Whether you enjoy bird watching or just spying on your neighbors, the Spion 5 mega pixel digital binocular camera is must have. After all what is the fun of spying on something or someone if you cannot take pictures to show your friends afterwards.
The Spion Digital Binocular Camera Package
The Spion binoculars come packaged in a very colorful and eye catching box. The boxes side also contains a fairly detailed spec sheet so buyers can get a little bit of info about what they are looking at.
Spion Digital Binocular Package
When I first opened up the box I was pleased to find the Spion digital binocular camera came with it’s very own soft carrying case. I also found an installation cd, USB cable, lens cloth, neck strap, instruction manual, and warranty card. The makers of the Spion 5MP digital binocular camera seemed to throw in everything but an SD card and a tripod.
Closer Look At The Spion 5 MP Digital Binocular Camera
There is no doubt that the Spion digital binocular camera look sleek and stylish. But what really makes it tick? So without further delay I will get down and dirty for you and breakdown all of the Spion’s technical specs.
Lets begin with the most basic and biggest part of the Spion binoculars first. Of course I am talking about the binoculars themselves. They are your basic 8×32mm adjustable binoculars. Not really nothing to fancy. Just a nice easy and comfortable to hold pair of binoculars.
There sure was not to much to say about that part of the product now was there. But now with that out of the way we can get onto the fun stuff and take a look at the camera portion of the Spion 5MP digital binocular camera.
I would like to start this off by saying that the Spion uses a very basic 5 mega pixel digital camera with a 4x zoom. This has to be my biggest gripe about the Spion digital binocular camera. While looking through the binoculars themselves you can see up to 8x, but your picture will never get closer than 4x. Simply put your picture may not be as close as what you are viewing through the binoculars.
The digital camera portion of the Spion is powered by four AAA batteries. However standard alkaline batteries will only allow you to take about 25 pictures at 5MP. So just like any other digital camera it is in your best interest to get some rechargeable batteries.
The Spion comes equipped with a 1.5” TFT LCD screen so you can view your pictures directly from the camera or even view what the binoculars are looking at. I myself find the 1.5” screens to small. But there is really no reason why you should even have to look at it since your eyes should be watching through the binoculars themselves. However you may find it hard to watch the LCD outdoors since it has no backlight. This can make figuring out what you are doing fairly difficult.
The Spion’s digital binocular cameras control’s are also very strait forward and easy to learn. Everything you will ever do with them will use only four simple buttons. The first button is the on / mode button. This button will turn on the camera with a simple push. Once the camera is on you can push it again to bring up the menu. When you want to turn it off simply hold the button for 3 seconds.
The next button is the take picture / set button. This button is all you need to push once you have found something to take a picture of. When you are in the menu this button will also select whatever you have chosen.
The next two buttons are the up and down buttons. These buttons will help you navigate through the Spion’s menu. They will also be the buttons you use to zoom in and out. I really don’t think the control’s could of got much easier than that.
Now you get to hear about another gripe I have about the Spion digital binocular camera. You just picked up your new Spion binoculars, so you rush home rip open the package, throw in some batteries and proceed to go outside and take a few pictures. But wait, your new Spion just will not do it. You need to go back and get yourself a darn SD memory card!
That is right the Spion is not manufactured with any internal memory. And you used to think that the measly 25 megs they included on your digital camera was bad. So now you have to go and buy an SD card (up to 1GB) just so you can use your Spion binocular camera.
But you will be pleased to know that once you have everything you need your Spion is capable of doing the following. You can take pictures at either 0.3MP, 2.1MP, 3.2MP, or 5.0MP. But that is not all. You can also record movies at either 320 x 240 @ 30fps or even 640 x 480 @ 12fps.
Once you have taken some great pictures or even made a small movie you will probably want to put it on your computer so you can share it with your friends. To do this the Spion digital binocular camera uses a standard USB 1.1 port. Simply attach your binoculars to your computer with the included USB cable and it should find a removable storage device. This is where you can find your pictures / movies.
One last basic feature that I do not want to leave out is the ability to attach a tripod to your Spion 5MP digital binocular camera. Tripods can be pretty handy with a digital camera but you could probably live without one. With the Spion though I can almost guarantee it will save you a lot of headaches. Cameras are a lot easier to hold still and usually you are not using the zoom. With the Spion binoculars you will be using the zoom almost 100% of the time.
Spion 5MP Digital Binocular Camera Specs
Resolution: 3.0MP interpolates to 5.0MP
Image Size: Still Image 0.3MP – 640×480, 2.1MP – 1600×1200, 3.2MP – 2048×1536, 5.0MP – 2560×1920
Movie LO – 320×240 @ 30fps, HI – 640×480 @ 12fps
Image Format: Still Image = JPEG Movie = AVI (no time limit)
Storage Media: SD / MMC Memory Card (Up To 1GB)
Zoom: 1x – 4x
Exposure: Automatic
White Balance: Automatic
Shutter Speed: 1/20~1/2000
Display: 1.5” TFT LCD Screen
Interface: USB 1.1
Power Supply: 4 AAA Alkaline Batteries
Language: Chinese, English, French, Germany, Japanese
Magnification: 8x
Objective Lens: 32mm
Eye Relief: 14mm
Exit Pupil: 3.9mm
Angular Field Of View: 6.3 degrees
A Few Sample Pics
1x zoom
4x zoom
Here are a few sample pics from the Spion digital binocular camera. Both pictures where taken looking in the exact same area (full dune buggy in view). Notice how the 4x zoom pic tured out a little off center.
Conclusion
So to sum everything up I would have to say that the Spion 5MP digital binocular camera is an all around fun gadget. It may not be the greatest digital binocular camera on the market but one thing is for sure. Whether you are looking to spy on wildlife or your neighbors wife the Spion 5MP digital camera binoculars are sure a great investment and offer some good bang for your hard earned buck.
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