Pros: Tiny, light-weight, cheap camera that can use SD cards. Bring it everywhere.
Cons: No flash, fixed focus, poor in low light
The Bottom Line: This won't handle all your photography needs, but it is REALLY inexpensive and easy to carry for those times when you just need a snapshot.
phrodod's Full Review: VistaQuest VQ-1005 Digital Camera
This isn't a high-quality camera, but a digital camera that will take snapshots for just $20 at Wal-Mart seemed pretty good.
If you're looking for a camera that you can just throw in a purse or pocket to have when you find yourself with friends, this may be the perfect solution. But expect to find yourself buying another digital camera for your serious pictures.
This camera would also be OK to give to even youngish kids interested in getting started with photography. Because it's all digital, you won't have to print out the crummy pictures, and you may occasionally get a picture that really surprises you.
Another place I might use this camera is in my car, just in case I'm in an accident. It would be great to have a small camera to take pictures of the accident scene immediately, and this would provide a way to do that, provided that there's enough light.
There is no video screen, so you have to use the silly little pop-up view finder to frame your picture, and like the old 110 film cameras, you'll have to hope that they came out OK. However, given these limitations, this camera will have its uses.
First, it's small enough (about 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 3/4") to be easily the smallest digital camera I've seen. It comes on a keychain. This makes it attractive for carrying in your pocket even when you don't plan to take any pictures.
Second, it runs on a SINGLE AAA battery. I was able to take about 100 pictures on a single AAA rechargeable battery, but I don't think it had been fully charged.
Third, this camera actually has a wide range of features. It offers 3 resolutions of digital photos -- 1600x1200, 1280x1024, and 640x480. This is a nice range of computer-friendly sizes, but don't expect to print anything larger than a 4x6 or an occasional 5x7 (if it turns out perfectly). 1600x1200 is actually more resolution than most monitors can display. Other modes available are: burst mode (takes 3 pictures when you press the button), video mode (takes a 320x240 video), and delay mode (a 10 second delay timer to allow you to get in the picture).
This camera allows you to add an SD card (HIGHLY recommended), which will hold LOTS of pictures, even with a reasonably cheap one (think 256M). I had an old 16M SD card sitting around, and took 85 pictures to fill the card, so a 256M SD card would hold at least 1000 pictures. When the card fills up, the display reads "FUL" when you attempt to get the next picture.
I wouldn't attempt to use this camera without an SD card, because the pictures are lost if the battery becomes discharged. Also, the built-in memory is only 8M. From what I've seen tonight, that should still hold something like 40 pictures, but I wouldn't want to risk losing my pictures because my battery died.
The picture quality is about what you'd expect for a cheap camera. The camera uses a high level of compression to fit more pictures onto the card, so the clarity of the pictures suffers. The fixed focus lens will never deliver stunning photos. But the small size and inexpensive nature of this camera may allow you to get photos you'd never have managed with another camera, because you wouldn't have it with you. The pictures, when taken with good light are as good as the old 110 cameras used to get.
This camera has a built-in lens cover as well, so if you do keep it in your purse or pocket, it won't damage the lens. I personally wouldn't attach keys to it -- I suspect that they'd destroy the camera pretty quickly.
It has a fixed focus, so you can't do many of the artistic things you might do with a more expensive camera. And if the light levels are too low, you'll get the blurry pictures you remember from the cheapie film camera days.
Still, this camera has its place for those whose regular camera gets left behind because it's too big and bulky.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 20 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
The new, stylish designed VistaQuest Keychain model VQ-1005 1.3 Megapixel digital camera is perfect for the person on the go! The 1.3 Megapixel resolu...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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