Snappin' share

I'm a sucker for novelty gadgets. The first one I manhandled was a Vivitar magnacam, a kind of digital camera that poses as a binocular, so that when you're in an opera house that prohibits the use of digital camera due to the flashes that might vex and barge the performance, it can pose as a nondescript capturing device. That also make me a stern advocate of come-on cause when I'm walking along a mall with tiangge that displays novelty item in a vareity of tapestry. 

Recently, a friend of mine handed me a camera that really titillate my gadget fetishes. It's a Philips keychain camera that proves to be an eclectic, ingenious way of fusing a keychain charm, a digital camera, and a camcorder, so handy that I brought it along with me in my business trip. Even if you haven't included it in your checklist, you'd mostly likely be bringing it since it poses as a charming conduit to your keys. 

While not really an exceptional result as accomplished by a conventional digital camera, it does the trick of capturing precious moments at a fairly light travel. Here are few points to consider, and "capitalize" when using this nifty gadget:

1) One must have an ample light condition to be able to churn out decent pictures, otherwise it would appear a bit grainy and dark. 

2) The highest resolution it can get is just 352 x 288 pixels, barely large enough for a web image. In low light (indoor light) you get horizontal lines accross the images. So again, make sure that you have sufficient ambient light.

3) Since you don't have a screen to view the images on, you are really shooting blind. There is a tiny screen that shows two letters that you use to figure out what you are doing. The abbreviations though aren't very intuitive, unless you possess an uncanny photographic memory. For example, CA means delete all images. For self timer mode, it uses an "S" and a letter that is a capital E without the top bar. Confusing to say the least. It always pays to bring PDA phone to reference it with the letters. Kinda cumersome. 

4) It makes use of Availasoft software to download the pictures from the camera. Like most software packages, it tries to install other programs on your machine like a photo album. The exemplary part is the software (called MyCam CIF) allows you to control the camera directly from the software. This allows you to preview what the camera sees on screen. You can capture a frame, and even shoot in video mode this way.

Now, you just don't have your keys along with you but your camera as well to snap moments that doesn't deserve to be fleeting. Never leave home without it.