Bushnell Imageview 11-1211 Binocular

Pros: Great Idea needs maturing
Cons: Poor performance, bad software, sticky focus and low quality pictures

August 2003 I was excited to have the opportunity to try out the new ImageView binoculars from Bushnell. The first thing that attracted my attention when they arrived was the marketing in six languages on the box. I thought great strategy to go ...

Pros: Compact, lightweight, good idea
Cons: Faulty software, no technical support from Bushnell

I had such high hopes for this product. My expectations though, were quickly dashed. When it arrived at my office, I opened the package, read the accompanying literature, inserted the batteries in the camera and went outside to take some pictures. I ...

Pros: There is no pro's haven't been able to use product successfully.
Cons: Product does not work

I've had these things since October and have never seen an image from them.I've tried to find replacement drivers and software.With no resolution to this problem.And no customer support I will not be likely to buy another product from Bushnell.There are far more reputable brands that are more customer service related.If there is a software alternative I sure wood like to know about it.We should get together a class action suit against Roxio and/or Bushnell.Because $80 is to much money to throw away.Because I waited to long to try to use it misplaced my receipt.

Pros: Binocular seems clear and bright in daylight.
Cons: ROXIO software is unusable, don't load this junk on your system.

Received this item as a Christmas present, my wife paid $80.00. After installing the software on my Windows XP system, it crashed, and went through various startups, without being functional. Eventually, after booting up, and getting into safe mode, (F8 key while Windows loaded) I was able to get to previous System Restore point. I tried the process a second time, and again, the system would not recognize the camera. I never was able to view the photos I had taken. I then did some research on the camera/binos, and found this is a recurring problem. From what others have posted, the photos sound like they will not be on good quality anyway, so why bother to overcome the software problems.
I have decided that I don't need the grief, and will be returning the product for a refund.
A note, I have not had anything but grief from various Roxio software, and will be avoiding it like the plague from now on.

Pros: Nice concept. Compact design formerly good company name.
Cons: It turns out to be an expensive pair of compact binoculars, I cant upload pictures.

The Software is a piece of junk that does not work. I wish I had accessed E-pinions before I bought this binocular camera. The computer will not recognize the device.

Pros: It makes a good rattle for my 14 month old son. The binoculars are average.
Cons: soft usability-quality-bug testing-standard, customer support, communication with the company, horrible camera.

Binocular are okay. But they really f..ed it up with the camera and soft. Bushnell should stay away from this business until they get a basic understanding of how it works:

- Driver faulty, no fix downloadable from their website, no customer support, (come on guys this is BASIC)
- There is some weird middleware application to download the pictures... got it to work after one hour and 3 crashes. It does not even meet Microsoft Windows development guidelines. The only way to close it is to reboot you computer or use alt-cont-del and end the process.
- Some marketing genius made some partnership with Roxio to include their soft on the CD. Roxio is one of the worst picture manager on the market. There are much better free ones out there (ie Picasa...)

Overall, an amateurish product, lack of customer support AND no easy way to communicate with the company (you can't even send them e-mails)... I can understand when a company tries to diversify, they can make mistakes, but they should at least learn from those... what infuriates me is that they do not even bother listening to their customers. Pathetic!

Pros: good focus, good software, awesome comfort, easy usage
Cons: eats batteries

This was a great product, and a worth-while spend. I use this product mainly for deer in my neighbor's woods. I got this product for Christmas, and it has been nothing but help for my experience in the woods. This product makes GREAT pictures if you use the Photo Shop product to the fullest potential. In Photo shop, the software that comes with the product, if you choose touch up, and then Enhance, you can make the pictures MUCH better. It brightens them, and makes them look like they're from a brand new digital camera, even when it's darker than usual. I agree that it is not very good in darker conditions, but the enhance option brightens it and really enhances that.

Pros: Looks cool, decent size, binoculars work OK
Cons: Total crap software, very low grade camera and lens, image is not as seen.

I too would have expected better from Bushnell but, hey, they're not really in the camera business anyway. And from the looks of it, they never will be. I received mine as a 15 year award where I work. Shows what they think of me. I tried it, tested it, compared it to a real digital camera, and loaded their crummy software. I suggest buying a $10 pair of beenocks for your car and also buying a decent digital camera with a 10x zoom and a few more megapixies. Don't buy one for the camera or you'll be disappointed. Take my advise. It sucks.

Pros: neat idea
Cons: bad software driver doesn't work

This is obvious. A pretty good binocular company makes a bad partnership with a digital camera company and maybe a software company. The result: pretty good binoculars, mediocre camera (though the specs ARE clearly stated) and really CRAPPY SOFTWARE DRIVER!

