Customer Reviews

Bushnell ImageView 10x25 VGA Digital Camera Binocular

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

When I saw a similar binocular/digital camera combo I knew I had to have one. When I got out to my local Best Buy, this was pretty much the only one they had in stock, so I bought it. It cost me about $..., a great deal I thought.

When I got home I took some 'pictures' of some potted plants in my backyard. When I loaded the software onto my computer, the problems began. There are basically no instructions on which piece of software included is the one you need to load. Having Windows XP I just tried to load the driver. This did not allow me to access the built in memory, however, as you can with most devices. So I loaded up the other 2 SW modules and went about trying to find the bushnell's pictures. Again, there are zero instructions on actually using the software to offload pictures from the binoculars. Even once you learn how it is easy to see that the software seems like it's from the 80's, and would be more at home in windows 3.11. Not to mention that when you get to preview the thumbnails the dang camera is streaming video into the software while you try to copy them over to your computer. I can't imagine a situation where you would need to stream binocular-image video while tethered to a computer via a USB cable. Oh, and all the pics are stored as BMP files. I mean, who uses BMP files for Pete's sake? Every digital camera I know of saves JPG or TIF images.

It was daylight when I took this first set of pics, but all the pictures that I took came out very fuzzy. I had taken several where the binoculars were sitting on a table top when I carefully pressed the `snap' button. Even though I could see the plants clear as day, these pictures too came out too fuzzy to recognize anything.

Ok, so I just figured I needed to adjust the focus a little because the camera was more sensitive than my eyes in terms of focus. In general, just get used to using the thing. No harm, no foul. I took it to a concert that night and took all 134 pictures I could on the higher quality setting. The 3-in-a-row picture feature was nice, and because you can be a little shaky pressing the button, it makes you feel like at least 2 out of 3 will be fairly stable pictures. I couldn't wait to get home and review the pictures. Was I in for a shock, I didn't believe my eyes when the thumbnails loaded up, so I copied all the pics on over to my PC and went about opening them in batches of about 20. Out of 134 I got 6 that were even recognizable, but they were again way to fuzzy to justify saving them. Now, although the performers on stage were well lit with bright spotlights, 98% of the pictures taken came out as solid black frames with a smattering of colored pixels smeared across them. It's as if I tried to use the thing in outer space or something. I was completely horrified that none of the pictures from that once in a lifetime event were anywhere near worth saving. What a bummer!

So, in summation, the binoculars are decent and compact. And they produce a nice image when looking into them. But don't even think of trying to take a picture. And again, I cannot iterate enough how out-dated the software is. I also cannot think of how these even made it to the market `working' like they do. After all, if you knew you couldn't take a picture with them, you would just purchase binoculars right?

Needless to say, I promptly returned mine for a cash refund the next day. I hope my tragedy of an experience saves a few of you from buying this product. Maybe there's another one out there which works better. We shall see....

I love this idea. Take a picture of what you see thru a binocular. However, this camera has it's limits. Not only could I not review the pix (til I got to my PC), the image was NOT what I saw. The yellow bird in the tree, became the tree with a yellow leaf, maybe.
The binocular is Great: small, powerful, easy to focus. The tech support thru Bushnell was terrific. Making the PC recognize the camera took one phone call. The op manual needs HELP, or maybe I'm too much of an novice in this field.

I got it as a b'day gift. Its compact and very handy. Binoculars works great so does the digital camera, but unfortunately...you cannot take pictures of objects that are close to you...it has to be far enough so that you can focus moreover, its very difficult not to shake the camera while you click..probably will take a while before I can get used to it.

Was hoping to use this item to get some good shots of birds. Unfortunately, after trying 100 shots (and download to the PC) was not able to get a single decent clear picture. Too low a resolution... too fuzzy... Not sure if this is because I couldn't keep that little unit still or whether the default highest resolution just isn't enough. We already have a 3x digital camera and several decent pairs of binoculars, so will try to return this unit since it just doesn't work as a camera.

The product seemed to be good quality. I bought one to use while hunting, to take a quick picture of that trophy buck that walks by during bear season for example. Only one thing wasn't appropriate: It beeps every time you turn it on, off, change functions, or take a picture. And there's no way to switch off the sound. So that makes it a bad choice for hunting, in my opinion.

After only one day of using the Imageview, it appears to be all it's advertised to be. Though the battery compartment is hard to open and close, the rest of the design is impressive. It only took a minute to get used to knowing all the functions.
It's unfortunate that the previous reviewer chose to return the Imageview, if you would have taken the time to learn and practice I think you would have enjoyed the product.

I wanted a cheap pair of binoculars with nice magnification and got these because the image capture seemed like a bonus. The binocular quality is fine but the digital camera is another story. I was first skeptical when the instructions mentioned that the camera is infinite focus fixed beyond 49 yards. Therefore, you are not shooting exactly what you are viewing since you can go up to 10x with the lenses. In any case this is irrelevant because after taking some test shots I tried connecting to my PC. I've done troubleshooting for a lot of devices in my day, I know what I'm doing, and I like the relative ease of the USB standard. No such luck with this. The included driver didn't work, the updated driver from bushnell's website didn't work (btw, I'm using XP). I always got an 'unable to connect to device' error. After an hour of trying all the tricks to get it to work I decided to return it. I would strongly advise ignoring the digital camera aspect of this pair of binoculars and either get regular binoculars or a better pair that doesn't require additional drivers in XP to dump images. I am returning these things today!!

My wife purchased at Best Buys and gave the binoculars to me as a fathers day gift. I loved the concept and as an avid hiker and birder was anxious to use them. All pictures came out fuzzy and trees were a grayish green with all other colors a sickly sepia toned. I tried various ways of holding the camera to reduce the fuzziness and by holding it at chest level (box camera fashion) seemed to help - but obviously couldn't focus on the subject. After trying it for 3 days I decided to return it to Best Buys. They would not refund but did provide store credit. If Bushnell can fix the camera I will definitely buy the next generation model.

I bought this Image View with some hesitation because of a couple fo negative reviews. I put it to the test and was Very pleaseantly surprised. It worked flawlessly on every picture of different distances. Ounce you learn to use, it is easy to do and it works well. At first Ithought it was not taking good pictures. You must hold steady when taking picutes, and apply preassure to the button. It is easy to handle and carry and cheaper than all of the competitors.

Well so far i have had the noculars for 4 days. I must say that i am still getting used to the item. I have taken a couple of pictures, but yes they are a bit fuzzy, but OK. Probably when i am more familiar with the setup i will be able to have quality pictures. When it comes to the downloading of the software and Photosuite 4 to the computer, it was a breeze. The computer accepted it readily and when i connect the noculars the program pops up in a jiffy. I have Windows XP Home Edition. Overall i would say try it. For the price its comfortable.