A Great First Digital Camera
Written: Mar 17 '03 (Updated Mar 17 '03)
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Pros: Price, light weight, decent software bundle, extremely simple to use.
Cons: No LCD viewer, questionable image quality.
The Bottom Line: For a really cheap digital camera, this one is hard to beat!
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| kajguy's Full Review: SiPix StyleCam Snap Digital Camera |
The SiPix SytleCam Blink II Digital Camera is one of the lowest priced cameras on the market and certainly one of the smallest and lightest. I bought this camera for my wife, who is a complete technophobe, for $39.95 at Fry's the other day and hope the experiences we had with it will be helpful to you. In a nutshell...my wife loves it!
SiPix is a relatively unknown brand which makes several different models of lowend digital cameras. The Blink II is very reasonably priced and comes with a decent software bundle by ArcSoft, including PhotoImpression and VideoImpression. It requires a PC with a USB 1.1 port and the entire process of uploading the photos from the 8MB internal memory is seamless. The unit requires only 1 AAA battery. There is no LCD picture monitor, however, nor would you expect one for this price.
In overall design, for a low end camera, the Blink II is quite stylish. The blue/silver body is made of light plastic and there is no lens cover. However, the lens in recessed far enough back in the housing so that scratching it is not a concern. The styling is relatively sophisticated with some intriguing contours. A nice touch is the chrome trim strip that goes around the body and complements the chrome shutter button nicely. It truly looks more expensive than it is.
What is really shocking, however, is that it weighs almost nothing, even with the battery! It is so light, in fact, you'll forget that you have it. So, it comes with a blue plastic neck strap.
Surprisingly, there are some setting options. For photos, there are two quality levels: HI and LOW. But, only the HI level is useful. The internal memory can store 70 images at this level. These images are suitable for e-mails and web sites, but not for prints. The lower quality level is for all practical purposes useless, although the Blink II will store 300 of those images.
There are also settings for indoors and outdoors. There is no focus adjustment and white balance is done automatically. An LCD on the back displays the various settings, including the battery level.
A nice surprise is that the Blink II can also be used as a Web Cam using Yahoo! Messenger or Microsoft Net Meeting. I have not tried this feature, however.
Another nice feature is that this camera can take up to 160 seconds of "streaming photographs", which, in essence are like a choppy video.
OK, so, how well does it all work? The first thing I noticed is that it is absolutely critical that this camera be held with both hands. Any shakiness at all and the resulting photo will be very blurry. This camera is also very light sensitive and you must have the light source at your back. The subject must be at least two feet away from the camera. And, photos taken outdoors in broad daylight will look much better than those taken inside. The colors can be quite rich and vibrant!
The Blink II uses a technology called Active Picture, which automatically compensates for color, saturation and hue. The net result is that the photos taken with this camera do not look "lifelike" but, as my wife commented, look more like Impressionist paintings. I compare them to Polaroids with more intense colors. The sharp, clear details of more expensive cameras are gone, but so are wrinkles and blemishes! Actually, some of the photos we took looked quite good! I have posted some examples for you to look at here: www.chrisopfell.com/SiPix.
My wife commented upon how easy the software was to use and how simple this product was in overall operation. This is one digital camera that I know she's going to use. When we showed this camera to other people at the various places we shot photos at, they were all quite surprised that it was "only" $40.00.
Would we recommend this product? Yes, if all you need is a camera for taking pictures to e-mail to friends and family. If you have greater expectations than that, look elsewhere. This is a fun toy and nothing more.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 39.95
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Fool-Proof for Absolute Beginners
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Epinions.com ID:
kajguy
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Member: Chris Opfell
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 14 members
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