I've had this thing for 2 months now and still have not had luck getting the pictures from it. The problem seems to be Windows XP.

By the way when they tell you to go ahead and install the XP driver even though Microsoft says it isn't tested don't do it! If you still want to do it then set a system backup point first then install. This driver blue screened my high quality laptop every time I tried installing it. However, my crappy desktop doesn't crash but doesn't work with the camera either.

I have tried calling Jeff West too like the other reviews stated but he is a hard guy to get a hold of.

Hopefully one of the camera companies will produce a binoculars. At least lenses don't need drivers.

My focus works OK, is not sticky like the other review said.

Pros: Cool idea, even looks neat
Cons: Immature technology, resolution 640x480, LOTS of software problems.

I too have had a negative experience with these binoculars. I purchased them through the air miles site, which had them 'on sale'. Now I know why they were on sale. I have invested several hours of my valuable time trying to get this thing to be recognized on my computer. I finally accomplished that (same XP problems that the others mention.) The ROXIO software package is very sluggish and locks up the computer. The picture quality is only 640 x 480. Actually, I think the fault here may largely lay with Roxio for the quality of their software. Immediately after installing you are offered the option to upgrade for another $20 USD but, if the initial product is such crap, why pay to upgrade? Will it be any better?

Pros: Poor quality Binoculars
Cons: Junk software crashes computer, Bushnell has no tech support, doesn't care about it's customers.

I received these as a gift and looked forward to using them. I felt that with the Bushnell name, they must be OK. They're not, they're JUNK. I don't know about the picture quality, as I have not been able to download anything from the camera. I've spent hours downloading, uninstalling, reinstalling software. It has crashed my computer several times. Following the instructions at Bushnell's website is just a waste of time and email to Bushnell tech support have been ignored. If this company had any integrity, they would have already recalled this product as it seems that complaints have been coming in for over 6 months. Bushnell, your name is MUD!

Pros: Small lightweight decent binocular
Cons: See above review. bad software

Trust me, dont buy this until they improve the software. They have one guy,Jeff, to assist in the support. You have to leave a message and wait for a return call. he never called. I made them put me inline next and even then the trouble wasnt fixed. I am using my cd burner software to open the files and it sucks!!

Pros: The image viewed through the binoculars is good for a 10x25 binocular.
Cons: Photos taken do not represent what is viewed through binoculars. Photos were unrecognizable.

Had seen the ads for these type products and wanted one for watching the football games I attend. All my binoculars are Bushnell because they make a good product. Thought because the ImageView was a Bushnell product would find the same quality in this product. Boy was I disappointed! While the image seen through the binoculars is good for a 10x25 product but what you see and what is captured is very disappointing. If I had not known what I was taking pictures of I would not have known what the photograph represented.
I have been around digital photography from it's beginnings and must say I have seen cameras manufactured in the mid 90's that produced better pictures than this product.
While a very good idea don't waste your money on this product as someone will come along with a better camera in their binoculars than the camera in this product.
Shame on Bushnell for lowering their standards to bring this very inferior product to market capitalizing on a name usually associated with high quality telescopes.

Pros: Great idea; convenience; inexpensive.
Cons: No lens caps; cumbersome software; poor quality of pictures without bright sunlight.

I saw this in the local sporting goods store and thought, what a great idea! Since it was priced cheaply (between $50-$60) I thought I'd give it a try. However looking at the price of comparable binoculars, and knowing the price of a good digital camera, common sense told me not to expect top quality photos. I had no problem installing and using the software, maybe because I'm behind the times and still use the Windows 98 operating system. The software is similar to what came with my inexpensive web cam/camera, so I was familiar with it and how it worked. Since the software is cumbersome, I use it only to download the pictures, and then switch to a different editing program once the pictures are on my computer. The pictures aren't anything I'd want to frame, but they are sufficient for what I intend to use it for. Like my web cam/camera, it does quite fair in bright sunlight, but only so-so with thick clouds. And I might even recommend it to someone, of course depending what they wanted to use it for, because after all, you get what you pay for!

Pros: Sleek design. They look cool.
Cons: Picture quality so bad you don't even want to use that feature, Low 10x25 view

I was excited at seeing these on the shelf at my local Best Buy. What a neat concept! Now I can take pictures of the wildlife I love to look at through a pair of binoculars! Not quite.

The pictures were so blurry and had such bad quality that they are now useless to me. I don't even use this pair of binoculars anymore because I only bought them for the Digital Picture feature. The low 10x25 is also a reason not to buy these.

I had loads of problems with the software not working and had to wait for a call from Jeff West, who was helpful, to get the program working. Very frustrating product and a poor buy.