can be used to delete one image at a time, or all images on the memory
card.
The menu button calls the
up the menu, either recording or playback. In the capture modes
the length of the menu and the type of options presented depend
on the mode in use. And, both the recording or playback menus
provide an access to the Setup menu.
Review, the third button from the top, starts the Playback
mode; while the last button, share, places the camera in
Playback mode and overlays a menu that offers options for:
Cancel Prints: Cancels all DPOF tags that were previously
set.
Print All: tags all images for printing.
Print: select the image currently under review for
printing.
E-Mail: creates a 640 x 480 pixel copy of the image
under review so it can be e-mailed once the camera is connected
to a computer running Kodak's EasyShare program.
Favourite: selects the image as a favourite so as
to make organization and sharing easier.
In appearance the Kodak LS753 is almost a twin of the 4-megapixel
LS743, with very minor external differences. Of these, the
most notable is that the zoom control can be used to zoom in
and out of an image being displayed on the monitor, a task
which with the LS743 requires accessing the menu. Therefore,
in terms of ergonomic design, the LS753 has few flaws, and
even its joystick-like 4 direction controller works quite well.
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Introduction
