Philips KEY0010/17 2MB USB Key Ring Camera

Rating:
Summary: Great Camera for the price
Review: Great 2 megapixel take an where camera. It is the size of a lighter or maybe a bit bigger. There is some color issues around the edges, but can be corrected with picture editor. The camera must be used outdoors. It WON'T take pictures when there is not enough light. The camera also beeps everytime you take a picture which is annoying. The quality is true 2 megapixel, much better than my VGA camera phone. Battery charges through USB and lasts a good couple of hours. The device says it holds 300 images but I have only taken up to 88 at one time. I would not recommend for only digicam. I have a high quality camera for those must-be-perfect situations. This is a good always in your pocket camera.

Rating:
Summary: A great little camera to add to your line up.
Review: I bought this camera based on reviews from a pervious generation of this camera (key 007) and one person put some sample pictures on a web site for all to see. I would have bought the key 007, but I did some research and saw that a newer one was coming out (this one, key 0010) so I bought it thinking it has to be better than the pervious version (higher resolution and more storage space) In my opinion it is. I think that having a true 2mp camera instead VGA (640x480) is a huge deal. most camera phones use VGA or maybe 1mp, but with 2 mp the picture really becomes usable and decent. I took this camera (and other cameras) on a trip to Europe to visit family. It held up very well and was easy to use. The only ware and tare so far is the shiny finish on the notch to turn on the camera and expose the lens is coming off, probably because I used it so much. When I was there it was nice to know that this little camera was always with me in my pocket. This camera is the small, about the size of two nine volts butted together (keep in mind the corners will be rounded off) I would go and take pictures with my regular camera for touristy type stuff, or important events, but then I would have my key10 on me to take great candid shots, of my friends or other people and places. I feel much more free to take pictures because now the opportunity is always there. No more "oh I wish I had a camera" I also think that the type of picture you will take with this camera will be different as well, you'll see things that capture your eye, whatever it might be and you'll be able to capture it. I think that the philosophy here should be: a picture is better than no picture, when considering image quality. To be honest the pictures are better then I expected yet by comparison to lager camera they are still relatively poor (a little blurry at times with low light the picture is grainy with artifacts, and in strong light the colors can be washed out). But I knew that going in. I really could not expect a 2mp camera, with a fixed lens, that fits effortlessly into my pocket, would produce 8x10 prints.
in a nutshell:
super small and light for what it is. a great camera for a great price (149.99 from Amazon, preordered) now I can take pictures whenever, within reason- this camera needs enough light (it'll let you know, anything less and the picture will be VERY poor) so I take many snapshots now that would have gone previously unrecorded. I love this LITTLE camera. If your going to a planned event and you want/need to bring a better camera for better pictures-fine. but this camera is great for the unplanned events, when you don't want to lug around a bulky camera. Oh and did I mention that another selling point was at the same time this is a USB jump drive. a great solution. lots of storage for the pictures, or whatever else, then you can just plug it into you computer (in this case a mac, it appears on the desktop as a drive and opens iPhoto (also use the enhancement to fix up some washed out color)). it also comes with a USB extension cable incase you can't reach.
ok, so much for the nutshell... I just can't say enough about this little guy. I think it's great (I would have reviewed it sooner but I was away on the afore mentioned trip, testing it out)
some cons that I can think of after using it for a while:
the view finder... well is more like at least "this" will be in your picture and you'll get some more around the top and right edges. not such a big deal just a little off center (it could depend on how you hold the camera or look through the viewfinder.
no flash...but I fully understand that adding one would add more weight, and size (a control to turn it on or off) and draw more power ect. not really worth it to me.
lastly, I wish it would start up faster... although all things considered, 4 seconds is not a bad start up time. with about 2 sec. between pictures.
The beep can be annoying (when it powers up, and then another when it takes a picture or is plugged into the computer), especially with real candid shots. -Through some sort of bug or "defect" may camera has stopped, very recently, beeping altogether (to me a blessing in disguise).
that's it, the bottom line: a great addition to a photographers line up, pro or not but defiantly not a stand alone "capture important events" camera but more of a "capture candid moments" camera.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Camera !
Review: I received my Key010 camera a little over a week ago and I have been more than pleased with it. I took pictures out in the sun and with overcast, even some inside with lights turned on, and all of them came out great. The colors and picture quality was better than I expected. I compared the pictures to my much larger one that takes 2meg pictures and this little one is equal to it. I even printed out on photo paper some 6"X8" prints and they look great. Sure it's not as high a quality as a much more expensive camera but the photo print are much better than from most cameras I have seen. When a picture is taken what you see in the lens finder is what you get. So it's not good for long distance. Overall I am impressed with it.

Rating:
Summary: Good picture quality but some limitations
Review: I'm really torn with this product, because it's really nice to have, the picture quality is good, it's small and easy to carry around and it didn't cost too much. However, I think I would get more pictures with a real digital camera (including flash and LCD).

The upside is that the image quality is really good, it's easy to transfer the images to PC (as it goes straight in the USB slot and appears as a drive) and there's no worry about batteries as it's internal battery charges over USB.

The flaws are as follows:
- What appears in the viewfinder isn't always comletely in the image - chops peoples heads off on occasion for instance).
- No LCD to preview images - a big deal when it chops peoples heads off and you don't know!
- Doesn't work well in low light conditions
- Not clear if/when the image is taken

I think, if you have an extra $50, look for a real digital camera with zoom, flash and LCD, unless you really need the ultra-small formfactor of this device.

Rating:
Summary: Great second-take anywhere camera!
Review: More like 3.5 stars.

I've been waiting for someone to right a review of this camera to see if I made the right decision, but no one has...so I'll write the first one.

Got this camera today, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the pictures. Definitely a true 2mp camera.

Light as a feather, easy to use. I was having a hard time keeping the camera steady, but the pics still came out clear and focussed.

The color leaves something to be desired, but that is easily fixed in software like photoshop or iphoto (mac), etc.

Haven't tried indoor shots yet, but not expecting much without a flash.

I would not suggest this as an everyday camera! It is a great second "take anywhere in your pocket camera." Literally fits in your pocket w/o a problem. About 3"x1"by 1/2" (all estimates).



Rating:
Summary: Useless picture quality
Review: The picture quality on this device is so awful that the camera is basically useless. It's not just sort of bad. The colours are drained, there's enormous halo, and the shutter is so slow even in bright light that you can't get a non-blurred picture. Most camera phones I've seen have much better picture quality, even if the resolution is lower. Avoid this gizmo.

Rating:
Summary: Almost perfect for a truly portable camera
Review: This is a great camera to carry along at all times and snap whatever takes your fancy. If you expect good quality, you'll be disappointed however. The quality is good enough for low res computer pictures and that's it.

The pros:
- truly portable, very light, no charger!
- autonomy does not seem to be an issue, after 137 pictures over 3 days, the camera was still ready to take more pictures
- truly point-and-click, there is nothing to set, the camera is ready to shoot perhaps 1 second after being turned on and the click to shoot delay is perceptible but well below 1 sec., time between two shots is also about 1 sec.

The cons:
- if the sun is in your photo the center of the sun will likely be ... black! Unacceptable really.
- it is very difficult to frame properly, this is due to the small size of the camera which does not give you a good sense that the focal plane is parallel to the scene you want to photograph. Some practice and taking several times the same photograph takes care of this most of the time.
- the quality is on the poor side, colors in particular are washed out.
- the camera beeps each time a picture is taken and there is no way to turn it off

In summary don't buy this to take pictures that you want to print. This is a great gadget however to carry around permanently because it is so light and small, and to take pictures at the slightest whim.