Decent Camera, Just Don't Bang It Around

What's Included:
Concord Eye-Q 2040 Digital Camera
Mini USB Cable
TV Cable
Wrist Strap
Carrying Pouch
2x AA Kodak Alkaline Batteries
ArcSoft PhotoImpression and ArcSoft VideoImpression (Picture Editing Software)
User’s Manual and Multilingual Quick Start Guide
CD-ROM including Multilingual User Manual in PDF format

Intro: I was looking for a low-priced camera that had a color LCD with decent megapixels at reasonable price, and I found one.

Connections: The computer reads the camera as a "USB Mass-Storage Device", not a digital camera. You still get the option to print, save, view a sildeshow, etc. when you plug it in to a PC. You don't have to load any drivers if you have Windows XP, 2000, ME, or Mac OS 9.0 or later. It won't even let you, you don't need them. You will have to load the camera drivers for Windows 98 SE. Sorry, Windows 98 and 95 are not supported. When the camera is connected, you just drag and drop the pictures with practically no waiting, even for videos. Another plus to having it as a mass-storage device is, you can put any type of file on the camera and transport it to any computer with Windows XP or ME via the mini USB cable. It's kind of like one of those thumb-drives, just inside a digital camera. Pretty cool, huh? If you have a secure digital card, you can have even more space for files. I only recommend this for people who know what they're doing, because you have to format the memory to delete the different types of files. When it is plugged into your PC, you don't need it on because, it doesn't use any batteries, just your PC power. You don't even need batteries in the camera to hook it up to your computer.

Cables: The included 6 ft Wieson-branded USB cable has quality construction. It's thicker than other camera cables I've had. The only reason I called it a "mini" USB cable, the end that goes into the digital camera is smaller than the end you plug into your PC. Some camera USB cables are full size on both ends. This one is not. Also, there is a bulge in the cable near the end you plug into your camera. My dad says it is a balance resistor. In other words, a mini surge protector. Pretty cool, huh? It's the only one I've seen on any USB cable. You can also hook this camera straight-up to your TV via the camera's "Video Out" and the supplied 6 ft video cable. Just plug in the video cable into your TV's RCA video-in jack to view your pictures and videos on the big screen instantly. You will have to have your camera on to do this. The TV cable is flimsier than the USB cable, but that doesn't bother me much. It works just fine.

Accessories: You get a wrist strap that you have to hook onto the camera yourself. I tried very hard to hook up the wrist strap, but I just couldn't get it through that little loop on the camera. I gave it to my dad and he managed to do it. You get a nice carrying pouch this this model with the CONCORD name on it. It even has a separate compartment to store your SD cards and batteries!

Memory: This camera includes 7 MB integrated memory, but also accepts Secure Digital cards to store pictures and movies on from 8 to 512 MB.

Battery Life: Battery life is pretty low for this model. On the day I got it, I was really checking out all its features, and it said my batteries were low by the end of the day. The battery meter is kind of deceptive. The battery meter is either full and green, or half and red. It will say your batteries are low long before they go out. The way I use it is when it says my batteries are getting low, I just get another pair of fresh AA's ready to go. The moment it switches over to saying the battery's are low, your batteries have about 50% juice left in them. I have purchased a 1-Hour Duracell 4 AA battery recharger along with 4 more rechargable Duracall AA batteries to compliment this model. I recommend you also buy a battery charger if you plan on purchasing this camera.

Display: The smoothness of the 1.6" color TFT LCD really surprised me, 27 fps to be exact. I expected it to be choppy. That was simply not the case, it has a very smooth video feed. The only way it can be choppy is if you move the camera very fast. You can view your pictures and videos as thumbnails on the display if you want. The display icons and the display itself can be turned off at the simple click (or two clicks) of a button. You would do this for very sunny days and to conserve batteries. The display tells you (when it's on): the camera mode (taking or displaying at pictures), flash and white balance settings, battery level, image quality and resolution, self-timer (if on), memory card (if inserted), and frame counter (how many pictures you have taken and how many you have left).

Interface: You can switch between taking pictures and reviewing taken pictures on-the-fly via a switch on the back. You have to go through the menu to delete pictures and videos though, no delete button.

Settings: “White Balance” and “Exposure Value” can be adjusted to your liking to brighten or darken the pictures you take. The brightness of the display can also be changed. Auto-shutoff time can be off, 15, 30, 60, or 90 seconds. You can also change the picture resolution and quality as stated in the next section. Flash can be set to "On", "Off", or "Auto". White Balnce can be set to "Auto", "Sunny", "Flourescent", and "Tungsten".

