Shotz Smart Shotz SS-2000

...with this camera, the Smart Shotz driver and Photoalbum, ArcSoft Photoimpression 4, PhotoBase 3 and VideoImpression 1.6. The driver is only needed for Win 98SE or for other systems if you intend to use the camera as a webcam.

Essentially these are basic image storage and viewing albums and image manipulation software. Installation only takes a couple of minutes and they're very easy to use.

If you want to play around ...
...software and bypass the Smart Shotz album if you wish.

*** EASE OF USE ***

This camera is extremely easy to use and the functions are set out so logically that you hardly need to resort to the manual, although that in itself contains all that you need to know, both for operating the camera and the software.

Simply press the on/off switch on the top of the camera to activate it and you could be ready to ... more

This is my birthday present to myself this year, I've been hesitant about buying a digital camera, I wanted something with reasonable specs so I could get a good picture, but also something cheapish so it wouldn't break the bank if it didn't work out. When I saw this 2 MegaPixel camera in Tesco.com's electrical warehouse for £99 I thought it would be perfect. Of course after I bought it my father offered to get me a 4 MP camera that was on offer for £90 ! unfortunately I had to refuse or this review would be on something totally different. Even worse I've just seen it advertised at Jessops for £69.90 although you have to wait 4-6 weeks for it.

*** THE PACKAGE ***

This 2 Megapixel (which can be scaled up to 2.7 MP) camera is silver, pocket sized, not much bigger than a credit card at 88x60x20 mm weighing 88g and comes in a nice presentation box that would make a good present. As well as the camera you get a nice little wallet with matching strap, a USB connection, a TV connector, a software disc and 2 AAA sized batteries. You also get a manual and a quick start guide.

*** SPECIFICATIONS ***

- 2.0 Mega Pixels giving a maximum resolution 1600 x 1200 pixels which can be interpolated to 2.7 MP. ( Just in case anyone doesn't understand, the more pixels in an image the better quality the picture, so 2MP is a low-mid range quality camera)

- SD memory card slot for memory expansion

- Sensor Resolution 1/2'' CMOS 2.0 Million Pixel, because it's CMOS sensors rather than CCD this means that the camera should have better image quality and power consumption

- Potential Image Resolutions are :
1920 x 1440 where the image is interpolated up to 2.7 MP equivalent by creating extra pixels.
1600x1200 pixels (large) equivalent to 2 MP, 1280x1024 pixels (medium) equivalent to 1.3 MP ,
800x600 pixels (small) which is used automatically in picture burst mode

- The Image Quality ( amount of compression) can be altered through the Settings menu to give Super High, High or Normal quality. This of course is all going to affect the amount of images that the camera can store.

- Storage : 8 MB internal memory which captures 6 images (1600x1200 Super Fine) or 14 images (1600x1200 Fine) or 23 images (1600x1200 Normal) depending on the resolution which can be altered in the Settings menu.

- Extremely clear 1.5'' TFT colour LCD display

- 4 x Digital zoom can be activated when in Photography mode (but not Movie Mode) by using the up and down buttons at the side of the LCD. You can watch the image in the LCD and see a sliding scale at the side move up and down as you alter the zoom.

- Lens 43 mm with maximum aperture of f2.8 (giving an equivalent focal length of 35 mm)

- Auto Exposure which can be altered using the exposure menu from +2 to -2 stops.

- Sharpness can be altered in the settings menu to Hard, Normal or Soft depending on the image quality you want.

- White balance : Auto or manual can be set through the settings menu depending on your lighting requirements.

- Flash Modes can be set to Auto , or forced on/off. I found this flash to be very powerful despite how small it is and if taking a portrait you can wash out the subject if you're not careful. Luckily that's what digital cameras are good for, you can experiment and see any bad shots immediately and try again. A little lightening bolt symbol will be displayed on the screen to tell you when the flash is active.

- Self Timer available through menu, this is supposed to give you about 10 seconds to photograph yourself, however it seemed a lot longer to me when I tried it, and most of the time the picture got taken just as I'd moved the camera as I thought I must have turned it off by accident. Obviously this is one of the features you'd need to get used to.

- Movie Mode : Video clips of 320x 240 pixels up to 20 seconds at 30 fps (frames per second)

- Video Output to NTSC or PAL so live pictures can be directly outputted to TVs using the European or the American systems using the connectors provided.

