VERY cool digital camera !!!!!!

December 3, 2002

First.... a picture of it, take a look at my 12/3/02 log for cache GCABB3. I bought this REALLY small digital camera today, and I wanted to share the info. It is called the Cool-iCam MicroC@m (Key Chain Digital Camera). This thing is not much bigger than 2 Sac. Dollars, placed next to each other, but has some really nice features, and was only $28. I got mine at Wal-Mart. This little gem has 2 resolutions and can take a short video clip. It can also be used as a web cam (connects via USB). It came with a CD with drivers and software and a USB cable.....they even supplied the batteries. Well worth a look. They have a web page at www.coolcam.com and a phone number of 1-888-235-0808. Lastly, no I do not work for these people, nor do I own their stock, I just never saw a digital camera this small and light, for such a tiny price.

[This message was edited by FreeRadical on December 03, 2002 at 06:22 PM.]

[This message was edited by FreeRadical on December 03, 2002 at 06:23 PM.]

[This message was edited by FreeRadical on December 03, 2002 at 06:47 PM.]

December 3, 2002

Don't bother....it is just an FTP directory, no files even. The site must be real new, I guess. Sorry !!!! Go see my picture of it.

Thanks Elwood, I corrected the address in the original post, so it works now too. Unfortunately, there is not much info there.

[This message was edited by FreeRadical on December 03, 2002 at 06:25 PM.]

December 3, 2002

quote:
Originally posted by FreeRadical:
Don't bother....it is just an FTP directory, no files even. The site must be real new, I guess. Sorry !!!! Go see my picture of it.

Cool i-cam

"Ich erhielt zwei Drehscheiben und ein Mikrophon."

3k · December 3, 2002

I like my sony cybershot. Now that camera may be good for leaving in a cache.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Not so sure, Somewhat new Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

December 3, 2002

This is the same picture posted to my cache logging. That is a quarter on top of the camera.

3.1k · December 3, 2002

I'm eagerly awaiting my birthday later this week for my Sipix Blink camera. You can get it for under $40, and it's about the size of a saltine cracker. 8MB of internal memory, USB connection, TWAIN, 2 resolutions...very similar, in fact. I'll let you know how it performs when I get it.

Now cache away, cache away, cache away all!

3k · December 3, 2002

Ok, I have changed my mind, that camera and one like it would be very cool to have. I may have to look into this further.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Not so sure, Somewhat new Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

December 3, 2002

U,

You best be checking with that pretty little lady that lives with you FIRST!

December 3, 2002

I have the SiPix Blink. Bought is specifically for caching so that I would not have to carry my $500 camera all the time. Quaility is good considering the price.

"We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile. We are the Borg."

December 3, 2002

I have a Sony MAV-95 .. great $1000 camera, BUT

not for gragging all over the rocks and briars.

This is great, will visit WallyMart soon!!!!!

KOOL!! ~lots of good uses for that thing~

December 3, 2002

I've put in a signature thingie, I've up-loaded a JPG for the image to the right (ya know? the one that's not there) "what's up" with that. Checked the cute little box by Show Signature. My pic shows in my "see my thingie as they see me" ...

so how do I get them to show here?????

Clues wanted... I'm a techie.. this drives me nutz.

December 3, 2002

One is the small forum avatar, the other is displayed on the "see as others......" page. They can be different pictures if you want. As for the signature....no idea, if you checked "show signature" when posting, it should be there (assuming that you actually put some text in the signature box within your profile).

Just checked my own post and my signature is not showing either and I definitely typed stuff in my profile. I have manually added my signature below.

Oh come on....where is it ???

December 3, 2002

I'm still using my 3 year-old Kodak DC-290. It's survived a lot of caching, mushroom, camping and even a few weddings. If the risk of damage is high, like an over water cache retrieval, than I carry my even older Kodak DC-120. It's only 1Mb but has a nice zoom and macro capabilities.

I also had a JamCam (640x480 for $30) but gave that away to friend to do eBay pictures.

As for the Avatar and Sigs, try some of that mystical logging off and on stuff. Eventually mine started working the way I wanted.

"Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate" - William of Occam

5.7k · December 3, 2002

640x480 isn't enough rez for me, and that one barely does half that (which in fact is 1/4 the resolution in pixels). More like a toy than a camera. But very cute.

--Marky

"Everyone spends time in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer with a backlit GPSr"

1.5k · December 3, 2002

I just bought my wife a nice little digital camera from CompGeeks for $87 plus shipping. It is the Fuji Finepix A101. 1.3 Megapixels, 1280x960 resolution, AVI video mode - in a nice little compact package. The perfect "toss around" digital camera.