Picture Capacity: The manual says you can take only 7 pictures at the highest quality, but the camera can handle 9. You can go all the way up to 205 pictures at the lowest quality using the included 7 MB integrated memory.

Picture Quality: Pictures are taken in the JPEG format. Picture quality is determined by the combination of picture resolution and quality. The resolutions available are 1600x1200 (2.0 MP), 1280x960 (1.2 MP), and 640x480. The picture quality can be “Fine”, “Normal”, or “Economy”. At the "Fine" quality and at 1600x1200 (the highest possible quality), you can manage 9 pictures. At the same resolution and "Normal" quality, you can get 21 pictures at almost the same quality. I couldn't tell the difference. Landscape pictures are close to the quality of a 35 mm one-time-use camera. Pictures with flash and from 3-30 ft away were much clearer than a 35mm one-time-use camera. Pictures can be better quality if you hold the camera still for about a second when you snap a picture. Action shots are possible if the subject is not moving very fast. For example, a picture of someone jumping off something is very crisp. A picture of someone moving their hand fast is blurry. The key is, just hold the camera still when you take a picture for better results. The color balance is pretty good. The sky sometimes looks aqua if you don't have it on the right "White Balance". If you have it on "Sunny", that should take care of that problem. Also, some flash pictures on the display will looked a little whited-out. Once you view them on your TV or PC and print them out, they'll look great.

Flash: The flash really surprised me and others. In a completely dark room, I can take great pictures. I showed some pictures to my parents and they were very impressed when I told them that room was completely dark. You just have to make sure you are a few feet away from the subject to get a good picture, or else it'll be whited out.

Modes: You are either in the taking pictures mode or viewing pictures and movies mode, which is decided by the position of the switch on the back. There is also a video and timer mode, but you have to choose these modes in the menu. There is no macro mode with this camera, making all close-ups a little blurry. The focal range on this camera claims to be 1.2 meters to infinity. So to get good shots, you have to be that far away.

Videos: Videos are taken in the AVI format. This camera cannot act as a webcam, you take pictures and movies with it. This model can take 34 second videos at highest quality with the included 7 MB integrated memory. To take a movie ,you have to go through the menu. There is no switch to move it to video mode. The videos are quite smooth, better than I expected, 15 fps to be exact. If you take movies inside, they are darker (with red tint) when you view them on your PC or TV. You have to have good lighting to get a decent movie. Taking movies outside always produces good results.

Timer: There is a ten second self-timer for those who need it. You have to go through the menu to activate the timer. It waits ten seconds to take a picture, and counts down with a flashing red LED on the front. The red LED starts out blinking once a second and then speeds up a couple seconds before taking the picture to let you know it's about to snap a picture. After you take a picture with the self-timer, the self-timer mode turns off.

Zoom: Wasn't a big deal to me, but the included 4x digital zoom is a nice touch. You can also zoom in 2x or 4x on the pictures you have already taken to look at the details.

Out In The Field: I tried helping my dad get pictures of his old radios he wanted to sell on ebay. He took the pictures from about a foot away. They were too blurry to make out the details on the radio since there is no macro mode. For example, you couldn't tell what the numbers were on the tuner and the grill was blurred together. He did manage to get a few of the pictures decent enough to post on ebay.

I then took this camera on its first trip. On the way there, I took a picture a funny sign in Hondo, the first picture I took on the trip. That picture was very clear. The final destination was the Frio River. Don't worry, if you're not from Texas, you won't know where it is. The first picture I took, a small waterfall, was amazingly crisp and clear. It was from about 8-10 feet away and much clearer than a 35 mm one-time-use camera. The ones after that were landscape pictures and I could tell they were a little blurry, about the quality of a 35 mm one-time-use camera. The plastic over the lens got messed up a little from getting wet and me wiping it off. That might have been a factor. The landscape pictures were decent enough that anyone not looking too close wouldn't tell that they were blurry. Mainly, the leaves in the trees and bushes were blurry. The rocks and the river were clearer. I took a couple more pictures downstream of some tall trees and their reflections on the river. Those pictures were dark due to the height of the trees. They were blocking the light from getting to river. The second one of those trees were a bit brighter and I could really tell the details of the reflections.

IMPORTANT UPDATE (6/7/04 - 8/29/04): One of the battery lid hooks that's supposed to be holding the battery lid into the body of the camera broke off. Now, the battery compartment sticks out when there is batteries in it. I have since sent it back to the company and received it back. The dates are from when I sent it in to when I got it back.