Purchasing your first digital camera, or just looking for a camera to take quality pictures without the worries of missing up your shiny new Nikon D90? Well,take a serious look at the Kodak MD853/M853. Personally, I still use the Kodak EasyShare DX7630 for all my fishing trips, football road trips, and family get togethers, and will be upgrading shortly.

It was while researching a replacement that I stumbled across the MD853. What I love most about the EasyShare line is the ease of use. The Kodak MD853 continues on this tradition along with some nice upgrades and enhancements. I like that they moved the mode selector to the top of the camera from the back plane. It’s nice to have all the controls in one spot. Additionally, if you are familiar with earlier Easy Share models, you can just pick up the MD853 with zero learning curve. Another plus. I hate learning curves! This model has a maximum image quality of 8.2 megapixels. For my uses, I rarely max out the resolution, but it’s nice to have the great picture quality available in case you need it. As for camera specifications, it has an ISO range of 80, 100,200, 400, 800, 1250. This is not spectacular compared with higher end models, however, for everyday photography the range is sufficient. For metering options, you can select from Spot, Center-weighted, or Multi-Pattern mode. Most users will use the Multi-Pattern setting, but it’s a plus to have additional options.

Finally, KODAK PERFECT TOUCH Technology, on-camera crop, undo-delete is wonderful. While many of you love your Photoshop, having on-board editing tools is great. The undo-delete is one of my favorite features, since most of my friends delete pictures of themselves once I hand them the camera.

Optional accessories. The Kodak Easy Share MD853/M853 includes a 16mb memory card. You will want to upgrade immediately to the SD 1GB card. I recommend doing this at the same time you purchase the camera. The price of memory cards is ridiculously low, and for around $25.00US, it’s a no-brainer. You may also consider an extra Li-Ion Recargeable Battery KLIC-7001. The price is around $25US and it is cheap insurance when you are out photographing that special event.

Pricing. Perhaps the best part about this review of the Kodak Easy Share MD853/M853 is the price. This camera lists for around $150.00US. My favorite images were taken with my Easy Share because I take it everywhere. That is about the same price I recently paid for my last camera bag! So if you are in the market for a solid digital camera and don’t want to spend a fortune, give the Kodak Easy Share MD853 a try!Technorati Tags: kodak digital camera, kodak easy share, kodak easy share md853, kodak MD853, kodak M853, first digital camera