Mustek GSmart LCD 3

Author's product rating:   

Picture Quality	Satisfactory
Range & Quality of Features	Average
Ease of Use	Average
Durability	Good
Overall Look & Design	Good
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Tiny camera, big memory, LCD screen
Disadvantages:	Fiddly and lacks a flash

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

The GSmart LCD3 is one of those products that it’s hard to draw a conclusion on – it’s impressive but can also disappoint. If you’re considering purchasing it, don’t discount it altogether – but be clear about what it can and can’t do for you.

Of course, the major selling point of this camera is its tiny size. At less than 3" × 2½" with a thickness of just ¾" to 1" it’s the most compact camera around that also has a built in LCD screen. So naturally, this would appear to be perfect if you want a camera you can carry around more often for those impulse shots, or if you fancy taking pictures on a night out without being too weighed down. Certainly, this was my intention as I was fed up with the whopping size of my old Kodak.

As I’ve said, this is a really tiny camera. It’s very easy to carry on you and it’s extremely light too which is brilliant. Oddly, there’s no lens cover but you do get a little felt bag to carry it in which offers some kind of protection, along with a wrist strap that stops you dropping it too easily!

There is no viewfinder – instead a 1½" colour LCD screen is used to compose your shots and also to review pictures you have taken. On such a tiny camera, this is quite an achievement and it puts it ahead of other mini digital cameras by adding greatly to the ease of use.

Photos are stored on the internal memory – there is no room for additional memory cards. Happily though, this seems sufficient. You can store 40 shots at the default 1600 × 1200 pixel size or squeeze on 240 shots at bog standard 640 × 480 pixels. If you want super high quality you could alternatively take up to 25 shots at 2048 × 1536 pixels. You can choose the quality level or resolution before each individual photo and store any combination of high, medium and low quality shots up to the capacity of the memory.

There’s extra features too. If you want a bit more action, the camera will also take up to 25 short films without sound. The GSmart LCD3 also offers a self-timer, so if you can find somewhere to perch the camera, you too can be in the photos you take! Computer-wise, while plugged into your PC via the USB cable, it can both function as a decent webcam and be used like a disc to store and transport data.

Technically, this camera is very easy to use. The camera itself has a simple control system and only a few buttons to play with. It’s easy to take photos at different sizes and to review and delete them. What’s more, using the supplied USB cable Windows XP recognises the camera happily and has no problem transferring photos from the camera to a PC. Mustek also claim it works fine with Windows 98, Me, 2000 and Mac OS 9 and above.

So far, so good. Unfortunately, it’s not quite as good as it could be!

First major issue is the picture quality. I have found it immensely difficult to take a picture that isn’t distorted in some way. The way the camera needs to be held means that it’s very hard not to jerk the camera – and when you do, you obviously get images that are smeared or distorted in some way. This happens to me even when standing still or sitting down. It’s not impossible to get a good picture, but you must be very steady-handed.

Secondly, it’s a very poor performer in low light levels. Indoor shots look quite dark, and you have very little hope of getting a good picture in a pub (speaking from experience!) Indeed, many indoor shots I tried to take indoors at night failed to produce any picture at all – a fact compounded by the lack of a flash.

Thirdly, there is no viewfinder, so you have to use the LCD viewfinder for all photos. This isn’t a major gripe – but it makes it harder to use the camera in strong sunlight.

Also, I’m afraid that it just eats batteries! The GSmart runs off one 1.5v AA battery – but these really don’t last very long and I found that you can’t really go anywhere without taking at least one spare.

So what’s the verdict? It’s a nice piece and could be very useful. Despite a tiny package, there’s a lot packed in and the LCD screen is a boon. Unfortunately though, this camera has many serious limitations that make it unsuitable for certain uses. If you are taking mostly daytime shots and have a steady hand then it’s probably useful to you. If you want a compact camera for when you’re out on the town then you’re probably better off with a mobile phone that has a camera in it!

Sadly mine mostly sits on the shelf gathering dust now… It certainly hasn’t replaced my Kodak no matter how huge it is.