- Power Source : 2x AAA 1.5v batteries which are included in the package. These install into a small compartment on the side of the camera under the memory card slot. To conserve power the camera will automatically turn off if not used for 60 sec. So far I've taken about 40 pictures with flash and the battery's still going strong. So I think there's reasonable power consumption and being merely AAAs they should be cheap to replace.

- Theres a small screw in slot for a tripod / stand at the bottom.

*** THE SOFTWARE ***

There are basically 5 programs that come with this camera, the Smart Shotz driver and Photoalbum, ArcSoft Photoimpression 4, PhotoBase 3 and VideoImpression 1.6. The driver is only needed for Win 98SE or for other systems if you intend to use the camera as a webcam.

Essentially these are basic image storage and viewing albums and image manipulation software. Installation only takes a couple of minutes and they're very easy to use.

If you want to play around with your images a lot then it might be worth getting a better imaging software although this one has all the basic functions you should need and you can download pictures directly to the Arcsoft software and bypass the Smart Shotz album if you wish.

*** EASE OF USE ***

This camera is extremely easy to use and the functions are set out so logically that you hardly need to resort to the manual, although that in itself contains all that you need to know, both for operating the camera and the software.

Simply press the on/off switch on the top of the camera to activate it and you could be ready to start shooting. To activate the menu simply press the 'menu' button on the back of the camera and a scroll through menu screen appears on the display. You simply select the functions you wish using the up and down buttons at the side of the screen and then press enter. All the buttons are clearly labelled so there's no mistakes.

First select your camera MODE (Photography / AVI {Video Capture} / Burst / PC Cam / Playback) then select the functions (flash, balance, exposure, resolution) you wish to change as necessary. If there are any problems with your memory card as a last resort you could re-format it using the format option on the camera menu.
The modes are all self-evident except perhaps for 'Burst' which means that the image resolution will default to the lowest and 5 pictures will be taken in quick succession. Useful if you're trying to take sequential pictures of an erupting geyser perhaps.

Compose your picture through the viewfinder frame or LCD and press the shutter button, there's a slight delay at this point before the picture is taken and you need to wait for a beeping sound when it's finished, so you do need a steady hand.

Once you've taken your pictures you can review them in playback mode and delete any you don't want to keep. Then either download to PC or direct to printer if you have a compatible printer using the DPofPrint function.

The camera plugs directly into a PC with a USB cable that attaches to the side and is kept covered over when not in use.

*** PROBLEMS ***

There are no problems as such, just little niggles which you will soon get used to.

- The Zoom : this causes a reduction in picture quality depending on how far in you zoom, and the picture can become noticeably more grainy.
Also the sliding scale used doesn't tell you what zoom you're using, it just moves relative to the zoom buttons.

- Fixed Lens : The other problem with the zoom is that you need to look at the LCD screen rather than the eye viewer because the picture in the viewer doesn't actually change. This means that the camera is slightly more difficult to handle than it should be.

- The internal memory is too small and you're going to need to get an SD card, as large as you can afford.

- No audio recording available for when you're in movie mode.

- I actually find the battery compartment a little hard to open and to close when it's full. As you have to slide it and then lift back and when closing you need to make sure that it's pushed down securely or you can't re-seat it properly. There's a ridged area that should make sliding the compartment open easy but I find myself resorting to fingernails in the hinge.

- No real Macro facility

- When you connect the camera to the PC you need to remember to have it switched on first otherwise it won't be recognised.

*** PICTURE QUALITY ***

I am astounded by the quality of this camera, even indoors in poor light conditions. So I'm attaching a couple of simple pictures just to illustrate. They're both taken with a flash in a dark room, the first is from about 10 feet away using high resolution, and the second is the same picture using full zoom. As you can (hopefully) see there's very little pixelation or loss
of definition. I even got an excellent portrait of my brother ( though I won't post that one as he probably wouldn't appreciate it ).

Finally, and thank you all for bearing with me, I'm being very long winded today, for the price I don't think this camera can be beaten as an everyday camera. It's easy to use, it's light and it's got a good range of functions with hardly any real bad points. Obviously if you're going to go in for some serious photography you're going to need something with a lot higher specs.

****Sorry, something appears to be wrong as I could only upload a picture of the camera and nothing else. Don't know why - if anyone's got any ideas let me know and I'll try again. 

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