The Logitech Pocket Digital Camera is all about being small. But a camera no larger than a business card case has to come with some tradeoffs. So how do the pros and cons stack up?
More Fun Than Function
Logitech is quick to clarify that the Pocket Digital isn't meant to compete with more burly digital cameras in terms of features and image quality. Instead, it is targeted at those looking for a simple, highly portable camera for quick snaps of candid moments.
Weighing less than 60g and just 10mm slim, the Pocket Digital easily slips into pockets and handbags, hardly taking up any room. However, Logitech should have included a hook for attaching lanyards in order to make the Pocket Digital truly wearable.
The exterior design of the camera is extremely simple, with a grand total of three buttons as well as a tiny LCD that displays the number of shots left, the selected image size and battery life. The left housing of the camera slides open to reveal a tiny lens and a smallish optical viewfinder.
Logitech has created a groove on the back housing as a thumb rest. However, the Pocket Digital is so light that grip is not a major issue.
Despite its diminutive size, the camera seems robust enough to take on some knocks, while the metallic matt finish appears able to withstand light scratches. On the downside, the LCD screen looks flimsy and, in fact, could be easily depressed with a finger.
Let There Be Light
The Pocket Digital claims to offers two image resolution modes of 1280 x 960 and 640 x 480 pixels, but the 1.3-megapixel resolution touted by Logitech is actually an interpolated figure. In fact, the camera offers a single native resolution: 640 x 480 pixels. This humble specification means you should look elsewhere if you intend to print large photos.
In terms of image quality, the Pocket Digital offers mediocre results. In fact the readme file that comes with the installation software offers a caveat under the heading "Known Issues". To ensure the best possible image quality when using the camera, it is important to have bright lighting conditions.
In our Lab tests, images captured on the Pocket Digital showed up poorly under low-light, indoor settings. Pictures generally turned out blurry and grainy although color reproduction was accurate.
In bright outdoor lighting, though, images were sharp enough for street signs 10m away to be read. Colors were well-reproduced, while the shutter speed was fast enough for stop-action shots of moving vehicles.
Avoid using the interpolated image resolution of 1280 x 960 pixels as the photograph inevitably loses sharpness. If you really wish to enlarge your pictures, use a program like Photoshop.
As a bonus, the Pocket Digital offers a self-timer mode. However, this feature is a little awkward as the camera can't be attached to a tripod and is too thin to stand on its own. Instead, you might have to lean the camera against something solid, which makes it harder to frame the picture. Eventually, what we did was to stick a big lump of BluTack at the bottom of the camera to make it stand.
You can also delete images or turn off the beeping noises from the camera. Otherwise, the Pocket Digital is pretty much a no-frills point-and-shoot unit.
Long Battery Life
The Logitech comes with a built-in Lithium-polymer battery that charges using a USB cable. So while transferring pictures, you are also recharging the camera.
The absence of flash and color LCD means this little unit consumes very little power. We took more than 100 pictures without the camera dropping a bar on the indicator. As the Pocket Digital comes with just 16MB built-in memory, only 52 photographs can be taken each time. A flaw here is the camera doesn't support additional memory add-ons.
The Logitech Pocket Digital doesn't come cheap at AU$329.95 for a bare-bones offering. Most digital camera users will probably complain about the lack of image quality, particularly in indoor settings. But if you're looking for something between a disposable camera and the more pricey Sony and Casio card-sized digicams, the Pocket Digital offers enough of a fun and cool factor to consider.
Logitech Pocket Digital Camera
Company: Logitech Australia
Price: AU$329.95
Distributor: Selected resellers
Phone: (02) 9972 3711
