On our radar: Camp Snap camera

Yellow Camp Snap camera

I was a child of the late 70s/early 80s. I listened to my music via vinyl, cassette and 8-track tapes. I watched films on BetaMax… or at the cinema. TV was only a couple of channels – live as it was shown or, if you could work out how to do it, it could be set to be recorded on to videotape. Phones all had rotary dials… and a lead that was attached to the wall. Mobile meant that the cord was a few yards long, and you could carry the 2lb phone, possibly all the way into the adjoining room.

Cameras were simple point and shoot boxes that you held up to your face, shut one eye and peered through a view-finder with the other before pressing the button. The only option available in those days was flash on or flash off. And you had to wait a whole week to see the photos you took, because that was how long the pharmacy (it was always, and only, a pharmacy) took to process the roll of film you took into them. The roll of film could only hold 24 photos – or 36 if you paid extra. I’ve lost count of the number of times that not a single satisfactory image materialised as I eagerly shuffled through the photos on the pavement outside the shop. Blurry, underexposed, overexposed, superimposed… excitement quickly turned to dismay!

Black Camp Snap camera, front and rear views

Which brings me on to this week’s On our Radar item – the Camp Snap camera. It has all the good bits of a 1970s camera; the attractive retro looks, the point & shoot simplicity, combined with the useful 21st century technology; it’s digital, you can attach it to your computer to download, share and print the images you want. It’s available in 9 colour options and allows you to take up to 500 photos before it needs recharging. And all at the exceedingly reasonable price tag of £52.00 (as at May 2024).

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by CampSnap️ (@campsnapcamera)

Price Points: Car dash-cams

Car dash-cams

We bought a new (to us) car last year, it’s the biggest investment, bar the house, that we’ve made. Of course, it’s comprehensively insured; however, that doesn’t stop us wanting to be careful while driving.

We’ve heard of the rise of ‘cash for crash’ insurance scams and it’s very worrying. We used to live near a couple of the hotspots – Halifax and Manchester – and still visit the areas on occasion. Dash-cams are devices that would come in very handy if we were ever to be involved in one of these incidents.

Having a dash-cam installed could prove to be invaluable when making a police report or car/personal injury insurance claim. You could buy one for as little as £35.00 from your local Halfords store – and they’ll even fit it for you then & there for another £35.00.

  1. Halfords HDC-R rear dash cam: £35.00, Halfords
    • 720P resolution rear dash cam
    • Exclusively for use with HDC300 or HDC400 Dash Cams
    • 150° camera viewing angle
    • Night vision
    • Integrated WiFi allows wireless connection to app
    • The MyHDC App makes viewing footage, changing settings and downloading footage easy
    • Automatic loop recording means no need to manually delete unneeded footage
    • Direct to rear windscreen mount for secure fitting
    • G-Shock sensor automatically saves footage if the car is in a collision
    • Auto Start/Stop prevents the dash cam from draining the vehicle battery
    • Digital camera mode, with lithium battery and 8MP still camera
  2. 322GW: £109.00, NextBase

    The award-winning 322GW includes revolutionary new safety features, helping you enjoy a safer journey than ever before. The 1080p HD model uses Emergency SOS to alert the emergency services to your location in the event of an accident. With a new IPS HD touch screen, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi built-in, the 322GW is an extremely well connected dash-cam

  3. Garmin Dash Cam Tandem: £240.61, Amazon
    • Keep a watchful eye out front and in the interior with two lenses
    • The front-facing lens captures all the important details in crisp 1440p video
    • Don’t miss a thing, even in the dark. The interior lens has night Vision featuring our exclusive NightGlo™ technology
    • No need to choose between powering the dash cam or charging your phone. Do both
    • Keep those hands on the wheel. This dash cam responds to voice commands
    • Power up and you’re ready to go, thanks to the included microSD™ card

shop car dash-cams

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Prices & links correct at time of publication.

