These things are all over - a little spy cam in a Zippo lighter case.
My wife needs a small camera to hide in her uniform while traveling for the Army. Basically, she does a lot of show type stuff where she can’t carry a camera around. Our current digital camera, even though I consider it small, is WAY too big. Enter the l’espion S Digital Camera.
I bought her cam off ThinkGeek as a Christmas present. When it arrived, I honestly wasn’t impressed..
First Impression
The Camera came in packaging that I would consider lacking. Honestly, it made me think it was from a souvenir shop instead of a professional shop. While I’m not looking for professional stuff given the pricing, I figured it would at least come fully boxed up.
The camera is also advertised as “Open the lighter and shoot” but its not. You have to open the lighter case, turn the camera on (approx 1 second with a Beep), wait for it to “boot up” and then shoot. From start to finish, it takes approx 11 seconds for 1 picture. This can be avoided by turning it on before hand, but it turns off automatically in 30 seconds with another beep. The camera does not allow you to keep it on for a longer length of time without using it.
The Camera
The camera is VERY light and plastic all around. It weighs almost as much as a AA battery with the AAA battery in it.
The lens is listed as a f=4.45mm F2.8.
The LCD screen is a 2 char screen that doesn’t display much info. The camera tracks usage by showing the percentage of memory used instead of how many pictures are left (that would require 3 digits).
I would crack the camera open to look at the innards, but my wife would probably be pretty upset if I did that to her gift. So - sorry, no inside pictures.
The case, or lighter body, is something that I really didn’t like. Its very cheap, shows the weld points and looks like something I could crush by sneezing on it. It is no where near the quality of a real zippo lighter case. I honestly doubt that a real zippo case would fit over this camera as well (I may try one of these days.)
Software Installation
Its well known that I’m pretty frugal for computer hardware. I also hate upgrading and I’m seriously considering moving from Windows to Linux/FreeBSD. With that out in the open, I decided to install the camera software on my Win98 laptop (this is what I’m considering moving to Linux on).
The CD
The CD was a regular CDR, although I can’t tell what brand. The CDR is covered with a Print Jet CD Sticker. Although the sticker is professional quality, you can still tell its not a Real[TM] CD. Again, I was not impressed.
The Installation
The software seemed a little cheap - almost early to mid 90’s style. Not a regular installer, but a low quality graphic with links (like a browser) to install various packages. It also has a big warning right in the middle not to restart between software installations.
Installation happened with 3 installers lasting a few minutes on my dated laptop (I don’t mind this). When everything finished, I restarted, given the fact that Windows can (use to?) act funny between software installs. Upon restarting and plugging in the software, Windows couldn’t find the driver for the USB function of the camera. Between searching the CD and the drive, I didn’t find much. Upon pulling up the Windows drivers, there was a blank Manufacturer at the top of the list with a “Generic USB Drive” entry. Windows didn’t like it, but I crammed it in anyway. Upon pulling up My Computer and plugging the camera in - it showed up.
The installation software also had 2 AVI files. The first was how to convert from the native video file to AVI. The second was an AVI for how to download the files from the camera. Both where screen shots of Windows XP and neither had sound.
What Was Installed
The camera drivers where installed under a blank manufacturer.
A conversion program to allow conversion from the native video file to AVI. This happens with a double click of the native file.
A program called Photo Impression v.4 was installed as well. The current version on ArcSoft’s website shows v.5 and it costs $49.
Pulling Photo Impression up showed a user friendly graphics program that my wife may use given her non-geek computer attitude. It allows basic graphics editing as well as creation of borders, text, etc. I’ll stick with Fireworks or PhotoShop.
The Manual
The paper manual that came with the software was more like a flyer in several languages. It had a camera map (with what buttons or holes where) and a very basic installation instruction set. It also had the generic instructions for the camera, beginning with “Load a battery into the….” - gag. And…that was it.
The Acrobat manual was a little better, detailing the options inside the camera (modes) as well as an instruction set for everything. It did list the company’s address, phone number and hours of operation.
Images
The images are stored in the main folder and are labled IMG_0000.JPG. Now, I took low quality and high quality pictures while messing with the camera during the software install. Now, even after pulling the images off, the count does not reset. If you pull 001-005 off and take more pictures, it restarts at 006. This resets to 001 after using the camera’s format function.
The camera is obviously a “Point and Shoot” but its very limited on where it focuses. It focuses mainly on the center and lower region of the picture. I was able to shoot from my third story during a cloudy/rainy day. Fortunately, while shooting, a car (read:moving object) was there as well, so I could get 2 shots with one picture.
I also took an indoor picture where all the lights where on and curtains open. Needless to say - I again, wasn’t impressed.
High Resolution pictures are taken at 320×240 px. Low Resolution pics are taken at 640×480 px. Did you catch that? The camera automatically shrinks the size in half for better quality, leaving a webcam size picture. The “Low Res” pictures appear grainy. Daisy’s picture is Low Res.
The camera, by default, reverts to Low Resolution every time you start it up.
The directions and camera modes also talk about light frequency between Europe and the US. While playing, I adjusted this and noticed that my 220 lighting looked better with the 60Hz instead of 50Hz that is suggested. It does, however remember this setting between restarts.
Sound
Sound is recorded into .wav format. Any sound but what is made on the camera from your fingers appears far off in the distance. When I tested this, I had my speakers 2.5 feet away with the sound at a nice, pleasing level and it sounded
as if the speakers where across an aircraft hanger. I did expect this though - mics are notorious for being like this.
Video
After shooting video, you will need to convert it to AVI with the attached software. It records sound as well as video at an OK rate for its size. I would say its the same as the Web Cams from a few years ago.
Its very picky on light and where you point it. If you go from one light to another, it bleeds out until the lens can figure out the frequency and display it. I did harass my dog a little to give the good viewers of the world a chance to see Video. See Daisy Again, taken in a room with all lights on and curtain open. For color reference, the couch behind her is Hunter Green Leather, there are 2 shades of blue, tennis ball green, well loved socks (kinda white), her black and brown fur as well as natural tones of wood in the picture. And yes, she is a Lazy Daisy…
Mac Users
I don’t own a mac, but I’ve supported them in the past and I know they can be picky (I really mean pickier than myself… Mac users are use to having things…just work.). I thought I might add that according to the documentation, video and web camera functionality are not supported “at this time. Please check our website for updates.”
WebCam
I didn’t bother testing this because with the pictures and such, I can pretty much guess at the quality of it all.
Conclusion
Its an ok camera - for $30. For the $69.99 that I paid, its too cheap for my blood. Looking on Froogle, I would have been pretty damn upset at paying more than I did as some sites advertise. If I would have had a review like this, I honestly would not have bought the cam, but its here now, I’ll let the wife decide to use it or not. If not, I’ll take it apart and see what I can do with it ;-) But seriously, 007 wouldn’t use this, ThinkGeek really shouldn’t be selling it due to quality and the Zippo case is extremely lacking. Check out the comments below and make your own decision.
