Product review: Keedox 16mp TFT LCD Digital Zoom Waterproof Digital Video Recoding Camera

I like having a small camera along whenever I go. I was excited about this camera because on paper it had a number of features that my other small cameras do not have and which I find very useful when I use my digital SLR: it has built-in stabilization and it has a built-in flash. It addition its case is water tight without needing an external case.

However my excitement was dampened when I ran into a couple of major issues:

♦ The camera turns on instantly as long as I don't have a micro SD card inserted. If micro SD is inserted the camera does not turn on. I have to open the side, pop out the micro SD card, turn on the camera, then push micro SD card back on. I set the camera not to turn off for 5 minutes, but every 5 minutes I need to repeat this procedure if I pause in my picture taking.

♦ The quality of the photos is not great. It is best in bright light. Auto focus does not work at short distance - I got soft blurry images at 2 /2.5 feet. See video for examples.

♦ I was not able to access micro SD from the PC while it was inserted into the camera. This is related to the issue not being able to turn on the camera while the micro SD is inserted, and the trick of popping the micro sd first does not work for the USB connection. I get an error that media is not ready. I am able to access the micro SD when I take it out and mount in the computer directly.

There are a number of things I like about the camera and I want to list them for the compeleteness of the review

♦ The user interface is simple and intuitive. In the two other small cameras I have the interface was "quirky", this is not the case with this camera

♦ The control buttons are large, the give nice feedback, most common functions are one click away (such as switching modes, turning on flash, etc)

Size:
♦ The camera is 5.1 oz
♦ 4.5" x 2.75" x 1"
♦ control buttons are 3/8" x 3/8"

Lens:
♦ Fixed size lens. 8.13mm, F3.0
This is a fairly slow lens (my video contains some night shorts for reference)
♦ Auto focus starts working at about 2 feet. Photos at shorter distances are blurry

General notes:
♦ When micro SD is inserted, the proper orientation is to have contacts towards the back of the camera.
♦ When navigating menus controls on the back of the camera become navigation buttons
delete icon becomes navigate right
scene icon becomes navigate left
flash icon becomes navigate up
timer icon becomes navigate down
♦ If you re-format the SD card in the camera it start numbering the images from the beginning (IMAG0001.JPG) so if you copy the images back to the computer to the same location they will overwrite the previously taken photos.

So what the bottom line? I like this camera's user interface, but the camera itself needs more refinement. The issue with micro SD card makes it difficult to use. I reported the issue with the SD card to the manufacturer.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★☆☆☆