Good entry level camera
Written: Jul 30 '03
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Pros: Inexpensive, good picture quality for the price
Cons: lacks analog zoom and features typical of better models, poor documentation
The Bottom Line: This camera is above average for its price point. Be prepared to spend more on batteries, memory, and an AC adapter to make it useful.
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| wresnick's Full Review: Visioneer MX200 Digital Camera |
Digital cameras have come a long way since I got my first one in 1992. Back then, they were black and white (grayscale in computer terms, but black and white in photographic terms), had poor resolution, were expensive, were slow, and transferring images to a PC was an ordeal. This camera shows just how far the medium has come in a bit over a decade.
The Visioneer MX200 is an entry level digital camera. While it lacks the features found in more expensive cameras, it still boasts a 2 megapixel resolution, which is sufficient to produce clear, sharp pictures up to 8 by 10 inches. It sports an LCD display, which is de rigeur for digital cameras these days. It has 8MB of internal memory, which in theory can hold up to 66 pictures in "normal" resolution. However, in "super" resolution, it can hold seven. There are also three intermediate resolutions with intermediate capacities. "Super" resolution can be thought of as normal resolution compared to the better digital cameras on the market, so if you want clear, sharp prints that can survive cropping or enlarging to 8 by 10, then you better stick to the maximum resolution, which is 2048*1536.
Although the memory issue seems like a limitation, the camera supports SmartMedia cards. A 128MB card cost me $39 with a $10 rebate ($29 net) and that brought the capacity up to 145 "super" resolution pictures. If you want more capacity, you can buy several cards, use lower resolution, or just upload the pictures to your computer more frequently. If you are satisfied with 4 by 6 snapshots or plan to use the camera for web photos only, then the internal memory at normal resolution should be adequate, and a similar SmartMedia card can give you about 900 photos.
The camera comes with a built in flash, settings for white balance and flash (including an automatic one for each), a macro setting, and a setting for portraits, landscapes, and night scenes, as well as a self timer. The camera can also be used in PC mode as a PC camera with applications such as Microsoft NetMeeting. The camera can record video clips up to one minute long, albeit without sound.
There is also a 3:1 digital zoom. As with many digital cameras, a digital zoom is a poor substitute for an optical one. I read elsewhere that since the number of pixels in the CCD is fixed, the camera must make use of an algorithm to map zoomed pixels onto the CCD, and unless the zoom amount is an even multiple, you end up losing quality. Likewise, if you decide to just crop the picture later, you will lose quality since editing a JPEG and saving it as a JPEG causes loss of resolution. Needless to say you cannot find analog zoom on any cameras in this price range as of this writing. However, I did find that photos taken without the zoom appeared to be of better quality.
The camera comes with a case, strap, USB cable, video cable (for TV hookup,) software, instructions, and dead batteries. Customer support acknowledged that many users reported that the batteries were dead after only two or three pictures. Mine did not last so long and the camera told me to change my batteries before I took a single picture.
According to the documentation, the camera should be used with alkaline batteries only. In another area, it says that it comes with alkaline or NiMH batteries. (It comes with alkalines.) In yet another section, it states that alkaline or NiMH batteries should be used. Alkaline batteries are not very useful in this camera. If you use them, you will need to keep the LCD screen off, and you will run out of batteries after a dozen pictures or so. If you leave the camera on by mistake (it happened to me once when the button got pushed even though it was in the case) then you might get only two pictures from a set of alkaline batteries. I bought a set of NiMH batteries and a charger for $5.99 and the camera has been doing fine ever since. The battery life rating I gave referred to the batteries supplied or any AA alkaline batteries used to replace them. If you try to take flash pictures with alkaline batteries, be prepared to turn the camera off afterwards to let the batteries rest before you can use it again.
The camera accepts an AC adapter, but there is no mention of it in the documentation. The Visioneer website mentions that you can use a 3V 1000mA converter. It does not say the plug size or that it needs to be a converter with DC output. However, once the support person gave me the model number of an adapter from Radio Shack that works, I was able to find out most of what I need to know. (Such adapters come with multiple plugs or entitle the user to a plug that fits the unit in the case of Radio Shack)
Other parts related to the functionality of the camera are lacking in the documentation. For example, the explanation of the status LED says that you can take a picture when it is a solid green, but you must wait when it is blinking. However, it does not say why the camera does not work when the LED is amber. I will update this section if I ever find that out.
The documentation says that the camera features "Advanced Stepless Digital Zoom (Superior ADZ)" but there is no explanation of what ADZ(tm) is.
The instructions for the preset modes neglect to tell you how to get to them. You must first set the dial to PRE SET. This may be obvious when you have the camera and are used to it, but if you read the manual ahead of time, or without the camera in front of you, it makes no sense.
The troubleshooting section of the documentation is far from comprehensive, and if you have enough savvy to know how to check the batteries (there is a battery level indicator on the screen, but it's obviously useless if your batteries are completely dead), turn the unit off and make sure that the memory card is in correctly, it's of little use.
Customer support is fair. There is an on-line web-based system that tells you much of what is left out of the manual, but not nearly enough. When I spoke to the customer support folks, they were not able to tell me much beyond what is available on-line. What they did tell me in some cases, if accurate, did not instill confidence. In the case of the AC adapter, I was told that all they know is what was in their database and it came from a customer who tried it and it worked. When I told them that what the website said was inadequate, they did not seem concerned with updating it.
When it comes to getting photos to your computer, the task is painless. If you load the drivers from the CD, then Windows will detect the camera as it does with any plug and play device. The camera will then appear as an external drive, and you can copy pictures using standard Windows tools. I did not test this with a Mac, but it should work. The camera will organize photos in folders by date. There will be a subdirectory for each date on which photos were taken, and photos within the directory will have a name composed of the date and a serial number (07280001.jpg would be the first photo taken on 7/28th.) The camera also comes with "Digital Camera Utility" software that allows you to select and download photos. However, the software is not rich enough in features to warrant any sort of praise, nor did I feel that I really needed it. If you already have software for viewing and editing images, it's not an issue.
When I got my first digital camera, I was beta testing it for Logitech. It was the first consumer oriented digital camera on the market. It lacked features, and could not handle many contrast situations. For example, photographing African Americans was not possible if you wanted facial features to be discernable. By contrast, in high resolution, this camera will produce images and prints up to 8 by 10 inches that rival that of a good (but not professional quality) 35 mm camera. That's assuming that you do not zoom, and you compose the picture properly and use the proper settings. However, the default settings will work as well as one would would expect from many cameras with automated settings, and the LCD display will give you an idea of what to expect if you use other settings.
The bottom line is that it's a cheap camera that takes good pictures in the camera's most basic mode. It will not compare in quality to a high end digital camera, but if you are used to an inexpensive 35mm camera and wish to go digital, this should be more than adequate. Be prepared to spend a bit more on memory ($30-$50), batteries and charger ($6-$30) and an AC adapter ($12-$20.) Ultimately, if you want the convenience of longer usage, the ability to leave it plugged into your PC, and the ability to store more photos, the price can easily double. So check out whether more expensive models come with these features as standard before you decide if this is the camera for you. That's especially true if you may need to buy an aftermarket image editing tool that may come for free with a more expensive camera.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 60
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
wresnick
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Reviews written: 20
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