Concord EyeQ 2040 2MP Digital Camera

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

Hookups: The computer reads the camera as a USB mass-storage device, not a digital camera. This makes it possible that you don't have to load any drivers if you have Windows XP or ME. You will have to load the camera drivers for previous versions of Windows. You just drag and drop the pictures with practically no waiting, even for videos. You can also hook this camera straight-up to your TV via the camera's "Video Out" and the supplied video cable to view your pictures and videos.

Memory: Camera includes 7 MB integrated memory. Also accepts Secure Digital cards to store pictures and movies on from 8 to 512 MB.

Display: The smoothness of the 1.6" color TFT LCD really surprised me, 27 fps to be exact. I expected it to be choppy, not the case. 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 tells you, when it's on, is: the camera mode, 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. 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. I can easily compare the highest picture quality of this camera to a 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 nearly impossible due to the slow shutter speed.

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 the 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 it'll be whited out.

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. The videos are quite smooth, better than I expected, 15 fps to be exact.

No Macro Mode: 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.

Zoom: Wasn't a big deal to me, but the included 4x digital zoom is a nice touch.