To get the $87 price you have to enter some code at checkout... I think it is GEEKA101 - you can find that code and others at JumpOnDeals.

I'd really encourage people to spend the extra 40 or 50 bucks to get a nice camera... you can get some good looking 4x6 prints from a 1.3 MP camera like this one.

Link to A101 Camera

Deform My Head!

(edit: I don't work for them, and I'm not getting paid or any such nonsense. I'm just a happy customer.)

December 3, 2002

But who really cares (besides you). The high resolution setting is 352x288, and allows for 20 pictures. The low resolution setting is 176x144, and allows you to take 80 shots. The photos posted on this site, by most folks, could hardly be called masterworks. My whole point of presenting this camera was to let others know that it exists. It is REALLY small, REALLY light, REALLY inexpensive, and takes pictures that are of a quality that would be quite acceptable for posting here. I have no intention of using this camera for anything besides documenting caching excursions. If you choose to lug a large, heavy, expensive camera into the woods, have at it. Me, I'll stick with enjoying the journey, instead of worrying about an expensive toy. After all, when you get right down to it, all cameras are toys, some just cost more than others.

Oh come on....where is it ?????

[This message was edited by FreeRadical on December 03, 2002 at 09:16 PM.]

December 3, 2002

One thing that camera might be good for would be incase of an accident. Keep it in your glove box and if you have an accident you have a digital camera at the ready for documentation. Not sure how long the battery last though when not in use. I carry my Reagular digital camrea everywhere for that purpose.

I've had a a Nikon Coolpix775 2.1 MP for almost a year now... but I've had to send it back to be repaired twice under warranty!

This Isn't rocket science...

December 4, 2002

Thanks for the link!

I have a Nikon Coolpix but I never take it when I geocache. The stuff is too valuable. I don't want to take any risks. On the other hand, this tiny camera would be great.

3.1k · December 4, 2002

quote:
Originally posted by Marky:
More like a toy than a camera. But very cute.

True, but that's all I wanted mine for, really. A nice, portable cheapy for proof-pictures at virtuals, on-line auctions, stuff I don't want to wait until the end of a roll of film for (yeah, I still use film. The cost/effort of digital isn't at a level I'd be happy with yet). I wouldn't use these little guys as my "primary" camera.

Now cache away, cache away, cache away all!

December 4, 2002

FreeRadical,

Could you please post a sample photo?

geospotter

1.6k · December 4, 2002

WalMart stills carries these the last time I checked--which was a about a week ago--and were about $48.

CR

December 4, 2002

I have an Olympus D460 zoom that took (past-tense, dropped 1 too many times) awesome pictures. The upper end cameras are CCD,(just try taking a pic in near darkness with the cheapies) have display screens so you can see what you are getting, and have expandable memory. The cheap little Polaroid Digital 320 I picked up at Wal-Mart just to have something is not even close. Although, I don't flinch when it falls, and it has. When I get the Olympus fixed, I will put the cheap one in one of my caches to take a pic and put it back. I can retrieve it anytime without having to wait until it is full, and if it disappears, no great loss, and the thief will not have the software to use it.

"I can't find the longitude for the North Pole"

December 4, 2002

This is Mrs. Nesbith, the travel bug. It obviously does not take the "best" picture ever, but it will serve for posting stuff here.

Oh come on....where is it ?????

December 4, 2002

Thanks for the photo sample. Better than I expected.

I think I'll pick one up for my briefcase.

1.4k · December 4, 2002

You must be a bad driver Or be surrounded by them

I was looking at what Dino bought in Best Buy the other day. Looks pretty sweet for caching. I'd be interested to know how it works as well.

640x480 is good 'nuf if you're just using the pictures for caching. Esp. if they are just for uploading to the site. You need to reduce them to make them under 100k anyway.

quote:
Originally posted by Ramness570:
One thing that camera might be good for would be incase of an accident. Keep it in your glove box and if you have an accident you have a digital camera at the ready for documentation. Not sure how long the battery last though when not in use. I carry my Reagular digital camrea everywhere for that purpose.

I've had a a Nikon Coolpix775 2.1 MP for almost a year now... but I've had to send it back to be repaired twice under warranty!

This Isn't rocket science...

http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/display/587_1100.jpg

--------

trippy1976 - Team KKF2A

Saving geocaches - one golf ball at a time.

