This camera is neat!
Written: Nov 20 '00 (Updated Nov 28 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: small, light weight, easy to download pictures
Cons: no flash, instruction book confusing
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| ezlance's Full Review: Aiptek Pencam Trio Webcam |
When I took my first picture, the quality blew me away. I was pleasantly surprised at how clear, the picture was. The color was good, but certainly not 35 millimeter quality, but good enough for email, and showing the picture to others.
What is really neat, is how easy it is to get the pictures from the camera to the computer. It comes with a USB cable, and all you have to do is connect the cable to the camera, and then connect the cable to the computer, open the software, click on the down load icon, and you are in business.
The pictures are shown on the software screen, and you can make changes to them, such as contrast, brightness, etc. Once this is done, you can save the pictures or send them to others by email, the software has an email click on.
One warning, the camera needs lots of light. It does not have a flash. I took excellent pictures outdoors, but inside, some of my pictures looked washed out, others were good, it just depends on how the lighting is.
It is a fun camera, only about 2 inches long, and weighs less than a couple of ounces with the batteries in it (it takes 2 AAA batteries). The lens, view finder, and camera lens are all recessed, so there is less chance of putting finger prints on it. I use a small zip lock bag, to help protect mine. The lcd screen on the camera is bright and clear, and easy to use, it has 2 buttons that control all its features. It does have an automatic shut off (30 seconds) in which if you are not using its features such as taking pictures, with in this time, it will shut the camera off, so be quick.
The camcorder does work, it takes 80 pictures in succession on high quality, and then the software converts them into an avi file, for a short and I mean short movie,about 15 seconds,the quality is good. The low quality does the same thing with 320 pictures, and provides about a 40 second movie, (barely watchable) but it may be ok if you want to correct a golf swing or something similar.
The instructions,on how to use the camera,can be confusing,especially on how to go from high quality 80 pictures, to low quality 320 pictures. I would suggest you download the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on their web site, aiptek.com., since these are much easier to understand than their instruction book.
The camera does become a web cam, when it is connected to the computer, and you use it's software. The quality is pretty good, but not as good as my logitech. But what is neat, is that, the software allows you to do single pictures.
Why I gave this 5 stars, first my goal was to find a small camera, that could fit in my pocket, didn't weigh much, would take good pictures, and didn't need expensive batteries and would not use them up in one day, mine is still going after a week, and I am taking pictures, and using the cam corder every chance I get, at least 10 times a day. This camera met all of my specifications.
Up date, I forgot to mention that the color pictures that I took that
blew me away, were done outside and were done on the high quality setting, 80 pictures, the low quality setting, 320 pictures, don't bother, they are very small, and grainy. It is very difficult to take pictures that are not washed out inside, the lighting has to be perfect. I am taking most of my pictures outside and having great results on cloudy and sunny days. Other than this, I love this camera.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID: ezlance
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Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 1 member
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