Kodak EasyShare M763 review

It's only four months since we reviewed Kodak's M753, but its heir is already here.

The minimal differences in their designs include a slightly bigger screen at 2.7in and 230,000 pixels, and a choice of red, black or silver finishes. The resolution has crept up from 7.0 to 7.2 megapixels, and the maximum ISO speed from 1250 to 1600. On Kodak's website, the M763 is accompanied by an HD logo, but this merely refers to the camera's ability to take photos at the 1,920x1,080 resolution used by HD video devices. Video capture is limited to 640x480 at 15fps or 320x240 at 30fps.

The controls are simple but the ISO speed setting is buried in the menus. This is a shame as the Auto ISO mode is reluctant to raise ISO speeds to avoid blur in low light. Performance is in line with that of the pedestrian M753, taking almost four seconds between shots. You can speed it up by fully pressing the shutter button rather than half-pressing it and waiting for the camera to focus, but this results in out-of-focus shots. Continuous shooting lasts for just three shots before the camera needs to take a rest.

Image quality hasn't noticeably improved either. Pictures looked impressively sharp, although the lack of fine detail in textured areas suggests that this had more to do with image processing than superior optics. Close inspection also revealed JPEG compression artefacts, particularly in low light, when noise became more significant. This is inevitable considering the small 1MB files the camera produces at its highest quality setting; sadly, there's no facility to adjust the amount of compression. Automatic exposures were superbly balanced, and the lack of face detection didn't diminish the success rate of portrait shots.

It's great to find an ultra-compact camera for just £90 and the M763 is unlikely to disappoint casual photographers who are looking for a bargain. However, bargain hunters should still head directly to Samsung's NV8.

Author: Ben Pitt