Digital-Camera Reviews

This camera was HORRIBLE. I was getting this camera for my parents who are not extremely computer literate and when I tried to download the images using the software provided I found it to be very poorly designed and almost impossible to use. The download time is also bad compared to other cameras. It took about 15min to download about 8 images. I have an older camera that takes less than a min to download 32. That was a 2 meg cartridge as well if you tried upgrading to a 16 meg cartridge to take more photos you would be waiting all day. The picture quality is another issue I had. Even on the "Fine" resolution the pictures were extremely grainy. The casing it's self "feels" really cheap and fragile. When my parents received this camera and I came over to show them how to use it I felt embarassed. Trying to figure out how to use this camera and it's overall quality was a tragedy. I know your probably thinking "well you get what you pay for." Let me tell you at any price this camera is not worth it's value. The only good thing to come out of this is that the people at Amazon.com were very cooperative in helping me to return this camera.

The Mustek VDC 3500 is certainly in the low-price catagory when it comes to digital cameras and, you while you may not always get what you pay for you are certainly likely have to pay for what you get most of the time. So it is with this camera. I don't know how many pixels the camera has, but the number must be fairly limited. This translates into a lower picture quality than you might want, but certainly satifactory for photos that will go on the web. The memory card only takes 4 photos in the "fine resolution" mode but an additional 8 photo memory card is available. The battery costs about $7 and seems to last for about 25 photos with flash. Not a bad camera, but don't expect anything wonderful at this price.

This digital camera, the Mustek VDC3500 is probably the best price that you are going to find for a digital camera. I haven't seen a better price.

This is not the top of the line camera, but it does do the job. The highest resuolution that the camera will do is 640x480, and the camera can hold 8 pictures at that resolution. The standard resolution is 320x240, the camera can hold 26 pictures at the lower resolution. Although the pictures are 24 bit color (16.7 million colors) the low resolutions are tough to deal with. The pictures are stored internally as JPEG's.

The camera has a powersaving feature so that after about 90 seconds of idle time, the camer shuts itself down so that it doesn't run the batteries out. This feature is nice when it doesn't come with a power cord.

The self timer is nice, alowing you to set the camera down, then have 10 seconds to run into the picture.

If you are on a budget, the Mustek VDC3500 Digital Camera is the camera for you, but if you want extreme quality, you should take a look at one of the better models.

This camera will not satisfy even a beginner. The 640 x 480 output quality is subpar and its very difficult to get a good shot. They always come out either too dark or too light. As with all digital cameras, they tend to eat batteries and this one is no exception. Pop in a few alkalines and you will find after a few photos using the flash they are dead and pretty darn hot. Invest in some high quality NiMH AA cells and a charger. They have double the capacity of alkalines, are cheaper, and can be recharged 1000 times. Its a dirty little secret of the battery industry that they want you to buy alkalines, not NiMH.
Anyway back to the camera. The compactflash card slot allows for memory expansion but why bother, you would just store 200 bad pictures rather than 20 bad pictures.
The PC software that comes with the camera works fine, although transferring pix is surprisingly slow considering the very low resolution.
I would just avoid this camera entirely. You don't get adequate pictures from any camera until you get up into the 1.0 mpixel range. 256k pixels is just not enough.

Very easy to use and set up with my Win98 was easy. Pictures in the high resolution are adequate for internet use. Software for editing is basic, but I set up my editing options with my Paint Ship Pro and it worked great. Price is reasonable but be aware that this is a discontinued item with the manufacture. One year warrenty though, so a good first basic digital camera.

This camera takes excellent pictures. It has a wide range of settings that allows you to take a picture under any conditions. The quality of the photos can be used in the graphic industry. An excellent choice for beginners, you just have to be willing to experiment with the settings until you learn what works best in different lighting and backgrounds. Hey, you can always delete what isn't good and try again. Glad that I own this camera!

I bought this camera over two years ago when it sold for over $450. At that time, it was a great deal of a camera. Now, for $450, you can get a camera that I would have paid $1500 at the time. This camera provides great pictures. It has some trouble with coloration during different light conditions, but can be easilly adjusted with graphics editing software (Paint Shop Pro has a function called Automatic Color Balance which performs wonders on photos from this camera). The built-in memory can hold 12 or so high quality pictures. I use this camera a lot and am very happy with it. The only thing I really wish it had was the ability to zoom in and out on objects. Other than that, I would recommend this camera to any new digital photographer.

I've owned this camera close to 8 months now and I absolutly love it. It was my first digital camera and I purchased it on eBay for $130 after shipping. I purchased a 16 mb compact flash card and I was set. It takes awesome pictures and can be used as a web cam too. Also feels sturdy in your hands. It doesn't eat batteries-actually they last forever. Also it is fast, you don't wait forever in between pictures(I would say 4 seconds on high quality is tops) Only problems I have noticed is that in certain lighting conditions(ie inside with artificial lights) you must change the lighting filter to indoor(even though it has a setting of "auto"), can be troublesome. All in all a great camera! perfect for beginners. This camera has inspired me to look into some more higher end cameras with all the bells and whistles. Digital is great!

Features and function highlite this great camera offered at a price that will only get you 640x480 and a serial download elswhere. Excellent picture quality, ease of use, and complete with the AC adapter, batteries, case, software, and ALL cables. You cannot go wrong. And Amazon.com got it to me in only 4 days with regular postage the week before Christmas. WHAT A DEAL!

This is a great camera for someone new to the world of digital photography. The GSmart is essentially a point-and-click camera that happens to be digital. It has the same dimensions, weight, and price as most basic film cameras, with the added benefit of not needing film.

The Mustek has an extremely simple setup process...just pop in the batteries, turn it on, and shoot. It takes three AA batteries that are purported to take up to 1000 pictures! I've already taken almost a hundred, and the battery indicator says "FULL."

The viewfinder is a small digital window similar to most film cameras, except that moving the camera quickly causes quite a bit of blurring. If you have a steady hand and good lighting, the pictures look pretty nice, though the flash is inadequate for low light levels. Action shots are sometimes blurry as well.

The menu system is intuitive and easy to use, with both full-screen (viewfinder) and thumbnail (four-to-a-page) modes. Pictures can easily be deleted from the camera or through the computer interface.

The desktop interface is one of the nicer features. Using the provided software, photos are quickly and easily uploaded through the USB port. The camera/software automatically JPEG-encode all pictures, and short movies can be encoded as .mov files. I haven't tried the movie feature yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

In summary, this is a great way to get the thrill and ease of digital cameras with a tiny price tag. It's certainly not for professionals, but I've never seen a simpler, easier-to-use digital camera. Great upload speeds, great battery life, handy drivers, and a low price tag. Check it out!