No Fluff or Mumbo Jumbo - "Just The Basics" on Digital Cameras

If you're a return visitor, make sure and click on your browser's "Refresh" button on each page to make sure you have the newest version of this page loaded.

There are TWO reviews on this page. First, a review for the "Argus Quick Clix", and if you keep scrolling down the page, you will find the review for the "Che-ez Foxz2" pocket camera.

Review # 1

Argus Quick Clix

Stats

Ok ok, I've now had several emails asking me about this cheapy little camera that people have been finding lately at their local Wal-mart stores. So, I'm bowing down to pressure and went out and bought one! The Argus Quick Clix. Argus has been around a while and in the digicam world at least is known for cranking out lower cost (and lower end) digital cameras. Until a short time ago, their low cost cameras offered those on a very tight budget the means to enter the digital camera world. While image quality wasn't quite up to the same standards as the major name brand models, it was a start. Recently, major makers such as Canon, Sony, and others have started producing beginner models at sub-$200.00 prices, making these third party brand cameras less of a bargain than they once were.

Perhaps in response to this, Argus and other similar makers are now making even cheaper cameras, with some clearly being aimed at children only, or those who wish to take low-end photos for the purpose of emailing only. The "Quick Clix" is a small model measuring 4 inches in length, 2 inches in height, and 1 inch thick. At the local Wal-mart where I picked this up they were available in three color choices - red, blue, and silver/black. The oval-ish shape of them is reminiscent of Sony's more expensive P-series line of cameras (a coincidence? Hmmmm). While there is a small slit for a wrist or neck strap on the bottom corner of the camera, no straps were included in my package - bum one off of a cell phone kiosk at the mall, or, handle with care. The side has a plastic hinged door where the batteries go.

The Quick Clix runs on two AA sized batteries, and uses 8 megabytes of internal memory for photo storage (there is no slot for memory cards - only the internal memory). There is likewise no color LCD screen on the back - only a small standard LCD readout showing the quality setting, how many photos have been taken, and delete options. Buttons include the shutter button on top (which doubles as the power "on" button), and on the back you have buttons to toggle between high and low resolution settings (640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels), deletion of photos, and a small switch that turns on the small and weak built-in flash on the front of the unit. There is a very tiny lens on the front which has no zoom, digital or optical, and is fixed-focus from about 4.5 feet to infinity. The catch for all of this "downsizing" is the price - only $20.00.

Features

A couple of years ago you'd not have even been able to buy a fake digital camera toy for twenty bucks. Ten years ago, a device even as cheezy as this with only 640 x 480 resolution was running around $399.00 and higher, so even though we're talking about a cheap piece of plastic here, it's amazing that you can now buy ANYTHING capable of capturing digital images for twenty dollars. Still, cheap is cheap, so what are the cons?

First of all, there are no memory card slots. All memory is internal, and totals 8 megabytes. This gives you enough space to store around 32 images at 640 x 480 pixels, or, around 117 photos at 320 x 240 pixels. Once you fill up the memory, you must connect the camera to your Windows computer (sorry, doesn't work on a Mac), and download the images into the included software (Arcsoft Photoimpression). From there you can make adjustments to the images, create projects, and go from there. While connected to your PC, the camera gets power from the included USB cable, but be warned, if the pair of AA batteries the camera is otherwise powered by are removed or die on you, all images in the camera will be erased. Used good quality alkalines. The very tiny 4 page manual says you can use "rechargeable Alkalines" - there are NO such things... but I think this may be an English language booboo on them. They most likely meant AA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries. Either way, watch your power level and don't use cheapo batteries, or you may lose your pics before you can download and save them!

The Quick Clix can also be used as a cheap web cam for videoconferencing. I tested it out using a popular video chat service "Paltalk", and the program was able to see the camera as a cam in it's video settings area. Once chosen, my ugly face appeared on cam as it should (though a bit dark and fuzzy). The camera has a small tripod screw mount on the bottom but no small tripod is included, so if you plan on using this as a web cam you'll want to go out and buy a cheap tabletop tripod so you can angle the camera around for the best video capture angle. Once again, this camera does NOT have an official video movie mode feature like many cameras do today - you cannot take short movies with it and save them to your computer with the enclosed software. You can only use it as a web cam with the enclosed drivers.

Image Quality

As expected for something in this price, image quality isn't going to win any awards. With a lens that is barely as large as a pin head, there are fuzzy distortions around the edges of the images with the center being the sharpest, although you could not call the image "sharp" at all, really. In areas of mixed sun and shade, the sunny areas will be completely blow out (can we say nuclear bright?). Indoors, while the camera does have a tiny built-in flash, it does little good to illuminate the subjects, and images are dark, and full of noise. Details on things like hair, leaves, and grass are muddy and mushy looking, and colors are a little off and somewhat muted. Purple fringing can be seen around high contrast areas (trees against hazy skies, etc.). I would rate the overall image quality of the Quick Clix to be just barely one notch above the original "Pen Cams" (read about them on the Bad Camera page).

