Good for a beginner's camera only - but not at full price
Written: Dec 16 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: small, light, good on batteries
Cons: poor picture quality, poor instructions, no picture monitor
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| joli's Full Review: Largan Chameleon Mega Digital Camera |
A few months ago my husband decided we needed a digital camera. We ended up buying the Canon S10, which I am very happy with. He also wanted a cheap one for work, and (I'm still not sure how) he ended up talking me into getting him the Largan Chameleon. We found it on Egghead.com for $79. I guess the Chameleon is OK at $79, but whatever you do don't pay anymore than that for it.
The stuff I like:
The size is the best thing about this camera. It is very small and light - smaller than a pack of cigarettes.
It runs on two AA batteries, and they last for a very long time.
It takes up to 100 pictures. Sometimes it will only take 90 at a time, but 90 is still a lot for internal memory cameras. (The box says it takes up to 128 - but I don't think so).
The stuff I don't like:
The camera doesn't have a monitor that you can see your pictures on after you take them. When we bought the camera, the egghead picture only showed the front of the camera, and I assumed it would have a monitor on the back like every other digital camera I have ever seen. I was wrong, it doesn't. For me, the monitor on the back is part of the whole "digital" experience.
The mini-instructions were written by someone who obviously didn't speak English as a first language. For example, a phrase on the mini-instructions reads "... then click 'Finish' and you had set Largan Video Camera!" Plus, the mini-instructions show different driver installation instructions then the users guide, possibly because the mini-instructions don't distinguish between the video camera and the camera.
The camera's instructions are not complete. We had the most awful time for two days trying to figure out how to download pictures to the computer. I finally found the answer on the website message board (after I had installed the driver at least 100 times). The camera has to be in regular camera mode to download pictures, NOT in PC mode. What!??! I was almost ready to throw this camera in the ocean when I found that answer - and I never did find it in the instruction manual.
The photo quality is really pretty awful. I know, what do you expect from a cheap digital camera - but that's just it. If I had known the pictures were going to be this awful I would have spent a little more money. Here is an example of a picture I took with the camera.
http://www.volcanoalley.com/feature/dolphin_lesson_plan/dolphin6.html
That was a bright sunny day, and that is a dolphin about 6 feet away from my kayak - can't tell from the picture can you? Oh well, if the camera had been anymore expensive, I probably wouldn't have taken it out on the kayak with me for fear of dropping it overboard.
Look at this page http://www.volcanoalley.com/feature/dolphin_lesson_plan/index.html
and go towards the bottom to the group of six pictures of dolphins. See how the picture in the middle of the top row is so much lighter than all the others? Those were all taken at the same time of day, but the light one was taken staring directly into the sun, the rest were all taken facing away from the sun.
Conclusion
FYI, this camera only works on Windows 98 computers (upgrades don't count), and only with a USB cable. The instructions say it also functions as a video camera, but I haven't been able to get that to work yet (I haven't tried very hard)(I don't see the value).
Basically, I haven't sent the camera back, because it functions for what my husband wants it for - basic photographic records of scenes at work to jog his memory if he needs it. There's no film to worry about, which is good, and it takes basic pictures how it's supposed to. If I had the choice to make over again, I would have spent another $50 or $100 to get one a step up from this beginner's camera.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
joli
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Location: Keaau, HI
Reviews written: 126
Trusted by: 389 members
About Me:
That is my son Joseph in the picture.
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