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Under 2 Megapixels

Aiptek PCM13 PenCam 1.3MP Digital Camera

Aiptek PCM13 PenCam 1.3MP Digital Camera

List Price: $89.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing!!!
Review: Portable, versatile, efficient and, at last but not least, cheap. This little camera is very lite, what makes it easy to use it not only at home, but at work also. It's great to take pix and no one even notice what's going on. I recommend!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Bigger is sometimes better....
Review: Portable, versatile, efficient and, at last but not least, cheap. This little camera is very lite, what makes it easy to use it not only at home, but at work also. It?s great to take pix and no one even notice what?s going on. I recommend!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Limited but extremely useful
Review: The Aiptek comes with batteries, USB cable, a mount for desktop/computer top mounting for use as a web cam, an adjustable neck loop and software which includes 'Mega Manager' and Ulead 'Video Studio' and 'Cool 360' (for making a 360 degree spread). It is so light to carry; I use the neck loop and place the camera in my top pocket where it is more secure and readily available.
When turned on one can cycle through a small list on the menu for a short video, single shots or erasing selected files or all contents. The lens focuses for normal portrait/landscape or up close; a very simple utility. Shooting is a breeze: literally, point and shoot using the eyepiece but KEEP THAT CAMERA STEADY. With no zoom one may have to get rather close to the subject and it prefers good sunlight. The camera turns itself off after a short period of inactivity. Picture quality is only average, but then this is not a mega-pixel camera: personally I find it more than adequate for quick snaps, email and for fun things. The web cam feature is fun as I work in an office with 6-foot high cubicles and I just raise the camera arm height and literally 'have a look around' to see who is nearby!
Getting files onto a PC and emailing is a breeze but I haven't tried the "Cool 360" yet.
One problem which caught me napping several times is that the batteries run down for a pastime. It uses two AAA batteries but you MUST carry spares if you want to shoot more than, say thirty shots, even though it will hold many more. When the batteries get low, it just refuses to take any more pics, not even a "low battery" warning.
So, in brief, a great useful and fun camera for the money; grainy but good-enough pics; bad battery duration., don't go out without spares.
Would I recommend it: Most positively but remember it's limitations. It suits me real fine.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Aiptek Mini Pencam 1.3
Review: This cam is really nice but there is a downside. The button for taking pics is very fragile. I tried calling Aiptek customer service to get it repaired but so far no respond from them yet (I just bought it 5-2-4, it only lasted for less than 30 days). I called and e-mailed Aiptek again, but still no respond. This cam is quite a deal but mine is broke right now so I am really really piss off. Can someone help me get this cam fix, since it is still under Manufacture warranty.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Aiptek Mini Pencam 1.3
Review: This cam is really nice but there is a downside. The button for taking pics is very fragile. I tried calling Aiptek customer service to get it repaired but so far no respond from them yet (I just bought it 5-2-4, it only lasted for less than 30 days). I called and e-mailed Aiptek again, but still no respond. This cam is quite a deal but mine is broke right now so I am really really piss off. Can someone help me get this cam fix, since it is still under Manufacture warranty.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Great concept, poor execution
Review: This camera caught my eye because of the small size. Unfortunately, that's about all it has going for it.

In bright sunlight, the pictures it takes are bright and vivid. However, in overcast or even brightly lit indoor conditions, it just doesn't perform. The poor medium and low lux performance of this camera makes shots under these conditions too dark to be useable, and no amount of digital adjustment will fix them. Because of the need for extremely bright light, its' utility as a web cam is nearly useless.

The manufacturer chose to use a manual focusing knob as an alternative to fixed focus, but since you can't see the focused image, it is all too easy to wind up with blurry shots.

Battery life is advertised as 10 days. Even with no photos or video stored, my battery life averages only 2-3 days.

This camera is being returned tomorrow. Even as a low priced camera, it just doesn't do the job.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: If you want a teeny camera
Review: This camera may be good for someone wanting a small camera. It's size is basically little bigger than the 2 AAA batteries it holds. It actually has a real camera lens rather than those little purple specks you see posing as a lens on most of these cheaper cameras. I was impressed with the softwear especially the panoramic stitching softwear which can produce a 360* effect and I have used it with photos taken with other cameras. The image quality is on par with a 110 film camera, a bit soft but clear. As others have mentioned, it is a bright light only camera. For about $20 more you can get a normal size camera with a real flash which can take much better photos, but hey! it's huge compared to this. About the only gripe I have with this camera is that it needs a battery cut-off switch. You need to remove the batteries after use, or they drain in a few days, so then you need a case which holds the camera and extra batteries which negates the small size!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Unbeatable ... so far as I've seen
Review: We've been using this for a few years. Took shots at festivals which have gone into a book we published. It is wonderful for the quality of photos, the SMALL size, the price. I suppose if you paid 10x more you might get something better, but why would I want to do that?... To get more buttons to fiddle with? The point and shoot simplicity, the neat movies it takes. We liked it so much we got three - almost one for everyone in the family.


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