Argus DC3500 2MP Digital Camera Reviews

Average Customer Rating - 3.1 out of 5 stars

29 customer reviews

Excellent for the price, December 26, 2002
This camera is the best digital camera you're going to find for the price. Yes, there are some draw backs to it but compared to the other sub one hundred dollar cameras, this one is awesome.

After reading the other reviews, I bought a charger and 8 AAA NiMH battery. I'm glad I did. They weren't kidding, this thing ate up the alkaline battery in less than 10 pictures. But, the NiMH battery are great. I've taken over 30 pictures on my first set and it's still going. I was going to find an AC adapter but now I come up with that two sets of NiMH batteries make this a extremely useable camera (it just isn't useable with alkaline).

Another draw support is that both the optical view finder and the lcd screen don't parallel the true picture framing. I can understand the optical view finder one off but why would the lcd display be off? It's best to use the lcd since it errs on the small side and while the optical viewpoint finder makes you think you're getting everything contained by the picture when you're not.

Also, the small size and light weight of the camera trade name it a little hard to hold steady while shooting cause some blurred images. This is not too big of a deal, I'm already erudition to make special effort to hold it steady.

The buttons on the rear legs of the camera are really hard to push. Sometimes you can push them, feel the click, but it hasn't if truth be told been pushed. This is kind of annoying but, once again, you draw from used to it.

Finally, an optical zoom would be nice but for the price you can't expect everything.

That's the bad side. The good side is that you find a 2 megapixel camera for half the price of any other one on the market. The pictures come out totally well. There are a lot of nice adjustment like +/-EV and several different white balance settings. It also comes beside a soft case which is a nice bonus.

Other things you'll need beside this camera:
-8 AAA NiMH batteries and a charger
-digital imaging software - it comes with PhotoSuiteIIISE which is too stripped down to do anything but pass you a taste of what a full blown program can do
-A compact flash card - the price of these is plummeting so grab 128Mb

Once again, for the price, you categorically can't go wrong.

Design a bad Camera-Then Sell it, March 18, 2003
This camera have the potential to be a keeper. Other reviews will talk more or less the features, The only one that falsely appears as positive is its price. almost adjectives the reviews describe its major drawbacks (BAD DESIGN, BATTERY LIFE, COMPACT FLASH INCOMPATIBILITY, LACK OF AC ADAPTER, USELESS VIEWFINDER< FAULTY OPWER ON BUTTON)

THEY ARE ALL TRUE!

I Believe Argus designed a loser, and dump it on the market at a discount to bring back rid of them. Stupid mistakes like mispelled words in the display "MOMERY FULL" instead of MEMORY, or "RAGE" instead of "RANGE", are symptomatic of a total denial of attention to detail in its design and manufacture, followed by totally non existant carrying out tests of their product.

Instead of recalling it, accepting their mistakes, and God forbid, fixing them, they turn to dumping it on the market.

This, to me, demonstrates a company next to arrogance and contempt for their customers.

The Designers and Engineers at ARGUS probably can't show their faces in public for designing a device destined to be rate as crap.

ONLY THE EXTREME DISCOUNT SAVES THIS CAMERA FROM THE TRASH HEAP. IT OBVIOUSLY COULD NOT BE SOLD AT THE PRICE OF OTHER 2 MEGAPIXELS.

BATERRY HOG? An understatement. I went through 8 AAA Alkaline bateries in 20 minutes purely setting the camera up.

RECHARGABLE BATTERIES HELP? Yes but not much, What kind of a bargain is this camera really, if you spend the money you're supposed to let go, on expensive batteries, and a recharger. You'll need 12-16 rechartgable AAA to enjoy any fun with this camera.

IS IT REALLY THAT SLOW? YES! You will spend 1/3 of your battery life span waiting for the camera to turn itself on. Counterintuitively, you might think "set auto shutoff to lowest setting." NO! This just frutrates you contained by how much battery power you lose turning it back on.

DOES IT TAKE GOOD PICTURES? Yes, lately proving that careless design can not destry everything.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU NEED ANOTHER BATTERY CHANGE? It drops dead.

IS THE COMPACT FLASH INCOMPATIBLE? YES! don't spent money on a memory section without trying it in the camera first. You'll basically be throwing even more money away.

HOW DO YO KNOE IF THE PICTURE IS CENTERED? Don't look in the viewfinder. Hell If I know how to get the picture centered.