Garmin Dash Cam Tandem
Garmin Dash Cam Tandem
£240.61
NextBase 322GW
NextBase 322GW
£109.00
Halfords HDC-R rear dash cam
Halfords HDC-R rear dash cam
£35.00
Garmin Dash Cam Tandem
Garmin Dash Cam Tandem
£240.61
NextBase 322GW
NextBase 322GW
£109.00
Halfords HDC-R rear dash cam
Halfords HDC-R rear dash cam
£35.00
Garmin Dash Cam Tandem
Garmin Dash Cam Tandem
£240.61
NextBase 322GW
NextBase 322GW
£109.00
Halfords HDC-R rear dash cam
Halfords HDC-R rear dash cam
£35.00
Garmin Dash Cam Tandem
Garmin Dash Cam Tandem
£240.61
NextBase 322GW
NextBase 322GW
£109.00
Halfords HDC-R rear dash cam
Halfords HDC-R rear dash cam
£35.00
Garmin Dash Cam Tandem
Garmin Dash Cam Tandem
£240.61
NextBase 322GW
NextBase 322GW
£109.00
Halfords HDC-R rear dash cam
Halfords HDC-R rear dash cam
£35.00

Price Points: Instant cameras

Instant cameras | H is for Home

It’s the 21st century and almost everyone may have cameras on their smart phones these days, however, there’s still a place for instant cameras.

They’re perfect for events like birthday parties, wedding receptions and stag and hen events. If you’re like Justin – one of those rare people in this day & age who doesn’t have a Facebook account – you won’t be able to see, share and tag images on there with friends and family.

My favourite is the most expensive one (and not the orange or purple one, for a change!). Being a hybrid, you get the best of both worlds. The photos are taken in a square, Instagram-like format and you can preview your shots before you print. Again, like with the Instagram app, you can add effects, create vignettes and adjust the brightness. You can save the last 50 images to print whenever and as often as you like. You can even export and save your snaps to a memory card.

  1. Polaroid instant film camera PIC-300, purple: £71.99, Viking
  2. Leica Sofort instant camera in orange: £224.00, Jessops
  3. FUJI Instax square SQ10 hybrid instant camera: £249.99, Selfridges

Price Points: Compact digital cameras

Compact digital cameras | H is for Home

We have two, fairly expensive, Sony DSLR cameras which we use to take photos of our shop items and for our blog posts. Recently, one of them suddenly one day stopped charging. We bought a new rechargeable battery in the hope that it would fix the problem – but it didn’t.

We took it into a camera repair shop and a nice, very knowledgeable man had a look at it. The first thing he did was to check that it wasn’t the adapter that was faulty – it wasn’t. He then took it upstairs for a more in depth investigation only to return to say that it was something to do with the slot where you connect the camera to a computer or printer to transfer the images across. Apparently, the cost to fix it would be about the same as the cost of buying the same model of camera again. Isn’t that always the way?

Instead of getting it fixed/replaced, we’d rather buy a more lightweight, portable compact digital camera to keep on us when we go out to events or on walks. We also want one where you can transfer photos off it via Bluetooth or wi-fi. It can be such a drag having to keep hunting for where you last left the lead, connecting the camera to the laptop, making sure you eject the camera before you pull the lead out again…

Whenever we’re buying new electronic or tech products we always go online to check out user and expert reviews. Top in the Which? compact digital cameras reviews is the Canon PowerShot G9 X. According to them:

The Canon PowerShot G9 X follows on from last year’s PowerShot G7 X by putting a large 1-inch sensor into the body of a compact camera, promising near DSLR-quality photos from something small enough to shove into a pocket.

What Digital Camera: had good things to say about the Panasonic TZ80:

There’s plenty to like about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ80. It’s a generously featured and highly flexible compact that ticks all the relevant ‘travel camera’ boxes.

We think we would be more than happy to go with the really budget version, the Nikon Coolpix S3700. We could afford to buy one each… in different colours!

There are 83 reviews on Amazon with an average score of 4.2 out of 5. Someone that gave it 5 stars said:

This is a fantastic budget camera for family snaps and taking short videos while out and about. It is really slim. light and compact but at over 20 megapixels (much more than a standard smartphone) the quality of the photos is great. The snaps we took were sharp, in focus and in great colour.

That kind of review combined with the cost probably seals it for us.

  1. Nikon Coolpix S3700 digital camera in silver: £79, Jessops
  2. PANASONIC Lumix DMC-TZ80EB-S Superzoom compact camera – silver: £329, Currys
  3. Canon PowerShot G9 X compact system camera – black (20.9 MP, Wi-Fi, NFC) 3-inch touch screen: £369.99, Amazon