Creative PC-CAM 880
Sam gets snap-happy with this webcam/digicam from Creative.
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It was a bit fiddly to get it up and running on the Windows2K machine at work, requiring some plugging and unplugging, along with some button pushing, before windows spotted it and loaded the camera drivers themselves. After some more fiddling around it was all up and running. Things were a little smoother when I plugged it into my WinXP box at home but neither system was too keen on any hot-plugging shenanigans. Once things were all settled the camera pops up as a removable drive for easy picture transference, and Windows recognised it as both a camera device and a video device. Placing the PC-CAM 880 into its little cradle and setting it up on top of monitor I noticed how well it will stay in place. The whole base of the cradle is covered in a rubbery-type material, giving it a solid grip on any surface.
Now it came time to use it as a webcam. Enlisting the help of one of my buddies, the first thing I noticed was just how poor the exposure is under dim lighting conditions. With the sun set below my northern horizon hours ago, and a solitary light bulb emitting away from the ceiling, all that could be seen on the screen was an orangey/brown smudge. So began a hunt for another light WITH a light bulb in it. After some fruitless searching I dug out my halogen lamp. This lit me up just fine but brought howls of protest from my Counterstrike playing flatmates. After informing them of important nature of my work, then falling back and telling them to shut up and lump it, the image on the screen was now most recognisably me. Then another problem cropped up. No matter how high I set the capture rate in both the proprietary software and the webcam settings within Messenger the frame rate was abysmal. My movements looked like a flip-book animation yet not as fluid. Outside of Messenger all was fine though, it just seems like it doesn't like the premier IM client. Oh well.
Now, the digicam side of things. I'll be straight to the point here. The PC-CAM 880 is a terrible digital camera, just dreadful. In poor lighting conditions the pictures come out looking like they've been dipped in melted chocolate. However, if I were to use the flash any close-ups came out so whitewashed I thought I'd died and was on the way up the white tunnel to the afterlife. Outside, or in ample lighting conditions, the pictures came out better. Better as in I could tell what they were supposed to be of. But not better as in 'those are lovely pictures, look how the detail comes out so nicely'. No, all the colours were more saturated than the blood of a recovery diver on the Kursk. The blues were so blue I expected them to advocate national service and the complete privatisation of the NHS. Skin tones were from the same stable as 'flesh' tone Crayolas; horribly pink. I could go on, but then I might run out of patience to continue with the faults. Such as the poor focusing. Set the slider to close-up and you have to jam the camera in someone's face to get the correct definition, and landscape photos weren't much better. Although with the general blurriness evident in all the photos I took I reckon this camera may just be a faulty example. Surely Creative wouldn't release a dual-function device when one of those functions was well beyond the technical capabilities of the camera. Let your own eyes discover the story and check out the pictures. On the plus side there is a little hole on the bottom of the cam for screwing in a tripod. I reckon that most people who are into taking pictures enough to invest in a tripod are going to steer well clear of this little 'beauty'.
In summary, the PC-CAM 880 is a feature-packed, well built, well designed near total disaster. I haven't mentioned that when the camera is guzzling down batteries it does so like a ravenous bear just new out of hibernation. Nor the compete lack of a lens-cap, not a smart omission. Nor the fact the camera is quite heavy in comparison to its diminutive size. It seems like two completely different teams were involved in the production of this camera. On the one side we have the designers in charge of the physical body of the camera, smart and talented people every one of them. Then there's the team that built the innards. The descriptive words I can think of to apply to this shower are those that used to get me in trouble back on the playground, so I'll just give you the accompanying sound effects, 'Mmmuuuhhh', 'Unggghh', etc. Unless I have been shipped a damaged sample and all the other cameras that came off the assembly line take great, clear, solid and well saturated pictures, I can unequivocally say that the PC-CAM 880 is the worst way to spend £130 to get yourself into the digital picture world. Avoid like a ravenous bear just new out of hibernation.
Design - 80%
Execution - 30%
Comments
Thank you for this nice description. I canged my mind , and I don't like buy this camera. You save my money.
Thank you again.
