Bell Howell 10 MP digital camera

It's not 10MP, it's interpolated images from /maybe/ a 5MP sensor if you're lucky.

Stay away from Bell Howell.

the adv. in the recent tv guide , right?

I've seen one of these advertised. I took the time to read the "very small fine print". it said the camera achieves 10MP through interpolation, meaning it may only be 2-4 mepapixels and re-sizes everything up. The ad I saw never gave the true resolution of the sensor... probably for good reason. Cameras like this are promotional only. No camera with the Bell and Howell name on it today is worth buying.

Very much worth passing on.

Actually, if you read the ad carefully, you will notice that in a small bullet point they point out that the camera is a 3MP camera and the image is interpolated to 10MP. I've only seen this fine print on the print ads (magazines), not in their online ads which are simply fraudulent.

Stay away from such sleazy marketing tactics.

I emailed an eBayer who is claiming the cameras actually have 10MP CMOS Sensors.

After I pointed out that the manufacturer's site linked to in the auction states the 10MP is achieved via interpolation, and explaining what interpolation is, the seller replied that:
"I'll have to check on that with our camera expert. I'm not sure if he's coming in today, or not until Monday, though. I'll email you back as soon as I get an answer from him".

Cynic that I am, I doubt there will be any further response.

The advert in the WSJ says it is upsized; interpolated up to 10Mpixel. These are marketed to folks who,like those 6 horsepower vacuums for the home; that run off a regular 18 awg cord. These are like those "full wire gauge" jumper cables sold in a Georgia 7-11; with giant plastic wires; mostly plastic; and only 12 awg wires. Folks love BS; marketers give folks what they want to hear and read :)

This is much the same as those cameras with a digital zoom. Stay away!

Well I'll be...

The eBay seller actually followed up on my email. They respond:
Whatever the manufacturers site says is correct, obviously. I just looked on the box, and the actual size of the CMOS is 3.14 megapixels.

And there you have it.

DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA! I am in the process of returning it as I write this. I bought the BH 10 mp camera after reading an ad in Time Magazine without doing any research- something I've never done before. I thought BH had good products (stupid me). I am beyond disappointed. My daughter had her senior prom this past weekend & 99% of the pictures I took did not come out! Luckily other people took pictures. I was SO embarrassed when I displayed the pictures on TV for my guests. The pictures were either warped (the subjects look like they are standing in front of one of those distorted mirrors that you see in amusement parks), or they were blurry, unfocused, overexposed on one part and overexposed on another part of the SAME picture, they had shadows. Just unbelievable! Disposable cameras take better pictures. Yes, I had the camera set to auto for almost everything. There's simply no excuse for the poor quality of pictures. The camera kept locking up where it wouldn't do anything- while you have people posing. At one point I had to take the batteries out to try to get the camera to work again. The batteries die after just a few shots. If your subject is moving, forget it altogether. To add insult to injury, the user manual is complete garbage. It was the worse I'd ever seen written for any product. There wasn't enough information, even for a techy like me who has programmed computers in every language imaginable for 25 years. It's apparent that one of BH outsourced divisions wrote the user manual. The english & grammar is bad. I couldn't believe that it went to press. I guess the proofreader was a foreigner too. It was like figure it out yourself-which for the most part I did. I feel sorry for other folks who bought this camera who don't have the technical background that I have. The only saving grace is that customer service didn't give me a hassle when I called them & told them I wanted to return it. It remains to be seen whether or not I'll get my money back. I am going to enclose a long letter to Bell & Howell. Take it from me- DON'T BUY THIS CAMERA!!!

Thank you - Thank you - Thank you - I, too was almost swayed by that ad - close call !! I'll stick to tried and true products.

Thanks to all of you. I, too, was intrigued by the ad I saw in one of the insert magazines in a Sunday newspaper. I'm usually skeptical, and I guess I was still skeptical enough to do a google search and found all your helpful replies and information. You've saved me time and money on what apparently would have been a worthless product.

