DXG USA DXG-305V Digital Camera - Blister Pack

Excellent Product for the Price

Strengths: Small, Easy to use, Does what it says it does. After you add the drivers, my laptop autosenses the internal SD and camera as two disk drives. I control each !!!!

Weaknesses: Owners manual is written with text that requires a magnifying glass to read.

Summary: I added a 1gb SD card to mine and now have the ability to take movies and pictures anywhere at anytime I choose and keep several movies in the camera until I get it connected to my laptop. Comes with a nice looking carrying case, lense cover, etc. I also purchased a set of rechargable AAA batteries with a rapid charger that will charge from home or the car.

Like I typed in the title, this is an excellent device for the money!!!

First, all of the printing on the camera is so small you need a magnifying glass to read it.

Second, you have to memorize too many differnet menus and selections buttons so you have to carry the book around with you and refer to it.

Everytime you try to do something the batteries are running down so you have to buy batteries and a charger to keep up with it.

The downloading and deciphering are very time consuming and I still have not figured out how to retrieve the video I took at Christmas after 4 hours of trying. The icons are in Japanese.

If you want a digital camera, take your money and put it in a Certificate of Deposit. Wait about 20 years for it build up enough money to buy a camera that you can actually understand. By then you will be too old to care and you will have saved yourself some money. I, personally, am going back to disposable cameras for photos. I have never taken a bad photo with them.

As for the video camera part, I give up. What ever happened to point and shoot with a playback that actually plays back and doesn't tell you there is no video?

I haven't tried MP3 and have no use for that function. But the way it consumes batteries it isn't worth it. Wish I had known all this before I wasted my money.

Buy DXG USA DXG-305V Digital Camera - Blister Pack Now

This camera has a number of features, and I'll be reviewing the capabilities of each.

1.) Video Mode

Video quality is mediocre at best. You need to use daylight in order to get anything resembling decent video. You can record 640x480 at 10 fps (NOT 15 fps), or 320x240 for a much smoother 30 fps. Unless you like headaches, stick with the smaller res. Because the camera is so light, it's easy to end up with "Earthquake Videos"--steady your hand, or use any standard tripod (attached to the battery door, which can open if you screw the tripod on too tight).

I had great frustrations getting this camera to have proper white balance indoors under incandescent lighting. Like many digital cameras I've toyed with, results are too yellow/red, and the White Balance feature of the camera does little to fix this. Use daylight.

Sound on videos is also mediocre. It's not terrible, but there's some detectible artifacts. The camera also has some fun "filters" (Sepia, B&W, Negative, etc) if you want to play with those.

Videos use the ASF format container, IMA ADPCM audio codec, and ISO MPEG-4 Video V1 video codec. Included software allows you to compile video snips, add effects, and other basic bits if you don't already have software that can handle ASF files.

You can plug the camera into a TV, but you will likely need to buy extra cables so that you can plug in both audio and video (only video cable is supplied). There is definate pixelization when put on the big screen, but this is still a handy feature. Support for NTSC and PAL, 60 and 50 Hz.

In summary, it's fine for making videos during the day to post on YouTube or to send to friends. Limited use in other areas. Weakest with poor lighting.

2.) Camera Mode

Up to 3 MP. I did not extensively test this feature, but found it difficult to get the flash to cooperate. Photo quality was okay, but limited. I prefer my FinePix camera over this for flexibility and quality. No optical zoom. Uses JPEG format.

3.) MP3 Player

MP3 files ONLY. This is one area where this device falls flat. Sound quality was distinctly "grainy" when attempting to handle high frequencies (almost like a tincan effect). You will probably not be using this device as a portable MP3 player. Navigation was fine, but I found I kept bumping the stop button when I had it in my pocket. Very annoying.

4.) Sound Recorder

Essentially like recording video, only just the audio. Records using the .WAV container, IMA ADPCM codec, 8000 Hz, 4 bit, Mono quality. There are no options to change the quality of your recorded files.

5.) Webcam Mode

By plugging the camera into your PC via USB, you can use it as either a portable drive (to transfer files to your PC) or a webcam. Webcam quality has the same weaknesses as standard Video. Without proper lighting, video will be mediocre at best.

(SUMMARY)

This device is a fine toy to play around with, and is a fair alternative to high-priced digital camcorders, but is little more than a portable webcam. A fun gift for someone in the 12 to 18 range. Buy rechargable AAA batteries (device uses 4) so you aren't constantly buying new juice--batteries only, nowhere to plug an AC adapter.

If you're more serious about your video projects, get a more serious camera. This is a toy, only a toy.

Read Best Reviews of DXG USA DXG-305V Digital Camera - Blister Pack Here

I got this for free, thank goodness. You do need the book with you, because the controls are undecipherable. The image quality is just awful, and trying to use the flash short circuits the camera and it shuts down. Sound? Yeah, if you want to have something that sounds like you're 3 miles from the microphone. Do not waste your money on this. You can get better stuff for $50 more.

Want DXG USA DXG-305V Digital Camera - Blister Pack Discount?

I picked this up about two years ago just to have a still camera to use. The video was just an extra bonus.

It works okay as a still camera. One thing to watch out for is the focus slider, which easily gets bumped to "closeup" mode, making distance shots blurrier than they already are. A steady hand is required as it has a long exposure time and any movement is easily seen as a blur. If it had a tripod mount it would definitely be a lot better in this regard. The fact that it uses AAA batteries instead of AA means on average you can take four or five flash photos per set of batteries, which gets expensive quick.

As I said before the video mode wasn't my main interest when purchasing the camera, but I've definitely made use of it since. The quality of both the audio and video is terrible but it's good enough for YouTube. The video is saved in ASF format which is just about impossible to edit with any free tools, and it's not worth spending twice the cost of the camera just so I can edit video from it.

Webcam mode is terrible. It only ever shows up as a USB 1.1 interface, meaning there's a limited data stream so there's a ton of frames dropped. No audio at all. Finding the drivers took me ages (mine didn't come with a manual).

All told this is a pretty average deal. If you're looking for a starter camera or one you don't mind getting scratched or damaged, this is good. But if you can afford a few extra dollars, go for something else.

Save 54% Off