LGR Oddware - HP's SD Card Camera from 2003
Added 2021-01-20 03:28:43 +0000 UTChttps://youtu.be/EfoPRZURqHk
New Oddware episode! I was aiming for around 20 minutes in length for this one but eh, I had things to say so it ended up being longer. And it's all about the Hewlett-Packard Photosmart Mobile Camera for Windows Mobile PDAs, which is a 1.3 megapixel digital camera packed into an SD card. Or, more specifically, SDIO. Neat!
I considered making the video of my typical retro camera reviews, but it's odd enough that I think it deserves the distinction. So this ended up being a kind of hybrid episode combining both styles of LGR video. I also ended up trying something slightly different with the photo examples, where I now have some video showing more of the surrounding area near the subject before taking the picture. I think it helps add some context to each shot.
Hope you enjoy this one, and lemme know if you ever used one of these (or the related memory card cameras mentioned) back in 2003 or whenever! I never knew anyone who had one new and I'm not sure how popular they were in the few short years they remained relevant.
Comments
I see what you there
Asaf Sagi
2021-01-23 11:28:47 +0000 UTCHa, well as bad as the quality is I still kind of dig the weird aesthetic. It's got that "this could work in a music video" vibe going for it.
Peter Metzger
2021-01-22 17:32:11 +0000 UTCNot that I can tell! It's just kinda... bad no matter what
LGR
2021-01-22 17:29:53 +0000 UTCIf you record video without sound, does it improve the framerate?
Peter Metzger
2021-01-22 14:20:35 +0000 UTCAwesome outro!
electricitynerd
2021-01-22 06:00:16 +0000 UTCClearly my nostalgia for old digital cameras knows no bounds, because these videos are consistently my favorites of yours, no matter how many you make. Thanks for this! Something I never knew existed.
Steve Skafte
2021-01-22 02:35:03 +0000 UTCI was working in Japan in 1996 and bought a "Color Zaurus" MI-10DC with my first paycheck. It was a Japanese-language PDA from Sharp with a color TFT screen and a PC-card-based digital camera. (It was also bigger than a VHS tape.) The quality was quite a bit worse than what you show in the video, but being able to take digital photos and do some very basic manipulation of them right on the device was pretty amazing at the time, so I can certainly see the appeal. I used the heck out of that thing.
Mighty Jabba's Collection
2021-01-22 01:25:26 +0000 UTCNot bad for a little camera from back them. I was expecting the pictures to look way worse
Myles MAN
2021-01-21 18:37:04 +0000 UTC17:00 Those are so cool. We have something like that in Atlanta called Tiny Doors.
Cyclone
2021-01-21 07:11:01 +0000 UTCI'd never heard about SDIO before this, so that in itself is a neat bit of tech. As for the camera? With the right light, it really did a neat job with some of those shots (and absolutely love the setup shots with your phone for comparison). The video makes for a neat way to replicate that 90's Sega/Mega CD FMV experience. Otherwise? That's kinda dated badly. It's an interesting slice of history for sure!
Rob Caporetto
2021-01-20 23:27:29 +0000 UTCLove the wood grain face mask!
Counter Surprise
2021-01-20 22:00:42 +0000 UTCI am stunned by the quality of that - with a lot of light it gets a really attractive picture. I wonder if the manual focus helps out there vs old autofocus....
zephyrmo
2021-01-20 18:03:31 +0000 UTCI know you said it in the video, but the picture quality is surprisingly not bad. I would've been totally happy with this back in the day :)
Eric Siegel
2021-01-20 16:34:44 +0000 UTCI am surprised with the photo quality but not the video.
Frederick G.
2021-01-20 15:48:04 +0000 UTC23:58 "Camera is not connected or reset your Pocket PC." I think HP accidentally an entire line of text or two there...
Pietro Gagliardi
2021-01-20 15:46:56 +0000 UTCSadly those statues were moved away somewhere, so that scene no longer exists for photo comparisons.
LGR
2021-01-20 15:42:37 +0000 UTCI really like the new photo test style, where we get to see a short clip of whatever it is you're about to photograph with a short explanation, followed by the shot itself. Really helps give an idea of the context for each test shot! Although I must admit, I was surprised to see an LGR camera video without that classic caged tiger photo. ;)
Dan Fiscus
2021-01-20 15:38:31 +0000 UTCIndeed it is! Can't wait for things to become more normal again, I really miss the whole music, art, and food scene down there.
