Read my lips. This is not a digital camera that will do justice to the notion that digital photography can compete with and conquer traditional 35mm film. This miniature camera is a gimmick. It doesn’t even offer a basic 1-megapixel image capture resolution but rather a prehistoric 640 x 480 VGA resolution.
On test, the StyleCam produced images at a high resolution setting that were often fuzzy and grainy. One in every five of the 50 shots I took during the test passed as images that could be placed with pride in a family album. But then the purpose of this mini-camera is to produce images that capture the moment – images that can then be uploaded to a Website or attached on an e-mail to friends or colleagues.
On test, I did notice that the camera was just too small for my hands anyway and when I tried to take a photo by pressing the action button, the camera would shake and distort the image. Also, a design fault – turn the camera on its side while it is connected to a PC via its USB cable and the cable falls out of the camera port.
On a more positive note, the StyleCam can also be used as a Web cam for video conferencing and as a low capacity video camera for shooting 2.5 minutes of footage. It sports 8Mbyte of on-board memory for storing up to 400 low resolution images and comes with a necklace so you can carry it around you neck. Its credit card size allows you to place it out of the sight of more fashion-conscious friends.
The real attraction of the camera is that it is inexpensive, costing just EUR68. It is ideal for schools who want to buy budget models for pupils to allow them to take photo images to transfer to the Web or send by e-mail. Enthusiastic photographers will shake their heads in disgust when see the image quality. But then what can you expect for a camera that costs so little.
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