Limited Controls
These budget cameras are geared toward users of scene modes, not manual controls. The $130 HP Photosmart M537 offers the fewest number of such modes--just eight--covering basics like close-up, antishake, theater, sunset, and night portrait. In contrast, the Kodak EasyShare C653 provides 20 of them. Most of the extra modes (such as backlight, beach, candlelight, and fireworks) sound useful, though others seem less so. I would be unlikely to use the self-portrait mode, for example.
If you're an amateur entomologist or just enjoy photographing small things such as bugs, you'll like the super macro mode in our Best Buy, the Canon Powershot A460: In this mode you can get really close to your subject--up to a mere 0.4 inches away--and still keep it in focus.
Considering the emphasis on scene modes over manual controls, it makes sense that none of these models let you select the shutter speed and aperture independently. The closest thing you'll find in these cameras is the aperture-priority mode in the Kodak EasyShare C653. But neither the Kodak nor the HP Photosmart M537 has exposure compensation--a basic setting that we usually take for granted in cameras.
Three models--the Kodak EasyShare C653, the $120 Nikon Coolpix L10, and the $130 Canon Powershot A460--let you choose a custom white-balance setting for improving color accuracy in challenging lighting conditions. The $120 Fujifilm FinePix A610 lacks a custom setting, but it provides six white-balance presets, including three separate settings for fluorescent lighting. The $130 HP Photosmart M537 was the least impressive in this regard, offering no white-balance presets at all.
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