Che-ez! Snap Ultra-compact Digital Camera [0.3MP] - Silver
Average Customer Rating
(4.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(5 out of 5)Small enough to swallow
Cor, this is good. First off, it's tiny, tinier even than the l'espion. It's about the size of a matchbox, and you can't really appreciate its size until you see it; it looks like something that might fall out of a christmas cracker. It's hard to see how a camera could be made smaller without making it impossible to hold; as it is, it's quite hard to keep it steady, especially if you've been drinking or you've just had a traumatic experience. The design seems to be based on the old Agfa Clack, which is a nice touch.
The image quality is surprisingly good, especially given that the lens is about the size of a match head. The camera seems to apply something similar to Photoshop's 'Smart Blur' to the pictures to make them look better than they are (it gets rid of digital noise in low-light photographs, but makes large mono-coloured surfaces look artificial). Nonetheless the pictures look good in 640x480, but much less so in 320x240, where the compression is too extreme and everything looks blocky. Certainly it's better than the Casio Wristwatch camera, which is three times the price (although it has an LCD screen; the Snap does not). When downloaded from the camera the full-sized images are stored as .bmps at 901kb each, although once you convert them to JPGs (with Paint Shop Pro or something) they squash down to anything from 20-80kb depending on the fine detail present in the scene.
In the box you get various chains and hooks which you will probably never use, and an amusing cradle/stand thing which can be used as a mini tripod if you want to take photographs of yourself naked. The camera itself does not have a tripod socket or a hot shoe or any controls over than a 'mode' button, which cycles through the options, and the shutter. The LCD screen has two digits; 'off' is displayed as 'oF'. It has an internal battery that is recharged via the USB port. Alarmingly the manual states that it can only be recharged 300-500 times and that you have to download the pictures without six hours; in reality I've had it on me for over a day without it losing data, although it's probably no use for a long holiday, unless you carry a laptop with you, in which case you probably already have a more expensive camera.
When it takes a photograph the camera makes a beep and flashes a red light, so you can't take clandestine photographs of attractive ladies on the beach, unless there's lots of noise and you put your finger over the light. The field of view is quite wide - I'd guess that in 35mm SLR terms its about 28-33mm, and the minimum focus distance is roughly a metre, so it's good for crowds of people and landscapes. There isn't a lens cap, which is a shame as the lens bezel - which is purely cosmetic, it doesn't zoom in or out - could have been designed to accomodate one.
As for taking pictures in low light, it refuses to take pictures under street lighting, unless there's lots of it, and thus would not be very useful in a club unless you point it directly at a light source. Leicester Square at night comes out okay, but not the various dark alleyways thereabouts. For darkness you'd need a film camera with a tripod a release cable.
(4 out of 5)The snappy Che-ez! Snap
Summary: All in all a very good value buy.
Reviewer: Professional engineer from West Sussex
My wife has been getting to grips with technology and has progressed beyond simple e-mail. So I bought her a Che-ez! Snap so that she could send pictures with her messages.
The Che-ez! Snap is an amazingly capable camera in a tiny package. It takes up to 26 640x480 pictures or 106 320x240 low-resolution snaps, with the number of remaining pictures displayed on a small LCD. Being the size of a matchbox it can be taken anywhere and can take photos almost anywhere. I was impressed at the quality of the pictures taken indoors with only normal levels of artificial light. By today's standards the high-resolution option is pretty low. But 640x480 is more than adequate for sending pictures in e-mail or embedding a small picture in a letter. Snap also records short video clips although I have yet to succeed in playing one, but the software provided to allow Snap to be used as a Webcam does work.
The image software supplied is again basic but easy to use and quite capable. The ArcSoft PotoStudio 2000 software provides basic image manipulation and allows the picture to be saved in all the major formats.
I chose this camera, rather than some of the other small models on the market, because it has a rechargeable battery, charged through the USB connection from the PC. I was a little surprised to find that the memory is supported by the battery, which will finally discharge and loose any pictures still in the camera. I was then even more surprised to find that the instructions said that pictures should be loaded to a PC within six hours! In practice I have found that a full complement of 26 pictures are retained for at least 20 hours, making it practical to take the camera out for the day. It automatically turns itself off after a short period so there is no fear of leaving it on and draining the battery.
(4 out of 5)COOL Gadget !!!!!!!!
Just got the Snap as a Christmas Present for my girlfriend. The camera is so small that I could barely use it. But, it shoots great pictures when you can finally master holding the camera steady. Shooting with the fine quality photos results in great pictures under normal to bright lighting. The viewfinder is a little hard to use at first because you have to figure out where the center is and it takes practice. The software is as simple as can be and it took less than 10 minutes to figure it all out. Overall, if you have steady hands and love to have really portable gadgets, this is the one to have.
(4 out of 5)Cool gadget
This lttle camera is actually a practical digital camera; more than just a gimmicky gadget. It's produced some lovely outdoor photos which look great when viewed full screen on my PC's monitor. Having said that, it's also produced some good indoor photos (it has no flash). I echo another reviewers comments about the low resolution mode (it's useless).
There is very little delay between pressing the shutter release button and the shot being taken, so you can capture the smile on your child's face, for example. Another much more expensive camera I had was rubbish in this respect.
A while ago I was using it and it was giving a low battery warning; I didn't connect it to my PC for a further 24 hours and the images were still all there.
One minor criticism; you have to select either 50 or 60 Hz on the display. It's ambiguous which one you have selected and the instructions aren't clear. However, the pictures seem to look the same whichever one you set it to.
The controls are logical and well thought out; overall a great little camera.
(5 out of 5)smallest digital camera ever!!!!!!!!
you may think cuz it's small it's rubbish but it is brilliant and it wont break the bank. the camera is matchbox size it takes 26 good quality pictures and over a 100 poorer quality pictures (they are still good) it also takes up to 10 seconds of video with audio. I would reccommend this camera to anyone who likes gadgets or u just want a compact digital camera. it also takes good pictures with little light even though it doesnt have a flash it takes pictures indoors beautifully : )