If you want a more real-world comparison, I would say the image quality compares to the less expensive lower end camera phones on the market today (VGA models, not the newer megapixel models).

Here are some samples:

The bear above was taken in a room with two standard lamps, and using the Quick Clix's built-in flash, as a distance of about 4 feet or so. As you can tell, indoor flash image quality is mushy, and full of digital noise.

Outdoor shots have much less noise, but as you can see, there is extreme blowout in areas where direct sunlight hits the subject, and fine details like hair are muddled looking. Colors are a bit off, as well.

Using the camera's low resolution mode (320 x 240 pixels - slightly cropped here), shows harsh jaggies on sloped angles, and again, extreme blowout in areas of direct sun.

Software Boo Boos

As mentioned above, included is the basic but very capable Arcsoft Photoimpression software (version 4), on a mini CD disk. This will allow you to import the photos from the Quick Clix camera into it's gallery area, where you can work on them. You also have to install the camera drivers, so Windows XP can find the camera when it's connected to the computer. Arcsoft installed automatically first (not what the instructions said would happen) and then supposedly installed the drivers second. When I connected the camera however, a Windows XP screen came up asking for the driver disk. Ignoring it, I soon discovered that the camera was not recognized regardless of the fact the drivers WERE installed earlier. I unplugged the camera and plugged it back in, allowed the Windows XP driver window to pop up, re-inserted the driver mini CD, and Windows then found more files and installed them. After this, everything worked fine, but this was NOT covered in the instructions. I'm not sure if this is the fault of the way their driver disk was written, or, perhaps a glitch caused by Windows Service Pack Two which many Windows users recently installed, so, be aware of this glitch. By the way, the mini driver disk says "Sports Cam" on it, and I have no idea what that is! I would guess a similar model that shares the same drivers that Argus makes, and they use the same disks for the Quick Clix, but it's a bit confusing when you open it.

Conclusions

Ok, we're again talking about twenty dollars. What do you really want for that? For less than the price of a couple of those disposable film cameras you can now own a digital camera. Granted, image quality won't be good, and features are sparse, but for kids under the age of around 12 years old, I think this would make a good "first camera" to play around with. If they break it, heck, you're not going bankrupt. I think most in their teens and older would get bored with it rather quickly though, and want something like the Canon A510 (seen on the Good Camera page) as a beginner's camera. It's almost $200.00 but is vastly better.

To give Argus some credit however, they clearly say on the outer packaging "Perfect for Email!" more than once, so it's not advertised or pushed as a camera you can make prints from, nor do they try to compare it's image quality to more expensive cameras. The design is also actually pretty stylish for the price, too. From a distance, it looks like a much more expensive camera (so in a push if you find yourself having to use it, you at least won't be embarrassed being seen with it). Even though it's a roughly copied version of Sony cameras physically, the design does work - and looks very nice for the price.

My grades below are based on the overall features and quality for this camera, so the grades aren't high. But as said above, for a "kid cam" I'd say it's perfectly worth the asking price.

What I liked:	Design/style of camera. Price. Uses AA batteries for power. Built-in flash is unheard of for such an inexpensive item.
What I didn't like:	Once batteries die you lose all pics stored in camera. No option to use removable memory cards. Resolution max size of 640 x 480 is ok for email, but overall image quality is a letdown (distortions around edges of photos, highlight blowouts, etc.).

Overall Ease of Use = 5 (because of buggy software)

Build Quality = 5 (plastic, but it's cheap cheap cheap)

Features (for this price/class of camera) = 6

Size (pocketability) = 6

Image quality (compared to the cheapest major brand cameras available) = 4

* Image quality compared to sub-$50 cams? I would have upped that to a "6" *

________________________________________________________________

Review # 2

"Che-ez Foxz2" Pocket Camera

Another day, another "pocket digital camera". This one is called the "Che-ez Foxz2", and it's a new model from NHJ Limited - a company based in Japan with offices here in the U.S. This camera promises to be unique among the gizmo pocket cams out there, in that it actually has a color LCD screen... something pretty much all other cameras in this class and price range ($99.00 U.S.) lack. Unfortunately, this camera has quite a few problems, which is why this particular review will be a rather short one (as I couldn't get it to work properly!).

Statistics

There are various cameras in the "Che-ez" range. The "Foxz2" is a credit card sized camera which uses a CMOS sensor (like those found in web cams) to produce images of a true size of 1600 x 1200 pixels. There is also a 2048 x 1536 pixel image size (3 megapixels), but this is via "interpolation" (adding fake pixels), so it is really a 2 megapixel camera. At just under 10mm deep, it's pretty darn thin, making it a true pocket camera. This is a fixed focus camera with no real zoom. The lens equals about 49mm on a film camera, but it does offer a 2X digital zoom, for what it's worth. There is a built-in flash with a range of around 6 feet, and while the camera offers 8 megabytes of internal storage, it also has a slot on the side where you can insert Secure Digital memory cards - something else unique to this class of camera which usually only offers internal storage. The built in rechargeable battery is charged up via your USB port, and claims are you can get "hundreds of shots per charge", though I might doubt this is you use the LCD screen all the time. So far, it seems this camera is only being sold in Target stores here, and on their web site.

