AppleInsider | Review: Belkin Digital Camera Link

Belkin Digital Camera Link

April 21, 2005 EST
By Logan Kugler

Company:
Belkin Corporation

Web site
www.Belkin.com

Price:
Belkin Digital Camera Link
US $79.99

If you are an avid photographer and own an iPod, the Digital Camera Link (DCL) from Belkin is a product that may interest you. The DCL is the type of product no photographer can get along without; whether an amateur or hobbyist. At roughly the size of an iPod, it lets you to take several thousand pictures on the same card without having to sync to a computer. And it’s small and rugged enough to be tossed into your backpack when traveling.

How enjoyable would it be to go on vacation in a remote area somewhere with your camera and be able to take some five thousand pictures? This is something I have always sought. Being the passionate photographer I am, while on vacation I snap close to a hundred shots a day, resulting in memory cards that fill rapidly.

The moment I heard of this conceptual product, I knew I had to have it. The device stores photos from your digital camera to your spacious iPod hard disk drive (HDD) then refreshes the space on your camera’s memory card.

Design & Function:

The DCL sports a white plastic exterior body matching that of the iPod and is virtually identical in size. The DCL connects to the iPod using a short Dock Connector cable, which wraps around the device’s underside. Two AA batteries power the DCL for almost 4GB of data transfers (around 2 hours). However, your iPod is far more likely to run out of juice before that time. And not all cameras are compatible, but most are. You can view a list of compatible cameras at this Web site.

For functionality, the DCL relies on an external USB port, a data transfer button and three LED lights behind a clear-frosted plastic. The transfer process is rather evident. Using your camera’s USB cable, you plug the cable into the external port on the DCL. Once this fatiguing task is complete, you push the center data transfer button and the transfer begins.

Download times will range anywhere from 5 to 35 minutes depending on how many pictures you are transferring. In my test the DCL transferred 971.8 megabytes of photos in just over 31 minutes, equating to a transfer speed of one megabyte every 1.91.

The card used in testing was the SanDisk 6X Compact Flash card (it’s not the fastest card). Once complete, you may confirm the transfer by accessing Extras menu>Photo Import on your iPod. If the transfer was successful, a “Photo Roll” option in the Photo Import menu will be present, detailing capacity information along with the number of photos in the roll.

As mentioned above the DCL demonstrates an admirably simple operation. Part of this easy operation comes from the indicator lights, which illuminate in seven various diverse sequences, informing the user what is going on at all times. The back of the DCL provides a key to reading the device’s seven LED light arrangements.

The Conclusion:

Overall I found this to be a very solid product. It features a befitting architecture, from its simplicity to the physical aspect of its design. The only gripe I have is with the battery cover. I found it somewhat flimsy. It could have easily been built stronger, however it does get the job done.

There are undoubtedly other photo storage product options on the market for the photog aficionado, such as the Epson P1000 Photo Viewer (MSRP $399.99) --- (see picture below) --which features a large 3.8” VGA LCD display and is capable of holding 1,000-plus pictures on its 10GB hard drive. If you have the means, I would recommend this device over the DCL from Belkin. However, if you are looking for a simple, easy to use product that is compatible with your iPod at an attractive price, this is that product.

Pros: Ease of use; Attractive design; Price is appropriate.

Cons: Poor battery life; Rather flimsy battery cover.

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