LGR
2021-01-20 15:33:57 +0000 UTCThanks Kiaha, I'm glad to hear! Covering these things definitely takes care of some wish fulfillment myself :)
LGR
2021-01-20 15:32:09 +0000 UTCI wish that it did. Unfortunately it's cropping in on the same inaccurate, lower-res, highly-aliased live preview. If I had to guess, the live view is using the same mode it uses to record video, and well. Those videos I recorded with this speak volumes, heh.
LGR
2021-01-20 15:31:44 +0000 UTCYessss more oddware!
JohnnyCache
2021-01-20 15:27:57 +0000 UTCI see Eradicator on your desktop. Please do a review on that game at some point. So underrated.
Alyxx the Rat
2021-01-20 14:28:52 +0000 UTCNeat 😀
PhotoSvein
2021-01-20 11:53:07 +0000 UTCAsheville looks nice
Milos Jovanovic
2021-01-20 10:05:07 +0000 UTCDid the digital zoom help at all with figuring out the focus? I noticed when you tested it on the screen it didn't do any fliterring of the resulting image and since it's basically a cropping function that would mean whatever you focused to would stay like that when turning the digital zoom off. :B
Kris Asick
2021-01-20 05:40:13 +0000 UTCI always enjoy your oddware coverage on early 00s tech, it takes me back to when I was younger and reading all the catalogs for all the cool tech I could never afford but sooooo wanted 😂😂
DFawlt Uzr
2021-01-20 05:37:05 +0000 UTCLikewise, haha. Thinking back it's rather strange how there were a number of years where video footage of everyone went SO FAR down in quality compared to the 90s. VHS and Hi-8 tape were so much better compared to early digital cams. But it was so novel so we all recorded using it anyway, heh.
LGR
2021-01-20 04:47:33 +0000 UTCSure does! That whole era with bubbly, rounded, glassy buttons with all kinds of primary colors and excess gradation. Those are the years I was studying graphic design in college and BOY has a lot of that knowledge not proved useful, haha.
LGR
2021-01-20 04:40:42 +0000 UTCI'm sure it was a godsend in certain situations over there. Lots of entertainment packed into a tiny package.
LGR
2021-01-20 04:26:10 +0000 UTCOh dang, I didn't realize he hadn't uploaded in a while. We actually talked about his plans to cover this camera a couple years ago after he saw me mention it in my iPaq retrospective, and he asked if I wanted to borrow it to make my own video. Really nice dude, hope he's doing well!
LGR
2021-01-20 04:25:32 +0000 UTCi dug the mask too. woodgrain mask is perfect for clint.
evistre
2021-01-20 04:19:02 +0000 UTCWoodgrain mask? Awesome!
Steve Lovelace
2021-01-20 04:17:55 +0000 UTCI was so impressed and almost jealous of that camera quality, thinking back to all the cheap digital cameras we had growing up. However, oh boy does that video quality bring me back to all the videos we'd take on family outings
Mya Crosbie-Styles
2021-01-20 04:17:31 +0000 UTCThat screen interface for the camera is SO 2000s. I love how it looks like an audio mini-system from the same era!
Bryan McIntosh
2021-01-20 04:17:28 +0000 UTCHey, you finally did something *after* poor Science Elf! I wander what happened to that guy. https://youtu.be/CDfqyZ_p9bQ
2021-01-20 04:15:55 +0000 UTCWell, isn't that a thing!! I had one of those Ipaq devices back in prehistory. I sold it to a guy who was in the Army and leaving for Afghanistan. I'd like to think it was put to good use.
2021-01-20 04:13:33 +0000 UTCRazors, pure magic 🧙
LGR
2021-01-20 03:56:53 +0000 UTCNC doesn't have front license plates, it looked to me like one of those vintage-style tags that people put on old cars for aesthetic purposes. I'll blur it anyway, better safe than sorry I guess!
LGR
2021-01-20 03:56:30 +0000 UTCAwesome video as usual! Do you think you should edit out the green Toyota's license plate? I could picture someone bitching or about that or taking advantage of it unfortunately.
Mark Petocz
2021-01-20 03:45:51 +0000 UTCBeard witchcraft!!
Becka Pitts
2021-01-20 03:36:35 +0000 UTC