Also unique is a 1.5 inch color LCD screen and navigation wheel on the back of the camera. Something normally found in more traditional (dare I say "real") digital cameras until now. Normally these pocket gizmos only offer a crude optical viewfinder, and only a black and white LCD screen that shows flash settings, number of photos remaining, etc. The Foxz2 screen is actually decently detailed and bright for this level of camera. Alas, this screen is the only nice feature to the camera, as the rest of it is cheap plastic and buttons that feel very (excuse the pun).. "cheesy". On my model, the top seam of the camera actually had a gap where you could see INSIDE the body if you had a bright enough light hitting at the right angle.

For your $99.00, you get the camera, software disk (Windows XP and Mac OSX only), small instruction book, a cloth protective case, mini USB cable, and a neck strap. I really hate these neck straps; has anyone out there actually seen anyone of any age wearing digital cameras around their necks? Makers: Please read into the U.S. market before selling products here. We do not have millions of pre-teen Japanese girls here who wear cameras as jewelry. WRIST straps... please!

Trouble Out of the Box

Ok, it's really packed in that tight "blister wrap" that's so hard to get open and not a box, but regardless, things didn't start out very well. I unpacked the camera which already had a bit of a charge in it. I went ahead and passed by the internal storage, and inserted my own memory card into the camera. Formatted the card, and took some photos. Easy to use and get started with if you've ever used a digital camera before. If not, a quick read of the manual should get you going. In playback mode, my photos shows up just fine on the LCD. So far, no problem.

I installed the drivers on my computer, and the provided imaging software, as per the instructions. Reboot the computer (it doesn't say to do this, but you should reboot a Windows PC whenever you've installed new software to make sure everything is loaded correctly). Once ready, I plugged the camera into the computer's USB hub, and it was detected by Windows XP and installed. I opened the imagine software, and went about the instructions to download the images. Poof... the software while showing the camera listed as an option to download from, said, "Cannot detect camera... please try again". This continued for a while. Hidden on the bottom of their web site, I found a brief blurb... "cannot use with an extended USB hub". Ohhhkay... you cannot use hubs - you have to plug it directly into your computer USB ports. That would be fine, if the USB cable they provide were long enough. My computer's USB ports are on the back of the case (as are many peoples, unless you own a brand new computer which has them on the front as well). The included cable is too short to reach to the back of a machine on the floor, or in a desk area. So, on to option # 2...

I decided instead to just remove the memory card, insert it into my USB memory card reader, and download the photos that way. Oops... you can't do that either! According to the manual, you can only use the software that's included to read your images first and "convert them to another format". The Foxz2 stores images in a very proprietary format - not the industry standard .jpg. As a result, my Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop Elements programs could not read the images on the card. Only the included software can read it, and it can't detect the card unless it's plugged into an unreachable USB port via a short cable. ARGH! Having a memory card slot is a wonderful feature, but how is it convenient if you cannot remove the card, insert it into a USB card reader, and open the images in ANY program you choose? To paraphrase a young nephew... "Duh!".

Results - Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, this is a very short review. Unfortunately, I also have no sample images that I took personally, that I can show you. My system is set up in such a way that I simply did not feel like laying on my back and crawling under a table in order to directly plug this camera into the back of my system (as I have a bad back, it wasn't worth a trip to the doctor to get this thing to work). As a result, it was promptly packed up and taken back to the store. Sorry... long day, and I was too short-fused to keep fiddling with it.

I have however, received permission from the folks over at gadgetmadness.com, to show a sample and link to their own really good review on this camera, where they also have several full-sized sample images. You'll find their conclusions about this camera were pretty much what I came up with. It's a neat site. You can click the tiny sample image below, and it will take you to their review on the Che-ez camera. This sample by the way, is a full size crop from a full image taken with a Che-ez Foxz2. If you squint hard enough, you can tell (sort of) that these are TREES. Yikes.

CLICK THE PHOTO TO VISIT THE "GADGETMADNESS" REVIEW

What it boils down to, is that NO camera should be this limiting, nor use a proprietary image format that does not allow you to download it's images from a card reader into the program of your choice, otherwise I say again, what is the point of having the ability to use memory cards to begin with? Between this, the overall poor build quality, and other inconveniences of this camera, I simply cannot recommend the Che-ez Foxz2. If the Foxz2 goes on sale for $49.00 or less, it might be an ok toy for the kids once you can get it to work, but for $99.00, you can do better. For the same price or only a few dollars more, you can buy an off-brand beginners camera (such as Aiptek, Argus, or Vivitar), an older major-branded model such as the Fuji A101 or 201 on Ebay, or, for a little more buy a Sony U30 or U40 which are nearly as small, built much better overall, and take good pics for pocket cameras.