Great little camera
Written: Mar 28 '01
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Pros: Absolutely tiny, easy loading, night mode
Cons: No mid roll insert, no zoom
The Bottom Line: It's so small I carry it EVERYWHERE - For that alone I would rate it excellent.
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| skrausz's Full Review: Vivitar XM1K APS Film Camera |
I received this camera as a gift before an overseas trip I took 2 years ago and have been pretty satisfied overall. The picture quality is about average, some of my pictures are excellent and some are poor, but that's probably more a matter of poor photography on my part than quality of the camera.
Appearance
The camera is housed in an all metal exterior with the LCD screen on the top and is quite attractive. The size is VERY small (even smaller than an Elph, although a bit thicker) and most people comment that it's the smallest camera they have ever seen. The flash is pretty cool in itself as it slowly rises with the aid of a motor and slowly retract when the camera is turned off, not like the cheaper pop-out pop method. The camera comes with a leather case and has a small tripod mount on the bottom.
Camera
The lens is a 24mm f4.5 autofocus with no zoom which would have been really good. The lens emerges and opens it's cap with a motor which is very amusing. Although the lack of mid roll insert of an APS cartridge is annoying since it CAN be removed midroll. I wonder how much extra it would have cost to put that feature in? The battery used is the standard CR2 lithium and seems to last forever. The only complaint about the battery is related to the battery door - the lock seems somewhat flimsy and prone to break off eventually, although it hasn't happened yet.
Features
The camera has a few features, and is excellent for everyday use. There is the standard flash on/off/auto as well as a special night mode which keeps the shutter open longer. There is red-eye reduction which is achieved in a rather interesting way - instead of using the flash, a tiny light on the front of the camera turns on - but it is VERY bright (unbelievably so) I sometimes use it as a flashlight when I don't have anything else! The self timer relies on this light as well as an indicator as to when the picture will be taken.
The camera can imprint the date and time on the back of the photo as well as about 20 different titles including Birthday, Friends, Family, Wedding etc. I found that really cool for the first couple of rolls, but eventually noticed that I couldn't remember which code stood for which text message and didn't end up looking at the back of pictures anyway! This feature, as well as the setting of date and time is accomplished using a small pen-tip tool which is attached to the tote-string. It's a little bit cumbersome and takes too long to be truly useful.
The standard 3 APS formats C/H/P are available and are selected by a switch on the back which alters the viewfinder to show you what the picture will come out as.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 100
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Epinions.com ID:
skrausz
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Reviews written: 1
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