Crap, i should check back on the comments of old reviews more frequently!!
Should I not bother then, my mate has the 750 cam without the viewer, and his cant be faultered as a web cam or a photo taker. please tell me the faults.
I bought this camera and now that I am having problems I have found this review. If only I had found it before!!!
Jonathan
Hi. I had the same problem, but for me it was very easy to fix it!! I had to push the "i mode" buttom, the red light changed to green and... i changed camera into a web cam.
hi
i just received this camera for christmas, and i'm having troubles downloading the cd into my computer. It was working fine until it said installation in progress, please wait a while, well i waited about an hour, and nothing happened, so i restarted the computer, took the cd out and tried again, but it wouldn't work at all. I tried the start-run, but it kept saying enter a cd, when there was one in there. HELP!
Thanx, I won't bother with this peice of crap
I bought this camera in SA and for a very nice price. I don't have any problems with it, and it is small enough to take everywhere.
I got the 850 for christmas & it was my best acting job not to cry out in horror at getting a creative brand camera, I thought "Oh well, it can't be all bad". DAMN was I wrong. I'm banning my family from buying me technology ever again.
Works well for me. No problems.
There is slightly more information about drivers on the U.K creative page (which applies to the whole world as there is no difference in software/hardware) but there are still no driver downloads available. which is wack
pls send me user's manual, specifically how to economise on use of batteries & in which mode the pictures to be taken, in order to store max. no. of pictures?-thanx!
i want driver for 880
one give u site for that
hi,
last year i got a creative web cam and i havent used yet. now i want to use it but i have lost the hardware download cd. so can i dowlnload its software now by net.
Had mine for about 6 months. Baught it cause I don't take enough photos to justify a high end digicam and I wanted a webcam to play around with. Only complaint I have is the low light issue. Aside from that, it's performance in msn messenger has been crystal and smooth from the other side of the country. As for stills, I can't complain, again the light sensor can cause some anomolies. I think in reality it's unfair to expect much more from so early an entry into the combo market (meaning the one's that aren't spherical and take shots larger than 640x480) I got what I expected. But yeh, it'd be handy if the G-D drivers were on their G-D site!!
Its very Good Camera
I have purchased Creative PC CAM 880 But Unfortunatily last month I lost CD For driver and softwear Where can I get The driver For my PC CAM 880
I have bought the CREATIVE DIGITAL WEB CAM 880 yester day. But when I open the cover of the memory slot, batteries immediately die. Camera needs fresh batteries to operate again, the old one are no longer useable. I have so far wasted three sets of batteries.
Now I want to know that, is this some function of the camera or is my camera broken. ?
any one can help me?
un favor me gustria saber como puedo utilizar mi camara digital.
gracias
i have bought the camera (before i have seen this!) and i regret that day! the shadows allways come green(!) and (i live in an island) the sea gets green, the sky is worst, i don't know what to do anymore... i had a small mustek camera, which cost me half of the money, is half the sise and captures better pictures!
where can i find a replacement lead for this webcam as i lost the original one??
mklkmhlkj
What is the problem with this cam? creative pc cam 880
my creative pc cam 850 cd is broken where i get it's driver
Bad resolution, Imperfect image. This cam needs more light than a car on a road in the night.
Moast of the pictures are obturated and the shot is very slow also the procesing is slow.
I have all to ask you to find another digital camera if you want to make better pictures .
This cam is for stupid kids.
hi guys
this creative pc cam 880 is just too good. functionality is very simple too.
but i have some problems like
1. i dont know how to get the flash from the digital camera....my camera is not giving flash so plz help on that
2. and one more thing i just dont understand how to get the voice recorded into it.
i will be thankful if u help me on these topics.
pranav
my PCCAM 850 is broken, where can i find the driver
Hi
i received this camera for my birthday. But, with bad luck, i lost the cd that allows me to install the webcam, can you tell me where can i download a software that can help me install my cam?
I am not buying any Creative camera again, I got the 880, completly a decepcion, U want a good camera get the cyber shot or a Fuji.
i need DRIVERS CREATIVE PC-CAM 880
y lose the original CD
Bad resolution, Imperfect image. This cam needs more light than a car on a road in the night.
