The EasyShare M853 shipped in August 2007 at a list price of 179 US dollars, part of a six-model refresh with which Kodak pushed its slim M-series compacts at style-conscious snapshooters wanting 8MP resolution in a pocketable body.
An 8.2MP 1/2.5-inch CCD sits behind a 3x zoom covering 37-111mm equivalent at f/2.8-f/5.2, with a 2.5-inch 154k-dot LCD and no optical viewfinder. Seventeen scene modes cover common situations, ISO runs 80-800 automatically with a manual setting up to 1250, and video records VGA at 15fps or QVGA at 30fps with audio in QuickTime MPEG-4. Storage is SD/MMC plus 16MB internal; power is a KLIC-7001 lithium-ion battery charged in-camera over USB.
An everyday shirt-pocket compact for casual shooters. The 15fps cap on VGA video is a clear weak spot and the modest screen resolution shows its age, but stills in good light carry the agreeable colour typical of Kodak's CCD compacts of the period.
The KLIC-7001 battery is discontinued, so check a working cell and a charging option are included before buying to shoot. Confirm USB charging functions, run the zoom through its travel, and look over the LCD for wear; SD/MMC storage remains easy to source.