Oregon Scientific I-Cam review

16 December 2003 17:04 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Styled like the Pentax Optio S, this fixed focus 2mp camera from Oregon Scientific offers a lot on the style front. Slim and compact and thinner than a pack of playing cards, the camera features a 1.5” LCD display and the usual array of buttons to access the digital zoom and playback features.

Modes are selected with a sliding switch and offer capture, playback and movie modes. The problem with this is the oversensitive sliding nature of the switch and on test we constantly found ourselves pushing the slider too far or too little. This eventually ends up repeating the same painstaking motion one does when trying to set your watch date and you invariably end up moving the minute hand instead. Put this into a time pressured situation and more often than not you'll find yourself missing the shot all together as you faffed around.

Powered by internal memory the I-Cam has followed the Optio S in the same belief to offer a MMC/SD Media slot and this will increase your image capacity accordingly.

In our tests, images for the I-Cam lacked definition and detail getting confused by patterns that involved fine detail such as brickwork. Skin tones and reds, seemed overtly strong compared to other colours within the palette. Backgrounds started to loose all detail, but not to the same extent as some cheaper cameras on the market such as the Che-ez! range of cameras.

Verdict

This camera shows plenty of potential. Give it a couple more versions and this will be a camera that offers plenty for little cash. Pictures weren't the worst we seen, neither were they the best. If you are restricted by budget, this for £99 is a good start - especially if you are after something small and compact.

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Review Recap

Made by: Oregon
Price as reviewed: £99
The good: Cheap
The bad: Sliding switch a little slippery
Quick verdict: For just under a ton you can steady the hand. However the competition may offer 0.5 to 1 megapixel extra if Oregon hasn’t kept up to date.
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