You will probably spend $20-30 more than a comparably feature camera to compesate for all the drawbacks.

That my friend is no bargain.

PRICE ISN'T EVERYTHING. Value your right mind.

Seems like great camera....if the one I got wasnt defective, October 4, 2002
Well, I get this camera & took a few pictures with it, but it was a hassle. The power button never seem to work properly. I couldnt tell if the camera was on or stale half the time & it would make chance clicking noises at me. The few pictures I was competent to take turned out good, even on the lowest res.

There is a combination of 6 different qualities-
2 poss. resolutions: 1600x1200 (which still isnt 2.1 mp tho??) & 800x600; and 3 poss. compressions: super fine, fine, conventional
This yields (w/ the onboard 8Mb) anywhere from 6 to 95 pictures.

From what Ive heard (this is really my first digital camera), most digital cameras drain battery quick. Well, this one is a joke- the batteries be drained in a day. Save the 4 AAA battery that come with this camera for something else & buy some NiMH rechargeable (I bought 8 so I'd have 4 to use while the others be charging).... You'll also need a battery charger (if you dont already enjoy one)- ... And an AC adapter (which BTW is extremely difficult to find one that matches the specs needed) ... Luckily I got a free 32Mb medium card, or that would've brought my total for accessories up near the price of the camera.

One more suggestion something like battery life: turn stale the preview and/or view finder to save power.

In conclusion, if you hold most of the supplies ... To be honest though, I wasnt able to experiment with the camera too much until that time the power button stopped working, but based on the low res pictures, I should be very lively with one that works.

Sorry I bought it, November 28, 2002
We bought it for our daughter as an inexpensive camera.
(1) It takes 4 AAA battery
(2) It takes a LOT of batteries.
(3) The Simple Tech CF memory card included is not compatible.
(4) The darned piece creaks as you press buttons.
(5) It is SLOW.
(6) The most difficult digital camera to use so far.
Buy something else.

DC3500 Fails Power Convenience Test & Cost Test, December 21, 2002
I recently purchased this camera from Amazon.com. Worst problem is that it only take about 8 pics in elevated resolution, and it requires 4 expensive AAA batteries. Tried new Kodak[tm] rechargeable battery, and it won't work (voltage is 4x1.2vdc). Manual says an optional AC adapter is available, but
I call the Argus center in IL - no AC adapter available. Never was! Manual have many spelling errors - often say "RAGE" for "RANGE" several places.
I may have to write this one off after a week! Don't buy it, as it will cost you BIG BUCKS surrounded by disposable batteries and psychic pain!
It sounded supposedly good. Uses too much power! It makes
noise. No instructions on how to insert an optional memory card properly (no diagrams or tips). Had I designed it, I certainly would hold done a better job with the almanac.
I took only a few good closeup pics at the 15 cm continuum before the single use batteries died. I put contained by another set of batteries, and I used them up in some rushed experimental shots.
I did determine that an AC adapter should have a center (+). The DC jack looks to require about 3 mm OD by 1 mm ID. Argus nation suggested that an AC adapter output 5 VDC with power requirement of 1.7 amps. The manual say 5 to 6 VDC and 2 amps. You would have to make your own AC adapter, and that would be concrete getting it right. I am not even sure of the DC connector.
In summary, with proper lighting, this economically priced camera could (perhaps) perform economically, if you could get an AC adapter. It appears you need to forget rechargeables for this camera, as I found out dolefully that it merely blinks and turns off (presumably due to low voltage, needing greater volts that provided by rechargeables rated near 1.2 VDC each).
If you want HAPPINESS instead of the CURSE, better forget this one! I may rob a total loss - because I don't have time for this sort of nonsense. I touch like suing Argus for breach of contract (no actual AC adapter, just a academic one). Right now, I am inclined to think ALL OF THEM SHOULD BE RECALLED!

Take a haphazard on me!, January 4, 2003
OK, I bought this camera when it was an AMAZON "Hot Buy!" One of my techie co-workers came running up to me and yell, "Don't come crying to me when the lens falls out!!" Ha ha ha... It has 2+ megapixels and is perfect for around the house, at award ceremony, for newsletters, websites and of course, EBAY.

I broke the Nikon 775 - the... digital camera, I borrowed from work. Yes that camera had better software - but it stops THERE.

