Digital Camera Review

By Ian Urie

When I bought the kids a P.C , one of the many things that came with it, was a digital camera.

I should hasten to point out that it wasnt a CoolPix or anything quite so upmarket. Nevertheless , it is a digital camera.

This is the camera, a Fashion Cam to be precise.

As the name suggests, this isnt the equipment to buy if you are looking for high quality cameras..in fact all the pictures shown in this part were taken by my webcam as I couldnt get the right focus or white balance for the box that I have pictured. But more about that later.

The box that contained the camera has everything you need to know really. Above, pix of the description of how it can be used and the OSs supporting the camera.. it also supports XP, but doesnt mention it. I suppose the bit about Win2000 is the giveaway there.

Above, the listing of the requirements to use the camera. Shouldnt really be a problem for anyone these days.

As you can see from the picture, it comes with a CD of software to handle the camera and the necessary drivers for it as well as having a carry case and strap for the camera. Surprisingly enough, batteries are included.

The quickstart guide details all the icons on the LCD display of the camera to show how to operate it.

The details. It has a maximum resolution of 640 x 480. It is autofocus, but has a small switch at one side to switch to macro mode for close-ups of 12 or less. There is no screen to preview the pictures but you can either delete all the pictures manually or the last taken from the controls. The controls are three small buttons at the side of the LCD display, which let you cycle through the various options. The unit uses two AA alkaline batteries and , to date, has taken well over 200 pictures (some using the flash mode) and the batteries are still going strong. The camera has 8mb of internal flash memory which is not upgradeable.

The camera can be used as a webcam as well and is capable of taking small movies which are saved in AVI format. The pictures are saved as BMP. It also has a self timer.

The camera switches itself off when not in use to conserve batteries after apprx. 60 seconds.

I am loath to slate this small camera. It is good in what it does and with 8mb of memory is good for apprx. 30 pictures at the maximum res. For kids and adults alike , the camera is a small lightweight companion which will faithfully capture anything you decide to click at.

After saying that, it isnt good..

It lacks any sort of picture preview, so you are stuck with the pictures you have taken until you plug into a P.C. and decide if they are worth keeping. As I said earlier, I failed miserably to take the pictures of the box that you can see throughout the article. The white balance and focus are automatic and the close-up feature is a bit of a joke when you try out these things. The flash works well, but I tend to find reading the LCD display a chore as it is so small. Getting the pictures into the P.C. is simple since it is USB. It also means that there is very little time wasted in transferring. The software provided with the camera is adequate for the job, but I prefer to use PhotoSuite myself, simply hitting acquire and selecting the Fashion Cam as the source. My kids are delighted with the camera and have played with it frequently , snapping anything within range. They took pictures of the local area and used them as backdrops for their desktops, so it cant be that bad a quality
Here is our cat , for example, at rest after killing most of the nearby rodent and bird population. Now this was taken by the Fashion Cam. As you can see, the quality is good enough for WebPages and the like , and this is where its strength lies.

If you are looking for seriously good photos, this isnt the camera you want. Get something like a 4 mega pixel job. If , on the other hand, you want something that will do webpage pictures.. this could be it. Here are some more examples of how well it takes photos.

Ayr Harbour from the Auld bridge in Ayr

Again, this time of the swans congregating at the side of the bridge.

Wife and kids taken while shopping

Our dog..

My home town of Dalmellington.or Damp Wellington as it has been referred to.

So, as you can see, it does produce all sorts of pictures and they are good enough for the Web, but for real quality , you will need a lot better. As for this Fashion Cam, I like it for all those little features and nice touches, like the self timer. It could do with some better features, but I presume they would all push the cost up and this is a camera selling for £70 or less. If you want a small camera ideal for sending pictures by email or on your site, this is worthwhile..just remember the limitations!!

Ian Urie PC Editor RIYAN Productions