Casio Compact Flash Slot Digital Camera Review

Program Requirements:
Desktop:
Windows 95/98 or NT
Device:
Casio E-100 / 105
1.5 M free RAM

How would you like to take digital pictures with your Casio E-100/105? Cool
huh? How about recording mini movies with your Casio? Even cooler? That’s what I
thought when I heard about the JK-710DC a small tube shaped camera for the Casio
E-100 or 105 PSPC.

This camera slides into the compact flash slot of the PDA and doesn’t require
any external power source. The E-100 and E-105 have a battery life of 45 minutes of continuous recording
when using the Digital Camera Card. Here are the camera specs:

CCD: 350,000 pixels
Lens: Fixed focal point with macro position F2.8
Focus range: Normal 30.7 inches– Macro 3.9 inches
Recording mode: Single image/Continuous image/Movie
Battery life: 45 minutes continuous recording
Weight: 1.6 ounces
Still Image: JPEG file format (640 X 480 & 320 X 240 ,
3 compression levels)
Movie: CMF file format (208 X 160 15 seconds/18 times 160 X 120
30 seconds/15 times for the E-105)

Still images are stored in JPEG file format while the movie images are in CMF
file (Casio Movie File) format. The CMF file format was developed based on
MPEG1, a Casio original file format developed to play a movie on the Cassiopeia
E-100. It’s a shame that Casio didn’t use a standard format like .AVI. You can playback the movies directly on your Casio E-100/105 from the
software. A movie can also be played on a PC by using the “Mobile Video Player for
PC” which comes with the Digital Camera Card. I also found that Windows
Media Player which comes with Internet Explorer 5.0 will play the movies just fine…
although without sound. The frame rate
for the movie playback is 10 frames per second. Being able to make little movies
on my PDA is quite amazing and fun although the movies were a bit fuzzy. Check
out the sample below if you have Windows Media Player installed. I’ve heard but
have not verified that .CMF files will not play on a MAC.

casiocam.cmf 190k

The camera is made well and is easy to use. The lens can even rotate around
so that you can take self photos. There are also two different focus settings.
Either macro or normal. To switch settings you just turn the lens. In normal resolution mode, the E-100 can record up to 147 images, while the
E-105 can record up to 340 images (approximate values with the Mobile Camera application
installed in the PDA’s main memory, and with memory settings at their initial
defaults).

The camera seemed to do a good job with colors. It also was able to take
pretty good pictures in low light conditions. This is good due to the back that
the camera does not have a flash. The overall quality of the pictures are pretty
good. Actually the smaller 320 x 240 res images are quite a bit better than the
640 x 480 ones. The larger pictures seemed much more grainy. I’m guessing that
the software just blows up the picture to get the higher resolution. Neither
resolution pics don’t compare of course to regular mega  pixel digital
cameras. But, for quick snapshots it works great. I think the picture above of
my dog Kasey looks very good.

Click to see full size indoor 640×480 pic (110k)

Click to see full size outdoor 640×480 pic (141k)

The Mobile Camera software on the Casio that runs the camera is easy to use.
It does take up about a meg of memory though. The software allows you to change
lighting settings, compression settings etc.

The software will also allow you to do batch operations such as moving all
the pictures or movies to another directory or storage card. I would take some
pics with the camera then remove the camera card, put in my CF memory card and
do a batch move of the images to the cf card. It was quite quick and easy. You
can also use the hardware buttons to take a snapshot instead of tapping the
shutter button on the screen.

Some of the other features of the Mobile Camera software allow you to create
picture albums and do slide shows. You can even select from a couple different
backgrounds (frames) for the pictures. You can also email photos directly from
the camera software.

In summary, the JK-710DC is a very cool accessory for your Casio E-100/105. I
wouldn’t buy it as a replacement for a regular digital camera but it is great to
have with you when interesting photo opportunities arise.

Price: $299

Pros:
Easy to use.
Doesn’t require batteries.
Records snapshots and movies.

Cons:


Doesn’t use a standard movie file format like .AVI
Only works with the Casio E-100 / 105 PSPC.
Doesn’t come with a case or a protective lens cap.