Take a look at another larger image of the Meade CaptureView CVB1002, on my profile page.
Why did I buy it?
You guessed it. Chalk up another win for the inner gadget geek. I few months back, I was gift shopping for a friend who is into photography and hiking the great outdoors. Since he already has all the best gear where it comes to photography, I decided to shop for compact binoculars. That is when I came across these unique binoculars with a simple digital camera built-in. I had seen a similar product in the Sharper Image catalog that had peaked my interest. After clicking thru some Yahoo shopping pages, I found the Meade Capture View integrated digital camera binocular (Model#CVB1002) and purchased it from Walmart.com for $79.53. Be forewarned. There are two very similar models being sold by different retailers. There are some significant differences that require me to include the specifications of both models, for comparison purposes. They are included at the bottom of the review.
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What’s HOT.
Good Concept.
Meade is a familiar brand name manufacturer of quality consumer optical products, and the CaptureView confirms this status. I feel this was a great concept that was fairly executed into an affordable easy to use consumer product. The very small addition in size and weight required by the digital camera is well worth it, and adds a new dimension to a mediocre quality pair of binoculars. Don’t get me wrong. This will not replace your main camera for shooting photos. But it sure makes for a fun pair of binoculars.
Mediocre Quality 8x Binoculars.
These are slightly larger than most compact 8x binoculars but the additional size makes them easy to hold firm and steady. This is needed when taking pictures of distant objects. The binocular optics utilize a folding roof prism design. This provides excellent optical characteristics in a compact and lightweight binocular. The familiar focus knob is situated in the center. The diopter knob is located on right eyepiece. For people with prescription eyeglasses, the rubber eyecups can be folded down for more comfort. The binocular barrels have rubber non-slip covering near the center. These allow for a secure firm hold and minimum slippage. The neck strap is permanently attached at the center and cannot be detached.
Convenient Digital Camera.
The Camera is installed between the two binocular barrels. The camera lens is located between the two objective lenses and has a small hood above it to keep away stray fingers. The shutter release can be easily operated by the right index finger. The power on/off, resolution lo/hi and other functions can be accessed by the left index finger. Between the two eyepieces, under a flat rubber cover is the USB port. Below that is the hinged battery compartment cover. The max resolution is 640x480. This is good enough for fair to decent 4x6” prints. Compare the
Pentax DigiBino DB-100
which has 1024x768 resolution and a 1.6” LCD, but a much higher price at $250-$350.
Connectivity to a PC.
Transferring images to the PC was very easy. The camera connected to the USB port of the computer with the supplied connecting cable. The included driver was not WinXP compatible and made my computer freeze up. This required me to do a system restore and look for updated drivers. Meade has an updated WinXP driver that can be downloaded here:
http://www.meade.com/sportsoptics/catalog/captureview/CV-XP.exe It however is not Win XP certified and tested as per Microsoft, but it does work. Instead of the included Ulead software, I used Photoshop for uploading the images. The interface is fairly simple and has a Snap button that allows you to release the shutter and capture additional shots directly from the PC.
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What’s NOT.
Poor Digital Image Quality.
The camera has automatic exposure and white balance. This is not a good feature if you want to take pictures in low light or longer exposures. The CMOS sensor is lux hungry and will take great shots in the great bright outdoors. It however will quickly drop the ball in the twilight of dawn and the fading light of dusk. The power on button has to be pressed for 3 seconds to power up the camera. It automatically powers off after about 30 seconds. The camera will automatically focus on any scene viewed thru the binocular.
The binocular can focus on objects as close as 16.4 feet away. However the camera will not focus on objects less than 49 feet away. At extreme distances, the view became too unstable to take a clear picture. Many of my pictures of the New York City skyline, came out blurry due to shakiness. Also, in low light conditions, the images taken by the camera were very grainy and dark. Be forewarned: This system is not WYSIWYG. What you see thru the binocular is not exactly how the camera will capture the image.
Poor Battery Performance and Non-expandable Memory.
Considering the overall size, Meade could easily have included an SD memory card slot. The camera utilizes the built in 8MB memory which can store 40 pictures at Hi and 100 pictures at Lo resolution settings. This memory gets wiped out and all your images will be lost, if the batteries are running low. If you change the batteries while there are images stored in the memory, they will be lost. There is no backup button cell to preserve images in memory. Also, if there are images stored in the memory, the batteries will get discharged sooner. With 10 images in memory and the camera turned off, the 2xAAA batteries were completely drained in three days.
