Umax Astracam 1800 worth the wait!

I was waiting for a digital camera that took great pictures,
downloaded them quickly to my desktop or laptop, and cost less
than $200. I looked into the HPPhotoSmart 215 but was turned off
by reports of battery issues on epinions, especially since the 215
took 4 AA batteries. SmartMedia was reported as difficult to change
as well. That wouldn't do.

Then the Umax Astracam 1800 came to my attention. 1.3 megapixels,
Sony CCD, USB Download, TWO AA batteries, Video Out, and will take
Smartmedia up to 32 Megs (thats 160 1280X960 photos!). All for about
$200.

Nobody had it. Backordered. So I waited some more and finally got one
from PC Mall for $184.99 plus tax and shipping. When it arrived it
was pretty obvious that it was a re-stock. The Panasonic alkaline batteries
in the unit were dead and the strap was also missing. I believe this was not
the fault of Umax, but of PCMall.

I put fresh AA's in and clicked the SmartMedia into place and turned it on.
The camera came to life and I was taking pictures right away. It is important
to note that Umax kept costs down by not including a preview screen. The
view-finder is accurate (unlike my 35mm). There is no zoom. This IS a budget
camera!

Next I installed the software. I attempted a minimum install and it was a disaster.
The software argued with the scanner (which is also a Umax!). I uninstalled everything
and installed again fully (except the Adobe PhotoDeluxe disc). This time the camera chirped
to life and began sending the pictures to the computer. Although I can access the
camera via Twain in my graphics program, I found it easiest to give in to the
automatic software (cheesy background music and all) and just copy select images to the folders I want them in. What could be easier? Note: AutoDownload is PC only.

The software looks like it would be perfect for a family's needs, with slideshow and printing options. It even has a panorama stitching option that I'd like to play with
sometime.

The pictures looked fantastic. Blacks were true and colors were very good. Even
taken through the windshield of the car they looked great. As a web-designer
this camera will meet many (though not the most critical) of my needs. I can shoot
an object and be working with it on my computer in minutes. Switching the SmartMedia
is superfast. It's also VERY economical. I popped in an 8 meg card from Outpost ($20
including overnight shipping!) and the camera was ready to take 40 more shots.

In dark situations the pictures were occasionally grainy, but the camera often did well in
low light with no flash at all. For the first couple of days the camera wouldn't autodownload without rebooting, but that stopped mysteriously. Now I just plug in
the USB cable (which is always hooked up and ready) and it goes to work. THIS is
EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Only after scouring the net did I find out that I could set the auto-timer
by pressing the two outer buttons at the same time, then pressing the shutter
button. Or that you can tweak the exposure. Why Umax didn't include this in
the manual is beyond me.

The construction is pretty light duty, but not terrible. Umax has been using
this general design for awhile and things make sense. But there have been quality-
control issues: the source of the auto-timer info received his with a loose lens
assembly - it took lousy pictures. He was able to fix it, but the casual user
would probably just send it back. I'm sure as they put more out they will address
some of these issues/concerns.

I am more than pleased. I've been taking pictures constantly for 5 days and even
left the camera on for a few hours and the batteries still read full.
I plan to have some prints made and then report the results.