December 5, 2002

quote:
Originally posted by Ramness570:
One thing that camera might be good for would be incase of an accident. Keep it in your glove box and if you have an accident you have a digital camera at the ready for documentation. Not sure how long the battery last though when not in use. I carry my Reagular digital camrea everywhere for that purpose.

I've had a a Nikon Coolpix775 2.1 MP for almost a year now... but I've had to send it back to be repaired twice under warranty!

This Isn't rocket science...

http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/display/587_1100.jpg

The sipix only saves a picture as long as the batteries are installed. You supposedly can't switch them without losing what you have (need to backup first). So you could keep it in your car with a AA next to it and just install the battery if you needed to use it.

"We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile. We are the Borg."

December 5, 2002

quote:
Originally posted by GoldKey:
The sipix only saves a picture as long as the batteries are installed. You supposedly can't switch them without losing what you have (need to backup first). So you could keep it in your car with a AA next to it and just install the battery if you needed to use it.

Actually, that should be 'battery', not 'batteries'.

And, no you can't switch batteries w/o losing the pictures (well, I've read a rumor that people have been able to do it, but at least I'm not quick enough...)

Anyway, just thought I'd say I love my Blink. For a comparison: it can do a little over 70 640x480 pictures.

Some pictures I've taken with it:

Toynbee Idea locationless cache

Coniferous Cache

It doesn't take the best pictures in the world (my results vary - some I'm pretty disappointed with while other really surprise me), but it's size, weight and price did the job for me.

A note to Europeans: Sipix now has the 'Snap' which is basically the same as the Blink but the Snap contains a capacitor which allows you to swap batteries without losing pictures. (I think there's another improvement or two but I don't remember what) I assume it will make it to the US at some point, but I haven't seen any indications as to when.

1.3k · December 5, 2002

I would get a small camera but I think the feature I'd miss the most would be the image preview. That comes in very useful when I'm trying to take a picture of myself with the subject of a locationless cache. (yeah, yeah... that flag in my head picture ) Takes a number of tries to get it right usually so the preview is helpful to know when I've got it. That's why I still bring the old Sony Mavica on caching trips.

1.5k · December 5, 2002

That is one of the first things I learned to NOT use when I got my first digital camera. Batteries last INSANELY longer when you don't use that little LCD screen for lining up your shots. Plus, people that take pics with their camera at arms length kinda look like dinks, if ya ask me.

Oh, and we've been testing out that A101 in various situations and we're extremely happy with it. Can't believe it was less than $90 for a quality 1.3mp camera with movie mode.

Click to view the ToeCam

3.1k · December 6, 2002

I've got my Sipix! I have to report, I had quite a bit of trouble with the software (and I believe GoldKey said he also had problems). The software is very nice, once you do get it working. I had trouble in my dark house taking pictures, but I did get some. I haven't tried it outside yet, but Egnix's pictures are encouraging.

I also haven't been able to get to *either* of the support sites listed in the manual.

Now cache away, cache away, cache away all!

1.1k · December 6, 2002

quote:
Originally posted by Rubbertoe:
Plus, people that take pics with their camera at arms length kinda look like dinks, if ya ask me.

Heh. My wife just bought one of the new Sony DSC U10 Cyber-shot cameras which is the size of a large pack of gum. It has no viewfinder. Like the appendix I expect that more cameras will lack the viewfinder as they get smaller.

As for battery life, a lithion Ion battery in my Sony camera has never let me down. I love the preview screen to get rid of the bad shots.

Jeremy Irish

Groundspeak - The Language of Location

1.5k · December 6, 2002

quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy (Admin):

quote:
Originally posted by Rubbertoe:
Plus, people that take pics with their camera at arms length kinda look like dinks, if ya ask me.

Heh. My wife just bought one of the new Sony DSC U10 Cyber-shot cameras which is the size of a large pack of gum. It has no viewfinder.

Doh!

When I said they "look like dinks" I meant it in the most kind, endearing way - of course.

Just kidding... I've done it a few times myself, I suppose - but I've also seen people nearly knock people down or fall over curbs while they are moving around with their camera at arms-length - setting up the perfect shot. I try to stick to only reviewing shots on the screen if I think I messed up, like you mentioned there.

There's the first negative of that A101 that I've been hyping, too... it takes 2 AA batteries - doesn't have its own recharging thing like those Sony cameras. I wonder if those NiMH batteries are all that people crack them up to be.