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What is included in the box.
Meade CaptureView CVB 1002,
Nylon carry case with belt slots,
USB connecting cable,
Application CD with drivers and photo editing software,
Instruction manual with registration card.
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My wishlist for this product.
How could Meade improve this product? The following features would help:
A higher resolution camera. (at least 1-2 megapixels)
A variable optical zoom. (10x would be nice)
Digital image stabilization.
Built in laser range finder. (this one might be a pipe dream)
Low light sensitivity or long exposure mode.
A socket for a tripod or monopod.
Now that’s what I call a GADGET.
In the words of Tim Allen, “ORH ORH ORH ORH”.
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Proof House.
I took a day hike with my friend and his son, on Bear Mountain. This locale is great for shooting scenic landscapes, waterfalls and the occasional deer. A few hours into the hike we came across some waterfalls that were particularly photogenic. So we decided to take some shots. We spent the day soaking up the sun, eating some snacks, shooting some more scenery and then headed back to our Suburban. Overall, I found the CaptureView to be a very easy product to use, right out of the box. The binocular allows for quick subject acquisition and the digital camera is fast enough to capture flying birds or moving game. The shutter lag time was less than a second, and the camera sounds a short beep to indicate the image was captured. It also powers down after about 35 seconds to preserve battery life. After getting back to my friends house, I downloaded the images to my
notebook for evaluation. The first thing I noticed was that the images had a wider field of view compared to the binocular view. Many objects that had seemed crystal clear in the binocular, were blurry and very small on the PC. This had to be because each of the binocular lenses are almost twice the size of the single camera objective lens. I had captured some geese swimming in the water. I remembered the image in the binocular was spectacular, and the 640x480 images I was looking at on my PC, were such a big let down. The color fidelity was bearable but the image quality left a lot to be desired. Maybe I was too spoiled with the spectacular 3.2MP images from my
Canon S230, which was my main still camera at that time. The following week, my friend, who is a hunter, took a great picture of his dog Gabe, running back retrieving a bird, from well over 80 yards away. I don’t know how he did it, but it looked great.
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The Bottom Line:
This is a mediocre quality binocular with a simple integrated digital camera. It’s a must have item for hikers, bird watchers, hunters, outdoorsmen, sports fans, boy/girl scouts and Manhattan Apartment dwellers. It is also perfectly suited for Gigi’s neighbors. It will definitely not take the place of your main still image camera. But if you are looking to buy a medium to compact size binocular, give the CaptureView some serious consideration. Although I cannot recommend this product as a standalone digital camera, it’s a fun toy to take along in the camera bag.
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The specifications of the two models are as follows:
CVB1002 (Reviewed here)
Binocular:
Size...............................8x30mm
Field of View........................5.8° or 331' @ 1000yds.
Exit Pupil.......................….4mm
Close Focus.......................…..16'
Digital Camera
Resolution..............640x480(VHi) and 320x240 (Lo)
Sensor...............................CMOS
35mm Lens Equivalent...400mm
Focal Ratio..........................f/5.6
Field of View...........................6°
Range.................32.8' to infinity
Exposure.....................Automatic
Memory...............................8MB
Batteries...2x AAA
Dimensions:
Size.............….5.6" x 3.8" x 1.9"
Weight...........…..............12.9oz.
CVB1001 (Also available)
Binocular:
Size………………………?x22mm
Field of View........................7.0° or 400' @ 1000yds.
Exit Pupil.........................2.8mm
Close Focus.........................16.4'
Digital Camera
Resolution..............640x480(VHi) and 196x144 (Lo)
Sensor...............................CMOS
35mm Lens Equivalent...400mm
Focal Ratio..........................f/5.6
Field of View...........................8°
Range.................49.2' to infinity
Exposure.....................Automatic
Memory...............................8MB
Batteries...2x AAA
Dimensions:
Size...............4.5" x 3.5" x 2.2"
Weight............................9.3oz.
As you can see, the most prominent differences are that, the CVB1002 unit (with 30mm lenses) allows more light into the binoculars, has a slightly narrower field of view, is slightly longer and heavier than the CVB1001 model.
A big thanks to
Howard, for helping get this product added to Epinions.com database.
