Fold-Up Digicam Ships at $50
Argus offers digital imaging tools on a budget, but sacrifices some features for price.Liane Cassavoy, PCWorld.com
You don't have to spend a fortune to get a digital camera. Argus Camera, known for its affordable 35mm and digital imaging products, is launching a three-in-one digital still camera, video camera, and PC camera that will retail for $50.
The Argus DC-1540, which is scheduled to become available later this year, features 2MB of internal memory, a USB adapter for connecting to your PC, and a collection of ArcSoft imaging software.
The pen-shaped camera is designed to offer the ultimate in portability and affordability, says Bill Pearson, president of Argus. It measures about 1 inch across, 0.5 inch deep, and 4 inches tall; and it folds in half to fit easily in a shirt pocket or purse, he says.
Of course, a $50 camera won't offer top-of-the-line features, but that has never been Argus's goal, according to Pearson.
Price Points
"This camera is designed to hit a certain price point," Pearson says. "Our goal is to offer affordable quality products that are targeted at families. We're not trying to offer the latest, greatest camera or to compete with the big Japanese companies. We're trying to offer products for families who are interested in digital photography but aren't interested in spending a lot of money."
The DC-1540's memory is limited to 2MB of internal storage; the unit has no slot for additional memory cards. That's enough space for about 80 pictures or about 12 seconds of video, the company says.
Image quality won't be top-notch either. The DC-1540 captures images with a resolution of 352 by 288 pixels. At that resolution, you wouldn't want to blow images up into 8-by-10 enlargements, but a 4-by-6 image should look good, Pearson says. The camera is ideal for sending images across the Internet, he adds.
The camera does not have a TFT display for previewing images, but it does offer a small monochrome LCD screen that displays data only, Pearson says. The DC-1540 runs on two AAA batteries, and lacking a color display to drain the batteries, it does not suffer from short battery life, he says.
The folding design is handy for portability, and it also allows the DC-1540 to operate as a PC camera. When folded only 90 degrees (instead of the full 180 degrees needed to store it), the camera can sit on top of a PC monitor and act as a Web cam. It can transmit up to 30 frames per second, Pearson says.