Click to view the ToeCam

December 6, 2002

quote:
Originally posted by Rubbertoe:
Plus, people that take pics with their camera at arms length kinda look like dinks, if ya ask me.

Plus, taking a picture at arm's length will probably result in a slightly blurred picture since the camera will tend to tilt when the button is pushed.

Here's a quick lesson in holding a camera. Keep it close to your face. Arms tucked in tight to your body. Put your left hand UNDER the camera to steady it. (You can always tell a pro by the way he/she holds the camera.) Push the BUTTON down, not the camera.

quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy (Admin):
.... It has no viewfinder. Like the appendix I expect that more cameras will lack the viewfinder as they get smaller.

More likely is that the LCD will be viewed THROUGH the viewfinder. This will conserve power (smaller LCD), give you a screen to review your image, and will make the camera more like an SLR, giving you a TTL (through the lens) preview of exactly what the camera will shoot. At least one camera is already doing this.

Rubbertoe,

I prefer cameras that take AA batteries so I can pick up more in an emergency. Get a set of NiMH batteries and a decent charger. You'll probably never have to buy another set of AA's again.

geospotter

20.7k · December 6, 2002

I use an old HP digital camera when caching, but still use my Canon EOS XSN for 'real' photos. I am trying to justify upgrading the digital to a Canon D30, but Cathy is not going for it.

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

1.4k · December 6, 2002

My company actually did some embedded programming on a digicam that does its preview through the little viewfinder on a tiny, tiny LCD. For the record, that camera is even smaller than the SiPix ones but has the LCD.

I saw a sweet looking canon camera at Sam's Club. It was /maybe/ a half inch thick. Looked about like a calculator. It had an LCD view screen AND a flash.

I imagine the SiPix would take pretty mediocre indoor pictures without a flash.

--------

trippy1976 - Team KKF2A

Saving geocaches - one golf ball at a time.

1.5k · December 6, 2002

quote:
Originally posted by geospotter:
More likely is that the LCD will be viewed THROUGH the viewfinder. This will conserve power (smaller LCD), give you a screen to review your image, and will make the camera more like an SLR, giving you a TTL (through the lens) preview of exactly what the camera will shoot. At least one camera is already doing this.

Yeah, my other camera does this... my Fuji 4900z has a big LCD monitor, and then the teeny one that acts as a viewfinder. Personally, I don't care for it... I just can't get used to not having an optical viewfinder when I have the camera up to my face like that. I suppose it is nice to see all the shutter and aperature speeds and all that as you shoot the pic - but for whatever reason, I just can't get used to it.

That FinePix 4900z is a monster of a camera though - buttons on every side of that thing. Takes some really good pics, but I don't use it for anything other than when I need "professional" quality. Like people have said here, it isn't exactly something you wanna lug around in the woods with yah. Extending lens, flip open flashes, buttons everywhere... bah.

Oh, back on the topic of cheap digital cameras - it seems that the new "kewl" tiny digital camera on eBay is now this little SiPix Blink camera - oh, wait... I see everyone has already talked about this camera. I'm catching up... don't mind me...

Click to view the ToeCam

3.1k · December 6, 2002

quote:
Originally posted by trippy1976:
I imagine the SiPix would take pretty mediocre indoor pictures without a flash.

When I said I couldn't get any good indoor pics, I meant it wouldn't even snap a picture. If it's too dark, it gives up after about 5 seconds. Do the other cameras mentioned here have the same "feature"?

Now cache away, cache away, cache away all!

December 6, 2002

Sorry if I am a little off the main topic, but in my experiences (kodak dx4330) the viewfinder is a horrid place to preview what your picture is actually going to look like. The Kodak has an autofocus feature, that when watching the LCD will turn red when in proper focus. This takes a few seconds and sometimes has to be done a few times (depending on light) to get right. Using the viewfinder and not knowing where your camera is focusing or what the end result is going to look like, just does not seem very productive for me. The Kodak also has a rechargeable battery system that allows more than 100 pictures before a recharge (with using the LCD) and recharge is only 2 hours. Battery life is never a problem. I always carry a Lith backup just in case that UFO needs more than a hundred pictures taken.

December 6, 2002

I'm a T-Mobile subscriber. So I'm thinking of buying a Picture Phone, like you see in those commercials. Then I can take a picture with my cell phone when I'm at a cache, and email it to my account.

Although, I haven't looked into the details, so I'm not sure if I can email a picture with that phone. But its just an idea.

Pan

Cachito ergo sum. I Geocache, therefore I am.

VERY cool digital camera !!!!!!

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