| Product: |
Trust 950 Powerc@m Zoom |
| Date: |
11.12.05 (131 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Very Low Price - Excellent Quality
Disadvantages: Few "little niggles"
About eighteen months ago, I received an email titled "Congratulations - You are a winner !". I immediately thought that it was junk mail, but when I checked it, it was a from a website on which I regulary enter prize draws. When it said I had won a digital camera, I assumed it would be one of those budget 1.3million pixel ones, with a retail price of around £20 - £30.
When the package arrived, I was very pleasantly suprised...
The package -
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The box that the camera comes in measures 8.5 x 6.5 x 4.0 inches. Upon opening, you are presented with a tidy looking contents, that consist of...
1 - The camera (see below for more spec on this).
2 - A camera case.
3 - A Mini-Tripod.
4 - 2 x AA Batteries.
5 - A USB Cable to connect camera to PC / Mac.
6 - A Video Cable to connect camera to TV.
7 - A Camera wrist strap.
8 - 2 x Instruction Manuals (in 14 languages).
9 - A CD Rom containing software and drivers (see below).
The Camera -
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The first thing you will notice about the camera is how small it is ! It measures just 56 x 93 x 39 mm ! Immediately upon inspection, you will see the 4cm TFT Screen on the reverse.
After inserting the batteries and switching the camera on (by sliding the lens protecter to one side), the camera jumps into action. A series of beeps later, you have a full colour display on the screen.
The camera has 5 settings on the reverse -
* SET - To adjust the camera settings, such as resoulution and to format the memory.
* MOVIE - The camera can take short video films at 15 Frames Per Second.
* PLAYBACK - To display photos taken, and also to erase any that you do not want.
* CAMERA - To take photographs.
* PC - To use the camera as a webcam, and to use the memory card as a storage facillity.
The camera has a 6.6 Megapixel resolution, which is the maximum at the time of writing this. This directly affects the quality of the photographs - the higher the resolution, the better the quality !
There is also the flash function. The built in flash has three options - flash off, automatic flash and flash with red-eye reduction.
Finally there is a cursor pad, which is used in the features above, but also to use the digital zoom facillity. The camera has a 10 step, 4x digital zoom, which is clear and easy to use.
The camera has a built in 16MB Ram, which can hold up to 80 pictures (depending on quality and resolution), and this can be expanded up to 512MB !
A macro function is also provided for taking close up photographs, from around 12cm away from the subject.
To display the photographs taken, the camera can be linked to a TV (PAL or NSTC) via the supplied video cable, displayed on the camera itself or connected to a PC or Mac through the USB port. The latter is also used to print out or save the pictures on your computer.
Battery life is always a matter for debate on technological items. The camera takes 2 x AA Batteries (supplied). I have been using the camera for about a month now (on and off), and I am still on the original batteries. The camera has a automatic power off feature to preserve battery life.
The Software -
============
The supplied CD-ROM contains the following software...
* Trust camera drivers - the files that your computer needs to use the camera, although my Windows XP recognised it anyway !
* Photo Upload software - When you register your camera, you get free webspace to upload and display your pictures. This program makes the process easy.
* Arcsoft Photobase - This is a management program that allows you to store, manage and present your photographs in different albums.
* Arcsoft PhotoImpression 3.0 - PhotoImpression is photograph editing software, from which you can edit and alter your photographs. It has many useful features such as red-eye reduction.
* Arcsoft VideoImpression 1.6 - A basic and easy to use video editing program. Simply load and arrange your video clips.
* Arcsoft Funhouse 1.0 - A fun piece of software with which you can manipulate different pictures. For example, with the templates supplied you can "cut the head" off a loved one, and paste it onto a dragon !!!
The Documentation -
=================
There are two instruction manuals in the box, but in reality you only need a small part of one of them (unless you want to read the same instructions in 14 different languages !).
The instructions are clear and easy to follow, and cover everything from inserting the batteries to running the software. There are also several troubleshooting guides that cover every possible problem you may encounter.
A copy of the manual is also provided on the CDROM.
System Requirements -
===================
For both the camera and software, the following system setup is required...
Intel Pentium 266 MMX (or PowerMac G3 or later)
USB port
32 MB of system memory (for Macintosh: 64MB)
110 MB free harddisk space
Internet connection
CD-ROM drive
Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP (or Mac OS 9.0 and above)
Overall Opinion -
================
As I said, I have only been using the camera for a few weeks, but I am very impressed with it. The picture quality is amazing, and all the features of the camera are pratical and work well.
I have just three complaints, that are more just niggles... If you use the camera indoors, the TFT screen does not display many images if the room is too dark - so it's a case of point in the direction, click and hope for the best ! This would be solved by the inclusion of a viewfinder, which is my second critisim - there isn't one. It would be nice to have one, and the option to use the TFT screen. It could extend the battery life if you used a viewfinder more.
Finally, the auto-power-off , whilst a useful feature, can sometime cut in too soon - then you have to wait whilst the camera restarts.
These complaints are just niggly little things, and should not detract you from seriously considering this camera if you are looking around for one. The features on this camera would warrant a price tag of at least double what you can buy it for !!!
I have included some pictures that I have taken with the camera so you can see the quality...
Price / Suppliers -
=================
You can get these cameras for as little as £90 - £120 from websites such as "lowestonweb.com" or ebay.
Contact Points -
==============
Check out the Trust website at www.Trust.com for their full range of supplies.
UPDATE -
=======
This review was originally written back in Feb 2004. I have had a lot of use from the camera since then, and I can still highly recommend it. I recently took some photographs in Spain of my nephew jumping into a swimming pool. The quality of these was so good, you could see individual splashes of water as they left the pool !
The initial niggles still can prove a problem, in particular the lack of image on the screen when taking shots in darkened conditions. However, for the cost of this camera, it is still well worth buying.
Disclaimer - I originally wrote and published this review on Ciao, under the same username. I have updated it and transferred it to dooyoo.
Summary: A low priced, high quality, advanced featured digital camera.
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Last comment:
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kingseany - 27.12.05 Good review, although you should point out that this isn't a true 6 megapixel camera, but a 3 megapixel, which uses interpolation to achieve a higher pixel count.
kingsea ny
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