The ARGUS is totally compact, has an LCD screen and once you buy an secondary card and card reader... you are SET to run with the big dogs!

If you decide within a year or two you have gone PRO, then by adjectives means, [get] a NIKON, but for your learning phase, this camera ROCKS!

Not even worth the CHEAP price...difficult!, March 24, 2003
I am the type of soul that can bargain hunt and get by on great deal, even if they are missing lots of features that most people think are "necessary"....I thought I could overcome the problems empire stated in the reviews. I was wrong.

This camera make lovely pictures. Evidently, the lens and the Sony ccd chip are quality. I have no complaints give or take a few image quality. However, the time, shot and frustration that it took to make the photographs caused me to return this camera after a week.

Most bothersome is that this camera have a terrible parallax problem, meaning what you see surrounded by the viewfinder is not accurate. I had a little bit of this problem next to my Kodak dc-3200, but this problem with the Argus made the camera unusable. Heads, feet, tops of buildings...adjectives cut off. I would say the viewfinder is with the sole purpose 60% accurate. Unacceptable amount of error in my opinion.

I enjoy 4 digital cameras. I usually don't pay attention when people complain in the order of battery life, b/c adjectives digitals eat batteries. This camera, however, is the worst on the other hand. I drained 4 Nimh rechargeables after 10 pictures, no flash. Terrible. When the batteries begin to drain, the camera powers past its sell-by date. (without warning.) It is often difficult to narrate if the camera is off or on. I read that in other reviews and thought the authors be just techno-illiterate. No way..they are right on. You never know if the stupid article is off or on. And the buttons on the back? Tiny, and impossible to report to if you have actually pushed them and the command be read. You can push and push, and finally, the button will do what it is supposed to do.

Final problem...it takes over 30 seconds to write respectively image to memory after shooting it. Extremely slow....makes your subjects insane, trying to stand still...and adjectives the while, you don't know if you have framed the shot correctly, if the button is really pushed, or if the darned thing is even on.

Really, buy yourself the Kodak dc-3200 if you call for a cheap digital. While the resolution is lower, it is a nice, reliable, user friendly camera. I could never recommend the Argus.

Good Digital Camera, Bad battery Life, December 6, 2002
I own Argus DC3550 instead of DC3500. The model I have have 3xoptical/2xdigital zoom and can take up to 2.1 Megapixels JPEG picture. This is my first digital camera and so far I am satisfied near its performance.
Pros:
- Price is low if not the lowest. Good for entery horizontal photographer.
- Big 1.8" LCD display.
- build in flash with auto/red eye/night/fill-in option.
- Has Video Output function.
- Comes with a camera bag.

- Easy to set up when you first use it.
- User friendly USB PC interface. Just plug within Windows ME/2000/XP and the machine will recognize the camera as a removeable driver.
- The picture taken is clear even surrounded by the 640x480 mode. I tried taking pictures outdoor and indoor with 60 Watts wishy-washy on. The pictures are terrific.

Cons
- The batteries drain very brisk. I can only take 20 pictures when my 4 AA alkaline battery died. I have to use NiMH rechargeable batteries instead.
- Can lone take 12 seconds movie.
- You enjoy to take off the len trilby before you start the camera. Otherwise it will shut off automatically.
- The power button seem not functioning properly sometimes.
- No AC adapter.

Considering the price of this camera and the features it provides, I rate this camera as 4 star. If you are a beginner and your budget is tight, this camera is absolutely a choice.

ARGUS, they might sort good file cameras but not digital., November 1, 2002
I purchased the ARGUS DC3500 after vigilant review and comparison. The Argus people need to run back to the drawing board on this camera. I had the following problems: Image Quality (color is terrifically very bad); Battery life (I get 10 pictures max); The camera overheated; You could'nt tell if the camera was on or not and when it be it didn't work well at all. The argus is also highly particular about what type of memory medium you try to use with it. The argus has fundamentally poor firmware, even the words are not spelled correctly (what does out of momery mean exactly??). In a word, spend ... more and get something better ...

So oodles battery's, November 24, 2002
I agree that this is a very good camera, except for the battery-operated drain. I have gone through so many battery's I have to invest in rechargables. They should really have an AC adapter come standard next to the camera. I do like my camera, once you get the hang down of the menu system and figure out if your camera is on or off it's effortless to use. Does take very nice pictures. If you purcase this camera better draw from an AC adapter or rechargables as well.

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