Close to my home is a wild tract of land sandwiched between the A80 (main road from Glasgow North) and Cumbernauld housing schemes. Despite this the land is a haven for wildlife and is well known in the area for deer, foxes and birds of prey.
Often in the early mornings while we walk our dog we come into close contact with either the small deer herd, or meandering foxes. At lunch times, birds of prey can be seen hovering overhead in the search of small mammels to provide a meal.
These birds of prey are really what interested us, they can, on odd occassions, be seen sitting on our garden fence, sadly we have never managed to get a photo which would help in identifying what breed the birds are.
It was this that led us to decide to purchase a combined Binoculars and digital Camera. These combination cameras can be relatively expensive, but a cheaper model seemed ideal for our needs. So on to good old EBay.
The model purchased is an unnamed 300k Digital Camera & Binoculars (with 8x magnification). Price .99p plus £16.99 postage .. or a total of £17.98p.
Included with the package is a usb lead to connect the camera to the computer and a CD containing :
Arcsoft Photo Impression 4.0
Arcsoft Videoimpression 1.6
Pccam
1x user manual.
I should point out this cheaper model does not have a flip up digital viewing screen, so you cannot view your photographs untl they are downloaded to your computer.
So how does the Binocular/Camera perform. I tested it against my ViviCam 6300 6megapixel digital camera.
As can be seen from the above the Binocular/Camera works much better at long distant shots providing much clearer and detailed photographs.
The Binocular/Camera is easy to use, both to adjust the binocular lens or switch on and take photographs. The Camera take photo from 40ft to infinity, of course no use for closeup work, but ideal for long distances.
Downloading of the Photographs is quite simple using the supplied software, and after that you can use your favorite Photo editing software to tweek the snaps.
All in all I would have to say that the Binocular/Camera is well worth having, if you are serious about digital photographs (an extra tool in the kit). However it is also good for those interested in birdwatching or even sporting events.
The Binocular/camera is no replacement for a good digital Camera and its unability to take closer photos (Under 40 ft) means that it should be concidered as an extra tool for taking digital photographs.
In truth it does what it says on the box and at under £20.00 it should be worth concidering purchasing as a good option for taking your photographs
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