Moast of the pictures are obturated and the shot is very slow also the procesing is slow.
I have all to ask you to find another digital camera if you want to make better pictures .
This cam is for stupid kids.
Yes, you are right!, This camera is a complete disaster, if we want to use this camera like a 'professional camera'.
First of all, we needed to know that, CMOS sensor in digital cameras make images blur in movement.
That's why images in movement are terribly horrible!
Better is a digital camera with a CCD sensor, or with movement compensation incorporate.
Well, what we remain to do, is only take photograps of landscapes, or planets, :D, :D.. something frezzed!
Oh!, I was forgetting that like a web cam, you have to use a big lamp!! if you want to see yourself...
Well, next time we need to have more information to buy a new equipment... good luck next time!
Lima-Peru.
I've lost my cd driver of my creative pc cam 880 when i was in the middle east, now i'm in the philippines, where can i get the pc cam 990 driver free download? thanks
mga puta kamo!!
need drivers for p a 880 creative
I lose my instal CD plzzzzzzzzz send me
FloOw_@hotmail.fr :D
windows update sorts it out no problem.. well it was about the 10th time of fighting with the original CD.
Bad resolution, Imperfect image. This cam needs more light than a car on a road in the night.
Moast of the pictures are obturated and the shot is very slow also the procesing is slow.
I have all to ask you to find another digital camera if you want to make better pictures .
This cam is for stupid kids.
www.downloaddownload.co.uk
Vai Tomar no Cu!!! Eu quero o Driver dessa porra kralho!!!
i want download creative pc-cam 880 driver
i work on xp ,and cam don't work'
pleas help
tenho uma creative pc cam, e no estou conseguido usa-la njo msn, que fao?
fone 055 3226 1504
tenho uma creative pc cam, e no estou conseguido usa-la njo msn, que fao?
fone 055 3226 1504
I lost my cd with drivers and I tryed to find xp drivers for this camera on the internet but I coul'd not.
Please give me a site or some drivers.
i lost the cd pc cam 880 software can you pls sent me on this email red25_6@yahoo.ca thankyou
hii .. i lost the p.c c.d of ma creative p.c cam850
plz mail me how can i find its driver on net ?????
i lost the cd pc cam 880 software can you pls sent me on this email leduc_nghi@yahoo.fr thankyou
My webcam got disconected and I want to re-download it onto my computer but it wont let me dowload it because I dont have the cd. How do I download it without useing the cd??..
i want driver for pc-850
i have lost the installation cd and i was wondering how i can dowload it from the internet
I want a free driver of a Pc Cam creative 880 ..
I wait news on my mail ..
Thx!
I have lost my driver cd of creative 880 pc cam ,plz send me the driver.
my e mail id is (fz_faz@yahoo.co.in)
I have lost my driver cd of creative 880 pc cam ,plz send me the driver.
my e mail id is (fz_faz@yahoo.co.in)
i need driver for Creative PC-CAM 900 !! cant find em anywhere :-(
i need driver for Creative PC-CAM 880 !! cant find em anywhere
i want the soft wear to this pc
i lost my Cd-Driver of Creative pc-cam 880
i can find any driver for driver pc cam 880 on google.
I LOST MY CREATIVE PC-CAM 900 DRIVER. PLEASE EMAIL ME TO shameer@nexussys.net
how to download the software for creative pc-cam 880
I have been looking for the soft wear to download so that i can use my Creative pc-cam 900. I need your hepl PLZ and THANKS...
Yes have lost the cd, For my cam. Is a creative webcam.. Only no, Could find on the cam is 0040 Need softwear. Can u tell me how 2 find that please...
i lost the cd , and i need the driver for it
hii want the drivers for pc-880
Hi
i received this camera for my birthday. But, with bad luck, i lost the cd that allows me to install the webcam, can you tell me where can i download a software that can help me install my cam?
pleas i want this creative cam 850
i want driver 850 digital creative cam
I want driver this cam
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