MobileViews Review: Pocket PC Camera Add-on Comparison

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REVIEW: Casio, HP, and Nexian Pocket PC Add-on Cameras
March 30, 2003
Updated on July 4, 2003 with Nokia 3650 comments
Updated on November 22, 2003 with Sony Ericsson T610 comments
Copyright 2003 Todd Ogasawara

INTRODUCTION
I've used three Pocket PC camera add-on devices over the past few years. Although I found value in each of the camera add-ons, image quality issues continued to annoy me (especially since the $100 to $200 spent on these devices can now purchase relatively nice standalone digital cameras). This review looks at the Casio CompactFlash Digital Camera, the HP CF Pocket Camera, and the Nexian NexiCam. I used an old Sony Mavica digital camera as a comparison since it has a maximum 640x480 pixel resolution that is similar to the add-on cameras reviewed.

T-Mobile Hawaii was kind enough to loan me the Nokia 3650 GSM/GPRS Bluetooth phone with a built-in still/video camera in July 2003. I transferred the images from the phone to an HP iPAQ 2215 using a wireless Bluetooth connection. You can find my full review of the Nokia 3650 on the OReillyNet Wireless DevCenter site.

T-Mobile Hawaii was kind enough to loan me the Sony Ericsson T610 GSM/GPRS Bluetooth phone with a built-in stillcamera in November 2003. I transferred the images from the phone to an HP iPAQ 2215 using a wireless Bluetooth connection.

I used the camera in a situation similar to actual conditions under which I might take a photograph: Non-optimal lighting conditions without significant setup time. The photos in Figure 1 where all taken at 9am under slightly overcast conditions. I used each camera with a minimum of fuss. I did attempt to focus each lens for each photo. However, I did not spend a lot of time doing this. Each photo was taken at the device's maximum resolution (640x480 or 800x600).

You can find more information about each of these cameras and what Pocket PC I used to test each camera below in Table 1.

	Casio Digital Camera JK-710DC	HP Pocket Camera F 1869-60001	Nexian NexiCam NXC3100	Sony Mavica MVC FD-71	Sony Ericsson T610	Nokia 3650
Tested with	Casio E-115 Pocket PC 2000	HP Jornada 565 Pocket PC 2002	HP iPAQ 3850 Pocket PC 2002	NA	HP iPAQ 2215 Bluetooth image transfer	HP iPAQ 2215 Bluetooth image transfer
Device Type	CF Type 2	CF Type 1	iPAQ Sleeve	Standalone camera	Phone Camera	Phone Camera
Compatible With	E-100/105/115/125, EG-800, BE-300	HP Jornada 520, 540, 560 Series	HP iPAQ 3600, 3700, 3800, 3900	NA	NA	NA
Zoom	None	None	2x Digital	10X Optical	None	None
Max Pixel Density	640x480 0.30 megapixels	640x480 0.30 megapixels	800x600 0.47 megapixels	640x480 0.30 megapixels	352x288 0.10 megapixels	640x480 0.30 megapixels
Video	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Lens Cover	No	No	Yes	Cap	Clear plastic	Clear plastic
Flash	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Special Features	Lens swivels	Lens swivels, View finder, Shutter button	Lens swivels, CF Type I slot	NA	NA	NA
Comments	Significant color bleeding.	Good photos require optimal lighting. Does not adjust well to bright or low light conditions.	Washed out images. Low contrast.	NA	At 0.1 megapixels it has the least resolution of any of the cameras tested. However, it has good color saturation and reasonble clarity.	Has settings for different photo types that I did not try.

Table 1. Feature comparison of camera options for Pocket PCs. The Sony Mavica is a sub-1-megapixel standalone camera used as a control comparison.

CAMERA TESTS & COMMENTS
You can see the results of my somewhat informal and unscientific tests below in Figure 1. Click on any of the thumbnail photos in Figure 1 to see the original full-sized unretouched photo.

	Flower Close	Mountain Far	Tree Medium
Casio Digital Camera JK-710DC
HP Pocket Camera F 1869-60001
Nexian NexiCam NXC3100
Sony Mavica MVC FD-71
Nokia 3650
Sony Ericsson T610

Figure 1. All photos taken between 9:00 and 9:30am outdoors under slightly overcast conditions. Click on a photo to see full-sized and unretouched original images. The Nokia photos were taken around the same time but under bright sunlight.

The Casio Digital Camera has always had a lot of color bleeding in every photograph I've taken with it. It also tends to overexpose images when set at its default settings. However, it generally performs reasonably well under various lighting conditions. The HP Pocket Camera does not have as much noticeable color bleeding. However, it is very sensitive to available light and does not perform well in many conditions (especially very bright or low-light conditions). The Nexian NexiCam seems to have produced the best overall set of results in my tests but at has the least contrast and color saturation. This can, of course, be adjusted using any of the many photo editing tools available (including Pocket PC based photo editors).

[July 4, 2003] After trying the Nokia 3650 phone's camera, I amend my comments above by saying I think the Nokia's camera produces the best overall images so far. More importantly, since it is not a CF card that needs to be inserted in a Pocket PC, it is far faster to setup and use. Transferring images to the Pocket PC wirelessly using Bluetooth was easy and fast. It can also transfer images using IrDA (infrared).

The Casio and HP CF cameras both lack lens protection when out of their carrying cases. This can be a bit of a problem since it means I cannot use flip-top carrying cases clipped to my belt. And, swapping a CF camera with a CF storage card can be a bit tricky when outdoors and on the run. It is easy to lose the CF storage card in the rush and confusion of a quick picture taking opportunity.

The Nexian NexiCam has a lens cover but does not provide a cover for the iPAQ's screen (as the various iPAQ sleeves do). The added NexiCam bulk means that you generally need a case with a protective screen area to camera the iPAQ/NexiCam combination. In my case, I generally end up carrying the NexiCam and slide it on to the iPAQ when I need to take a photo. So, I end up carrying two pieces (Pocket PC and the add-on camera) whenever I leave my home or office.

[July 4, 2003] The Nokia 3650 lens is protected by a clear fixed lens cover. So, assuming the phone is already turned on, you are a few button presses away from taking digital photos. The camera I tested came with a 16MB MMC card. So, I did not have to use the phone's main memory to store photos or video. At 4.59 ounces it does not add a lot take out of the house or office. And, since it is also a GSM/GPRS phone, it plays triple duty as a voice phone, data conduit, and still/video camera.

[November 22, 2003] The Sony Ericsson T610 lens is protected by a clear fixed lens cover like most (all?) camera phones. Its small 2MB internal memory is somewhat offset by the tiny 0.1 megapixel resolution (the lowest resolution of any camera discussed here). However, the color and clarity of the photos are quite acceptable for a camera phone.

SUMMARY
None of the Pocket PC add-on cameras match the overall clarity of even a sub-megapixel standalone digital camera. However, the CF cameras are very small and easy to pack away even when traveling very light. These CF cameras let me take and archive photos I may have missed because I was not carrying a regular digital camera at the time.

One example are the photos I took using the Casio Digital Camera with a Casio E-100 while on vacation with my family several years ago. I had decided to save some luggage space by not carrying a digital camera. But, when we got there I found I started snapping low-resolution photos to send back to friends and family via a web photo page. You can see one of the photos in an old Microsoft Presspass article titled The Not-So-Lazy Days of Summer.