Shooty-shooty-blink-bl ink (the machine washable camera) (Sipix Stylecam Blink)

Member Name: bagel

Product:	Sipix Stylecam Blink
Date:	12/12/02 (1383 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's Cheap, It's Tiny, It's machine washable!

Disadvantages: It's got really nasty software, Needs a steady hand, It may get angry if you wash it

Camera Specs

The first thing that struck me about this camera was it's diminutive size. The second thing that struck me were shards of packaging, as I failed to get through the thick protective plastic without injury. The camera slips quite comfortably into the pocket-size category by being almost exactly the same height and width as the narrowest edge of a credit card. And it's slimmer than a deck of cards, so should even fit into 'tight-fit' pockets. The manual is significantly larger and heavier than the camera itself.

Image-wise it stores 100 images in 640x480 resolution, or 400 320x240 resolution images (or any combination of the two). The picture quality is not brilliant, but is superb for the price - think quantity, not quality. It may be worth checking out the quality of a few sample shots before you buy (these are available from the web's usual gadget emporiums, such as iwantoneofthose.com). The camera's memory is trapped well inside the casing and cannot be upgraded (or snapped).

The camera can be adjusted for indoor or outdoor lighting, and can even take mini movies, but at just over 2 frames a second, it is probably not suitable for budding directors. It also works as a webcam, and comes with it's own stand (which I haven't quite managed to 'stand' yet, but it should work with most monitor shapes). You also get a keyring attachment and a neck strap, which is made almost unusable to all except teenage girls by it's rather glittery structure.

Using the camera

Because the camera is so small, it is very difficult to hold steady, often resulting in blurred photographs. This is particularly noticeable in low light conditions, such as indoors.

Another annoyance is the lack of a lens cap, which can result in a rather grubby lens (especially if you make the most of the pocket-size feature). A simple solution is to cover it with a small strip of sticky tape - it'
s not fashionable, but neither are blurred photos. Don't forget to take the tape off to take photos though, or you get some really weird photos. Another solution is to slip it in the washing machine, but more on that later...

Battery life is not fantastic (at about a week of occasional usage), and decreases severely if images are left on the camera while not in use. Top Tip: Save money in the long run by getting a battery charger, as the Blink runs on standard AAA batteries.

Another thing to note is the lack of flash, so the camera needs fairly good light conditions to take photos. I tried it in a restaurant, and managed to get about half of the shots I wanted (in comparison to a non-flash stills camera, this isn't all that bad). The shots that are taken indoors are of reasonable quality, provided the subjects don't move too much.

The camera is very straightforward to use, and only has two buttons (but is cunningly designed to give the impression of an extra button the front, ideal for impressing friends). With the limited number of ways to configure the camera, it this works very well.

On the plus side though, I have dropped my Blink a number of times and it bounces quite nicely without damage. It's so light that it's tricky to actually damage it by dropping, but so small it's easy to drop.

Blinkin' Software

I found the software to be rather 'unpredictable', to say the least. When I first installed the software, it worked fine if all the pictures were in the same format, otherwise it crashed. Quite logically, or so I thought, I downloaded the 'USB doctor' from the SiPix website, which is supposed to fix this problem. This stopped the crashing by not even detecting the camera, so not giving itself the chance. I left it alone for a while and has now returned to being unpredictable (it seems to work better if I plug the camera end of the cable in first, and clear out the
images from the camera after downloading them).

I think this is an isolated problem, however, so it's not lost too many stars for this. I now use friends PCs to download photos it it's having an 'off day'.

Machine Washable?

I have recently stumbled across a solution to the grubby lens problem. Making the most of the pocket-sized feature, I left it in the pocket of my fleece. Due to a bout of absent-mindedness, this fleece was subsequently washed in the washing machine (with camera in pocket).

To my surprise, the camera still turned on after it's swim, using the same battery after only half a day drying. Not surprisingly, it took rather blurred photos. I subsequently unscrewed the cover and popped it in the airing cupboard for a couple of days. It now appears to be working just as well as before it was washed!

I'm really quite amazed my Blink still works, as it certainly isn't watertight (there are many gaps in the casing). The water must have sloshed around the inside of the camera. And yes, the lens is positively sparking now. Maybe they should update the instructions to include the phrase "machine wash only at 40 degrees".

Summary

Overall, an excellent camera *for the price*. Don't expect a £350 camera for £35, and you won't be disappointed. The Blink is best used as bit of fun, to keep on you at all times to capture 'moments'. If you want to capture 'artwork' you'll need to part with more money.

It is also worth noting that the second generation Blink, the SiPix Snap is available now for the same price. To my knowledge, the Snap is almost identical to the Blink, but has better memory and a slightly bigger casing.

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EDIT: I went on a trip to Alton Towers a few days ago and took 100 photos inside the park, of my friends on various rides and ofcool stuff around the park. I got home to find 100 colourful quest
ion marks in the camera download software. Not one of the photos I had taken were downloadable.

I am very annoyed at this and am now looking to buy a decent camera - not only have I lost 100 photos, but friends I had promised photos to are now without. This may be a fun camera, but if I can't rely on it to take photos for a full day it's of no use to me. Of course, I may have caused this with the washing machine incident but there's no way of proving this (I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and let it keep it's stars). Sorry Blink - it was fun while it lasted.

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