OK, "review" is probably optimistic. I got this camera a couple days ago and have really been enjoying it.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7ysAmiSTJhFwDTQr5 This is the Camp Snap camera. It was designed to be a cheap (really cheap) alternative to disposable film cameras that a parent could send to camp with their kids. My daughter gave me one for my birthday and I've been carrying it around taking horrible pictures for the last few days. Take a look at the photo album for a couple sample photos I took while walking the dog this morning, along with a few photos of the camera itself. I'll add a few more shortly. 2.54cm per inch, for those of you in less civilized places... The not so good: It's cheap, as in cheaply made. The textured grip on the front is cheap adhesive plastic and has already started to peel at the corners. On the plus side, I anticipate replacing it with fun colors and designs in the not-so-distant future. The body is cheap plastic and really does feel like a 90s drug store disposable. The viewfinder is more of a suggestion. Even without glasses on and my face pressed right up against it, it might show 60% of what's actually going to be captured. The best way to work with this is to simply put the part of your subject that you want in the middle, in the middle, and then pray. Adjust in post. In addition to the severe crop, the viewfinder is fuzzy. It looks out of focus all the time, regardless of the distance from the subject. Resulting images are super grainy in low-light situations. This was expected. I'll try to add some more photos to the album in a bit showing this. There's an annoying double beep when turning the camera on, a single beep when turning it off, and a fake shutter noise when taking a picture. There is no way to disable these sounds. I may put some tape on the speaker. The not so bad: There are no "settings" that can be adjusted in the camera itself. In fact, there are two controls on the camera. The shutter release is also the power button. Long press to turn it off or on, and a short press to take a picture. There's a 3 position switch for the flash. On/Off/Auto. That's it. There is no other way to manipulate the camera while in use. Some might see this as crippling, but I think it's perfect considering the camera's intended use. The "settings" are adjusted by flashing a new firmware to the camera. This is easy to do and clearly documented on their support site. Currently, there are 3 options: standard, vintage, and black & white. The two photos in the album were taken with the vintage firmware. It makes the photos a bit greener than I'd like. I intend to try the B&W firmware soon. There were apparently earlier firmware versions that disabled the beeps and clicks, but they don't seem to be available at the moment. I'd like to know more about this, and think it would be really cool if they published some instructions for editing the firmware. The camera isn't aware of rotation. If you take a vertical photo, you'll need to rotate it later on your computer. It's literally point and shoot. No thinking, no focusing, heck, no composing. It's light, and it's not uncomfortable to hold. The only display is a photo counter on the back. They state about 500 pictures on a charge. Once the card is wiped, the counter resets. This also starts the file naming over. There are no date/time stamps. You have to figure this out for yourself when copying them over to a PC. I'm working on a script to automagically do some of this for me. Speaking of which, it connects to your computer or phone with a USB-C cable. Not some janky leftover mini-USB garbage like every other cheap POS electronic device. USB-C. That's really cool. The camera comes with an SD card pre-installed. It's behind a screwed on plate. I assume it can be replaced, but I haven't tried. The good: It fits in my pocket. It's cheap (to buy), costing about the same as 3 disposable 35mm cameras and processing. This is the most fun I've had with a camera in a long, long time. Highly recommended. -- Scott Loveless Camp Hill, PA USA http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ __o _'\<,_ (*)/ (*) -- %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List To unsubscribe send an email to pdml-le...@pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
