The little camera that couldn't...
Written: Aug 26 '02 (Updated Aug 26 '02)
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Pros: It's small and cheap, and a great tool for taking terrible pictures.
Cons: The absolute worst picture quality I've ever seen on ANY digital camera, at any price.
The Bottom Line: This camera is all sizzle and no steak. Don't be fooled by the clever design and easy features. Unusable indoors, not much better outdoors.
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| jwhowa's Full Review: Logitech Pocket Digital Digital Camera |
Wow, what a dissapointment. First, let me say that I have been a HUGE FAN of Logitech products since their first entry into the Mouse world. Their products have always been high quality, ergonomic, durable, and reasonably priced.
The new Logitech Pocket Digital camera is all of those things, it just takes terrible pictures.
I have been wanting to get my hands on one of these cameras since CES 2000 when I saw the prototype, then manufactured by SmAL technologies, the maker of the Autobrite software.
Now that I had one in my hands, I'm not only dissapointed in the product, I want my 2 years of hope and dreams back!
:)
And, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I've posted pics from the Logi as well as some side-by-side comparisons on my website, http://technodaddy.com so you can see for yourself. http://technodaddy.com/photopages/logi1 has a side-by-side comparison of Logi's cam and my Olympus D40, and http://technodaddy.com/photopages/logi2 has some sample images taken in a Target store. When you look at these pics, remember the Target's primary color scheme is RED... The sickly purple-red you see in the pics shows you just how badly the Logi color balances...
Anyway, the literature on this product suggests that you'll be able to keep this camera in your pocket and take beautiful pictures anywhere. The truth is, you'll be able to keep it in your pocket, allright, but you'll never take a beautiful picture. You will take "tolerable" pictures when in BRIGHT OUTDOOR light, taking a picture of a NON MOVING object. If you are indoors, but brightly lit, forget it. Dimly lit room? Forget it. Party, Restraurant, Anywhere else? FORGET IT. This camera has no flash, and Logitech claims to have overcome that by using "Autobrite" technology, but for the life of me I can't tell what the benefit is. Images taken indoors come out blurry, dark, poorly white balanced, and overall useless. I was SO SHOCKED by the poor quality of the pictures from this camera, I took it to Circuit City to have it replaced, assuming I must have a defective one, because good old Logitech would never let a piece of junk like this pass QC and make it to the market!?!?!? Well, the second one was just as bad, and my experience is mirrored by the other posters on this subject.
Like the others said, it's just a 640x480 image, "stretched" to 1.3 megapixel (Certainly a misleading claim, if not outright fraud on Logitech's part) there is no flash, and YOU BADLY NEED ONE.
The only case where I might even CONSIDER keeping this camera is if I had a need for a VERY SMALL camera to be used in BROAD DAYLIGHT ONLY. And in that case, I still wouldn't keep this camera if I were going to do anything with the photos other than keep them on a hard drive for reference. I would never share these cruddy photos with anyone, post them to a website, or print them out.
For reference, I have a set of pics taken by the Logitech and my Olympus D40. I set the D40 to 640x480 and turned the flash off to make it a similar comparison. There IS NO COMPARISON. My D40 knocks the pants off the Logitech. I'll be happy to share these photos with anyone who would like to see them... Email me through Epinions if you want to see them. Now, I know that the D40 costs $400, and the Logi is only $100, but $100 worth of krap is still krap, and I am not exaggerating one bit to say that this camera is next to useless.
I will give logitech credit for designing a sexy, easy to use chunk of metal and plastic, but for it to be called a CAMERA, it should actually take pictures that resemble the subject matter...
Thanks for reading. Do yourself a favor, and DON'T BUY THIS CAMERA. I read a couple of bad reviews and decided people must be exaggerating. The camera was such a cool toy, I had to have one, and had to see for myself.
Well, I've seen for myself. It's bad. It's very very bad. I'm a gadget freak, and I can honestly say that I wish I had believed the reviews and not wasted my time with this piece of junk. Thankfully, Circuit City gave me my money back, so all I lost was some time...
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 99
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Fool-Proof for Absolute Beginners
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Epinions.com ID:
jwhowa
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Location: Pensacola, FL
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
I am a technology manager for a Fortune 500 Company, and admitted gadget freak.
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