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Charles Moore Reviews The l’espion (Very Small) Digital Camera
For the past couple of weeks I have been having fun with a little digital camera from DigitalDream called l’espion. “Little” is the operative word here; as its name suggests, l’espion looks like something Sydney Bristow or James Bond might employ in one of their capers. Measuring just 2.25in by 1.5in by .5 in. and weighing a light 1.5 oz, The camera fits comfortably in the palm of your hand, or even in just about any pocket, making it possible to have a camera at the ready virtually anywhere and anytime. 
l’espion is cool, but one has to adjust expectations of its photographic performance with reference to its size and price (£39.99 or about $57 plus shipping). Current middle-of-the-road to digital cameras are now in the three megapixel range. l’espion is a 0.1 (point one) megapixel camera, so while the photos it takes are not bad at all for a tiny, modestly priced device with a lens the size of a large pinhead, even its “high-resolution” mode (352 x 288 pixels) is pretty mediocre compared with what the normally-sized and priced mainstream cameras offer. 
The real point of l’espion is the take-anywhere fun factor. It’s not going to replace a full-size, full-featured digital camera, or a 35 mm film camera for the shots you really care about, but it will be a lot more likely available for the shots you otherwise would never have taken. 
l’espion comes fully-equipped and ready-to-use, complete with a conveniently standard AAA alkaline battery, a USB cable for downloading photos to your computer, a software CD, and even a miniature camera case. Just pop the battery into its compartment (which takes up about a quarter of the camera’s physical volume), and you’re ready to shoot. 
There are only two controls -- a mode selection button on the front of the camera, and the shutter release. A small, LCD window below the mode button counts remaining shot capacity in the camera’s 2 MB memory, and indicates which shooting mode is selected. Mode options include the two image resolutions, continuous shooting mode for recording (very brief) video clips, clearing the memory, and a 10 second self-timer. The mode readout automatically shuts off after 30 seconds of inactivity to conserve battery life. There is no on/off switch per se. 
The camera beeps when you take a photo. After each shot, the LCD Panel will show the number of remaining shots available. A warning beep (longer and lower tone compared to normal beep) will emit if exposure is too dark for a normal picture taking. No image is taken when this condition occurs. Continuous Shooting Mode allows you to take multiple frames of images when holding down the Shutter button while aiming at your subject. A maximum of 20 or 80 shots can be taken depending on which shooting mode you are in. Continuous shooting under 20 Shots mode takes about 1.5 seconds to fully consume the 20 frames, while it takes about 6.5 seconds under 80 Shots mode. 
Here's a shot I took with l'esopin yesterday of my wife burning some brush. A slide lever on the lens side of the camera extends and retracts a little optical view finder. I wear glasses, and I've found that I can only get my eye close enough to see maybe two-thirds of the finder image, which I had to learn to compensate for. Naked eye viewing is more satisfactory for those with unimpaired vision. 
The camera’s f2.8 - f3.9 lens is fixed focus, and it allows you to get within about 3 ft. of the subject, but with a 57 degree lens viewing angle (moderate wideangle perspective), that’s not close enough for what could legitimately be called close-ups. Here’s how my cat, Tibbs, appears to the camera from about three to four ft. away./p> 
Despite its low price, l’espion looks and feels well made. The mode switch and shutter release have a reassuring feel to them, and the camera is nicely finished. Installing the download software (currently supports Mac OS 8.6 - 9.xx/Classic -- OS X support is being worked on; also see below) on my WallStreet PowerBook took only a few minutes, and it works slickly. Once installed, you just plug the USB cable into a USB port and into l’espion’s proprietary port respectively, and the download dialog pops up almost instantly on the screen. Then just specify a destination for your pictures, and click the download button. A progress bar monitors the download, which only takes a few seconds, and then asks if you want to erase the camera's memory. 
l’espion’s 2MB internal memory can hold 20 shots in “high-Resolution” (352 x 288) mode, and a whopping 80 shots at “low-resolution” (176 x 144 pixels), if you don't mind REALLY tiny images. 
(My son, his 1968 Chrysler, and if you look closely, his Lombard PowerBook) There’s no flash, or provision for one, but I was quite gratified at how well l’espion handled this low light shot of Tibbs, illuminated only by an east window eight feet away in the late afternoon. 
The lens’s edge and corner sharpness leaves a lot to be desired, as you can see in this shot of some early spring flowers here in my front yard. 
The little camera also has a bit of trouble rendering sharp contrast gradations such as between trees and sky. 
I’ve found that image quality is better on overcast days with less contrast between bright and dark areas to contend with. 
Than it is on sunny days. 
(The car, incidentally, is a 1961 Austin A55 Mk II. It runs; everything works; and it's for sale to a good home as a restoration project complete with a literal truckload of spare parts) l’espion also supports 16 FPS webcam mode, and Evological’s shareware CoolCam webcam application for Power Macintosh is included on the software CD, but I didn’t check it out. Battery life is cited in the specs as up to 1,000 pictures. However, I started getting the low battery warning (the digital readout flashes) after only about 30 shots. This may be simply due to a battery past its shelf life, but it’s considerably short of that thousand pics figure. You may have guessed that I really like l’espion. It works as advertised and has given no problems, doesn’t cost a whole lot, and is great fun. I’m giving it an Applelinks four smiley rating.
 
System Requirements: • Apple G3/G4 with USB Port • 32MB RAM • CD Drive • 10MB Minimum Hard Disk Space • Mac OS 8.6 or above • Image application supporting Adobe Photoshop plug-ins • Apple QuickTime for viewing video clips l’espion is currently available online from Digital Dream’s U.K. Website I asked Digital Dream’s PR and Communications Manager Aimee Greaves about North American availability. Her reply:
You can check out l’espion and several other camera models from DigitalDream here: For more information: beta OS X drivers from iOXperts are available for USB cameras at: The latest software for l’espion is called MN100 Digital Camera V0.99F - Appendix l’espion features and specs:
• Size: 51 x 37 x 15 Weight -- approx. 35g (without battery)
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