Digital Dream Epsilon 1.3

The cheapest 1.3megapixel camera around - perfect for digital novices.

Not to be confused with the ultra-small L'espion, this is Digital Dream's latest offering to the crowded digital camera market.

At the time of going to press the Epsilon was the cheapest digital camera on the market, offering 1.3megapixel resolution plus a flash.

The Epsilon comes in two forms. For £100, you can get the camera with 8MB of on-board memory. This is enough for around 29 photos.

Another £30 buys you the Epsilon Gift Pack, which contains all of the above plus a small tripod and a 32MB SmartMedia memory card in a presentation pack.

This takes the total memory to 40MB - enough for more than 140 images.

Where quality is concerned, the Epsilon performs as well as expected at 1280 x 1024. It also has an interpolated 2megapixel mode, but we preferred the results at the standard resolution.

As befits a camera of this price, a 4x digital zoom is fitted but there is no optical zoom.

The macro mode is good for taking close-up shots though, while those in the know can fiddle with the exposure, luminance and white-balance settings. Fans of point-and-shoot photography can simply use the automatic mode.

The Epsilon is also equipped with a video mode, suitable for shooting short, low-quality movies to attach to emails.

You can also use it as a voice recorder but as with the video clips, this will reduce the number of images you can store.

Images are transferred to PC via USB and a TV-out port and a cable can be connected so you can view snaps on a TV.

The software bundle is good, with Roxio image-editing software and Microsoft NetMeeting for webcam use. Although the tripod is a nice addition, the plastic tripod mount isn't especially secure and caused some crooked photos.

While you won't achieve super-fine prints, the Epsilon is still a good way to get to grips with digital photos, as it's cheap and easy to use.

DETAILS
Price:
Standard Edition £100
Gift Pack Edition £130

Contact: Digital Dream 0800 389 7404
www.digitaldreamco.com