For the last one week, I was eyeing on this new model of Traveler digital camera from Germany. For some reason, it caught my interest when I was shopping at Aldi, when they announced a product to be released this week. The Traveler Digital Camera DC-5080 has a 5-megapixel, sufficiently large enough to take really good quality pictures. In addition, the 1.7-inch LCD colour display allows you to see more clearly. Also, it comes with a 4x-digital zoom, which somewhat I feel it would be better if it were to be an optical zoom instead.
Off from the shelf, this Traveler DC-5080 is only available in Germany. I heard from somewhere that Traveler is also brand-named as Medion in Germany. Some of the accessories that is available from the box are:
- lithium-ion battery
- power charger/adaptor
- carrying case
- table tripod
- USB cable
- picture processing software (in CD)
- driver software for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP (in CD)
- driver software for Macintosh from OS 9.0 (in CD)
The digital camera is capable of capturing 5-megapixels images (up to 7-megapixels using interpolation technique). It comes with a 32MB internal memory, with a slot for SD memory card, to increase the storage to 1GB. The LCD screen is a 1.7-inch LCD colour display, illustrating excellent image quality. Furthermore, there is a 4X digital zoom that allows you to take images at a distance. The 5- or 10-second self-timer is also a beauty whenever you need to take self-timing pictures.
What is truly impressive about the DC-5080 is that it can also be used as a webcam. A table tripod is supplied with it, so that it can be mounted and placed on the table. Under webcam mode, the screen automatically changes to 320 x 240 resolution, capturing live motion images at 25fps (frames per second). In addition, the digital camera, when functions as a webcam, uses CCD technology, henceforth, you would expect webcam images to be clearer and sharper than those using CMOS technology.
Besides using as a digital camera, it can also capture live motion pictures and sound, and save it as MPEG-1 format in the memory. Though you may be able to preview the motion clip after recording, you may not be able to hear the sound since the camera does not come with a built-in speaker. Nevertheless, after transferring to the computer, the sound is just like what it is.
Though it may be filled with functions, you will be realised that the DC-5080 is as light as a cigarette packet. Weighing only mere 80 grams (without battery and SD memory card), you will not realise the presence of its weight. This is absolutely practical for travelling.
The Traveler DC-5080 also supports PictBridge technology, which allows you to connect directly to the printer (that supports PictBridge) to perform image selection and printing using the camera monitor screen and controls. DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) support allows you to specify which images you want to print and how many copies of each should be printed.
Guaranteed by the company for three years (lithium-ion batter for 6 months), the digital camera is definitely worth the value for money, considering that it was selling at €79.95 this week when I bought it.
The only thing I am disappointed with the DC-5080 is that it does not have an optical zoom. I would have preferred to have an optical zoom rather than a digital zoom. Other than that, I believe this camera is truly a good bargain, and somewhat a cool gadget to own as well. Very light and handly, you could never go out of your house without it.
EDIT: In response to some who are looking for drivers to this camera, you may download it from here. Note that, this driver is not supported since it is a copy from the CD that I originally have when I purchase this camera.
Below are some pictures of the DC-5080 camera:
Front View
Back View
Top View
Side View
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