Agfa ePhoto CL20

E Photo® CL20

Christmas has come early for me I think. I have just received a suitable reward for my just efforts in work. I am now the proud possessor of a digital camera. Now no one is safe! [cue evil laugh] A large part of my job-role (still no one has been interested enough to ask me what it is…) involves visiting various companies and employers and observing the workforce, making small notes on large pieces of paper. It has often ...
...– hence my latest gadget.

I’m hardly the James Bond of the Gadget World when it comes to all the latest gizmos that are around – so hey, I was happy to receive whatever came my way.

Picture it – a happy Bob (that’s me, by the way. Its my general frame of mind to be happy) returns from an arduous days visiting and watching young trainees. Lo! There on my desk is the rather brightly packaged CL20. Oho, I think, the games ... more

E Photo® CL20

Christmas has come early for me I think. I have just received a suitable reward for my just efforts in work. I am now the proud possessor of a digital camera. Now no one is safe! [cue evil laugh] A large part of my job-role (still no one has been interested enough to ask me what it is…) involves visiting various companies and employers and observing the workforce, making small notes on large pieces of paper. It has often been remarked that a picture is worth a thousand words – hence my latest gadget.

I’m hardly the James Bond of the Gadget World when it comes to all the latest gizmos that are around – so hey, I was happy to receive whatever came my way.

Picture it – a happy Bob (that’s me, by the way. Its my general frame of mind to be happy) returns from an arduous days visiting and watching young trainees. Lo! There on my desk is the rather brightly packaged CL20. Oho, I think, the games afoot.

Excitement. Adventure. Really wild stuff. All of these crossed my mind in an instant (okay, to be fair, things crossing my mind don’t have far to go – Smut, Jokes, Smut and Pretence, and you can still be back home in time for tea).

My still feverish hands (from my recent bout of flu) trembled as I scrabbled with the packaging. The box claimed that perfect Photo Quality Prints are only moments away. The customary female model brandishing the camera in a yogic pose taunted me with the ease of digital delights.

Would it be much of a surprise to find that the box – complete with numerous specification charts and system requirements in a whole variety of languages that I’m not equipped to comprehendez – lacked any form of opening instructions? Not that surprising. After almost five nerve wracking minutes I finally resorted to my old faithful (no, not the oft-spurting geyser – you know who you are!) Swiss Army Penknife. A brief hacking session later and the camera was mine!!

There are now two schools of thought on the installation of new hardware. (Method 1) Carefully read the specifications and proceed to study the user manual. Carefully follow the instructions to install the required software and enjoy many happy years of careful use. (Method 2) Glance quickly at the sparkling product, glare contemptuously at the instructions and start plugging in as many bits and pieces as you can find orifices for. Guess which path I opted to follow.

Within moments, the CD drive was whirling happily and batteries were sliding into their concealed panels. USB leads flopping in the wind, I eagerly took my first pictures. Prancing around the office, wielding my new camera and shouting the now infamous battle cry “Cheese!!!” my first contact with a digital camera went swimmingly.

Plugging into the computer I was actually quite happy to see that the shots I had taken, including the obligatory six of my thumb, came out quite respectably.

(Before I go any further, I suppose I should get a bit geeky. The Camera cost me £69.90 from an independent stockist - that was on a works account. Its advertised on the net from £80 to £129 but I’m sure anyone thinking of buying a digital camera will know where to shop.

The minimum requirements: Windows 98/2000, Pentium processor, USB Port, 32 Mb Ram, 150 MB HDD Space, VGA monitor, CD Rom (2x !!!), and 16k Willing Target Victims.

The Camera has 1280 x 960 pixels, stores up to 30 images. 1MB internal memory, expansion slot for additional memory, built in flash, USB interface and 30frs/sec Video performance.)

I found that the camera works best on the medium resolution settings and provides ample room for 10 quality shots. The lower resolutions also work respectably – depending on the requirements of your task, and store up to 30 clicks. If you want the higher resolution, then the standard camera holds but 6.

I realise I’m a bit of a novice when it comes to digital cameras – barely being responsible for my own digits at times. I have seen a lot smarter looking cameras out there, with display screens to show you what picture you’ve already taken and so forth… but they all seem to be a little too pricey for my pocket. This CL20 gizmo is small neat and compact – it is easily concealed under a trench coat for example – and has a very simple interface; only a few buttons, all very obvious looking (except the one marked AGFAnet “Print”, but I’m not prepared to go there). The software bundle supplied was very comprehensive, if rather sadly named: - Mr Photo. In fact the software that I installed was highly suitable for my rather amateur needs. After my initial few shots I quickly learned how to superimpose my sinister features on Mount Rushmore and to create some rather interesting picture “videos”.

The Video-editing bit really caught my attention. Depending on the number of shots you take, you can almost get a motion picture on the go. The software allows you to add text, send spinney bits floating across the screen and do fancy “Top of The Pops II” style frame transfers. Nice. Imagine the surprise of my manager to find he was immortalised in mpeg format as “The Thing From Outer Space”. I’ve also made a pretty darn neat screen saver entitled “Spinney Wizbit” (mainly because it’s a Wizard spinning a bit).

But by far the most useful feature of this gadget is The Time Delay Photo Taking Ability. Some of you may already be aware of my recent (ongoing) convalescent period and much publicised suffering. My already addled brain is generally taken up by two things. (1) The Devious Planning of Work Avoidance Techniques. (2) The sort of thing that appears a lot in Trampus’ Ops titles.

Top Tip: Its probably not recommended by the manufacturer, but whilst concentrating on points 1, 2 and 2 I noticed a Beechams Capsule Box. It is quite a coincidental fact that the CL20 fits in perfectly to this box [Note: first empty the box – I would suggest flushing all of the suppositories into the nearest foul water source] By careful incision cut out a small hole to poke the lens out of, and another on the top of the box for the “Go” button. Figure out how to set the camera onto Time Delay mode (using either Method 1 or 2). Leave the innocent medicinal box in a suitable location and retreat to a safe distance. I will leave the actual placement of your homemade spy-cam to discretion. Suffice to say I have quite a large collection of amusing “voyeuristic” photos. These are available for a price in the foyer.

So there you have it. A low cost, quite-good-bottom-of-the-range camera that I would recommend to any one who asks me. Its cheap, cheerful, comes with good software, easy to use and can be concealed in most cold care packaging. Mind you, if any one knows better [and I’m sure that even some silicon based life forms on the smaller of Jupiter’s moons – but not Io, no one ever goes there- do know better] I would be very interested to find out more.
 

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