This is a fantastic little camera for just slipping in your pocket when you are off on a night out or on the beach when you don't really want to worry about carrying bulky equipment or constantly worrying about losing £500 pounds worth of camera.
It is very inexpensive (i picked mine up for £30 second hand) so if you lose it it's no great hardship.
The pictures are nice and bright and pretty sharp for a 1.3 megapixel CCD, you can print them out at 5x4 without any problems.
It has 8MB internal memory (16 pics on hi quality, 24 medium, 48 low at 1280 x 960). I use it on medium most of the time with no problems. You can switch the resolution to 640 x 480 which basically halves the quality of the pictures but doubles the amount you can store. I never use this mode as it is really only useful for webcam and online applications.
Video mode is available, you can record approx 3 minutes of silent colour movie with the internal memory.
There is a Compact flash slot to expand the memory of the camera so more pictures can be stored or more minutes filmed.
You can connect direct to a PC/Mac via USB socket, although now discontinued the camera works fine with XP, I just plugged it into the USB and there it was on the screen, no software disks or downloads needed.
Flash - The flash is basic but functions adequately with red-eye reduction, automatic and fill-in modes.
LCD Screen - can be used as electronic viewfinder or for post viewing of pictures. It is nice and bright but in sunny conditions can be difficult to view.
Macro - The macro function on this camera is the poorest example I have seen to date, it does not appear to do anything to assist in taking close-up images at all.
Power is supplied by 4 x AA batteries. I have a cheap set of 700 mah rechargeables that cost a couple of pounds from a local discount store. These work fine in the camera. I usually charge them before going anywhere and I usually fill the memory before they run out (dependant on use of LCD screen and Flash)
I love this little camera, it comes complete with photo editing software, USB lead, TV lead (view pics on TV) and a glossy, thick extensive manual.
Overall - If you are a budding David Bailey then you will outgrow this camera very quickly. If you are Fred Blogs, Mary Blogs or one of their children who wants a camera that does what a camera should, ie takes useable pictures without any fuss, then you can't go wrong with one of these.
28.10.2004 20:19
Hi, good review. Nik
16.09.2004 21:39
Hi and a warm welcome to ciao. A super first review. Sounds like one to go for. I hope you enjoy the ciao experience. Ray
16.09.2004 14:20
Hi, welcome to ciao...great first review..have fun xx