Subject:
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Re: Tesco DigiCams - Pukka or Pants? (for photographing Lego <--relevant!)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.loc.uk
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Date:
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Tue, 17 Oct 2000 13:04:29 GMT
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Viewed:
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742 times
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Thanks to everyone for the suggestions about digital cameras - now I have some
information.
The company supplying cameras to Tesco is called 'Digital Dream', and their
website is here:
http://www.digitaldreamco.com/
The camera in question is their 2800 model in the middle of the page. For
£99-99, it's 640x480 with serial, USB and video output (and webcam mode via
USB), and 2MB fixed internal RAM. Funnily enough, on their own discussion
site someone has pointed out that it's actually made by Pretec in the USA:
http://www.pretec.com/index2/product/digital_imaging/DC520.htm
Now, this is where it starts to get interesting. The cameras are actually
manufactured by some unknown company, and both of these distributers stamp
their own brands on them and sell them on - a bit like supermarket peanut
butter. The best bit is that Digital Dream have done the same with those
Jenoptik cameras that Lawrence mentioned, except theirs are cheaper. The
JD-11, available from Sherwoods for £89-00:
http://www.sherwoods-photo.com/jenoptik_digital/jd11_fs.htm
was on sale as the '2000' at £49-99, although they've sold out now. They do
still have the '2500' at this price, but there's very little info about it and
it is fixed internal memory - I would guess around 1MB, based on the storage
capacities of the other cameras.
However, this is the one I've just bought, the '3000':
http://www.digitaldreamco.com/shop/digital3000.htm
It's identical to the camera distributed by Jenoptik as the 'JD-12', at
£120-00 from Sherwoods:
http://www.sherwoods-photo.com/jenoptik_digital/jd12_fs.htm
Spec is 1024x768 (0.8MPx), fixed focus switchable 4ft-inf/20cm macro, 2MB
removable memory, no LCD (they only flatten your batteries - 2 x AAs by the
way), auto/manual/off flash and serial connection.
Picture quality is very good, and it's good in low light levels too. There's
very little grain on the images. The only occasional grain in the output is
actually from the JPEG compression, on the dark side of contrasting edges.
Size-wise, It's no bigger than a stack of 10 floppy disks. However, it's so
light that you do have to be a bit of a Tai-Chi master to hold it steady
enough. I'm not sure if this is just in low light levels (i.e. if it
automatically takes a longer exposure) or just generally. It usually takes
around 5 seconds to process and store an image before you can take another.
The macro mode is good, but focus is quite tight to the 15-25cm range. This
restricts shooting large or very small Lego models (gets the relevance in!),
but is better than most compacts.
There's no way of reviewing your pictures, and the download driver simply
dumps all images to your hard drive (no thumbnails). On the camera, you can
delete the last or all pictures. Also, the markings in the viewfinder show a
smaller area than the camera actually takes. Then again, I wouldn't know
how accurate my old compact is, since it's usually a month after taking the
picture that I actually get to see how it comes out.
So, the resolution and picture quality are excellent, it has a macro mode, and
for £100 I can easily forgive its quirks. You can get other cameras at this
price, but not above 640x480 resolution. Argos have a 640x480 with LCD for
£150, and there's the 2800 in Tesco without an LCD but with Webcam/Video
functions. However, the next quality camera I think is Fuji's at £200, with
1280x960 (1.3MPx), LCD and auto-focus (even in macro mode), available in
Argos. A friend has this, and it's well worth it if you're considering
spending over £100. I wasn't.
There's a 1024x768 similar to mine, made by Sanyo, in Dixons for £150. When I
asked about it, I was told that it was rubbish, and to buy the Fuji. Charming
staff they have there. Anyway, you could always try making them a lower
offer...
Jason.
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