Oh Boy! What to do! With almost $400 CA paid, I just received the package with my "too good to be true, not for $899.99, but only $299.99 direct sale." Well, I'm not opening it; something is allready rattling inside, as I turn it upside down. Would someone/all - please, who read this, send me an email telling me what they did with their 'beauties?' Did they get their money back? Bell and Howell is a photo net sponsor! I don't get it. Thought they were a large reliable company. Saw add in the Discover magazine. Look forward to your input.

According to the limited info I am able to piece together, B&H hasn't made photo equipment in 20 years. They license use of their name to a company called Jazz Photo. Jazz Photo's site is even less informative than the manual for this 'camera'. I'm guessing Jazz Photo is a funnel for several 'offshore' companies, so getting to the ultimate manufacturer of this thing is probably futile.

The basic problems with this unit are: a small-aperture lens (f3.0) coupled with a CMOS sensor that isn't exactly the epitome of sensitivity, a cryptic user interface, and lack of an external power connector. This thing eats it's AAA batteries because it draws almost 1 amp of current -- that's more than regular AAA's can supply, and is the maximum rating for quality alkalines. What were the designers thinking? BTW, regarding the comments about motion: stop motion isn't going to happen with this system. The shutter has to be slow to compensate for the small aperture. This thing is to all intents and purposes a pinhole camera with some electronics stuffed in where the film would normally go.

Tips for those who (like me) received one of these as a gift or are otherwise stuck with it: If you happen to have one with a sensor that is flat and properly aligned with the lens, it can produce decent results if you: use lots of light, use a tripod (a real tripod, not that folding thing that comes with some units) and use rechargeable AAA batteries (NiMH or lithium). Regular batteries don't have the current, and even top-quality alkalines won't stay in very long. Avoid NiCd batteries with this camera -- worse charge life than alkaline. Note: in another cost-cutting move, the designers decided not to store user parameters in non-volatile RAM (or provide an ultra-cap), so every battery change resets the unit to defaults. Stored pictures remain, however.

'Lock-up', or failure to shoot, in my experience may result from batteries that are too weak to charge the flash. The cryptic 'hand' symbol on the screen indicates a no-shoot condition, and apparently relates to an overexposure condition. That is what I deduce, anyway -- there is no reference to it in the manual, which seems to have been written for a prototype of this unit without being corrected to the production version.

The bottom line is, someone wanted to make a splash in the low-end digital market and wound up cutting too many corners. This could be a decent entry-level system if the aperture were larger and the brightness of the display backlight were cut by about 33% -- that's where the battery life is going. I would can the 'games', too.

I sure wouldn't pay the advertised price for this thing -- even the "special discount" price is an overvalue -- but neither is it the end of the world if one happens to wind up holding one of these. It's just not the 'point-and-shoot' camera it pretends to be.

Thank you so much Craig and others for your input. I received and haven't opened packaged camera + 'rattling' accessories. Through circuitous routes finally talked to a real person @ BH. She is sending me a form to fill, so I can send it all back and hope to be reimbursed. They are sponsors of Photo Net, which, with all due respect to a fine service PN supplies, baffles me. Live and learn. Thanks again. 'Omnibol' Steen

Yeah, I bought one also. I usually don't buy without plenty of research. This product is a bomb!! Pull up a list of all digital camera makers. B&H is not on the list. There was a sheet with all the specs and misc. other infor and contact 800 numbers. I called Customer Service, did not wait, talked to some one pronto.They nice and helpful. They provided me with the Co. name to send it back to and complete address. It's on the way!! I don't know if this is who you bought from but here are the 8oo numbers: 1-800-349-3082 for Customer Service and 1-800-423-4248 X257. Address is: Vanhauser, 400 Fullfillment Circle,Wallingford,Conn. 06494. Good Luck Jack Hakin

That address is actually:

VAN HAUSER 400 FULFILLMENT CIR WALLINGFORD CT 06494-0004

...which does not seem to be a "real" street address. That exact same address is used with different company names to return anything from die-cast model cars to the Cold Heat soldering tools you see advertised on TV.

The company in question, Van Hauser LLC, is also known as Significant Data Corporation, or Emson Inc. (Emson standing for Eddie Mishan and SONs), or E. Mishan & Sons Inc. (and probably a dozen other names besides). Emson is one of several companies that is behind most of the products marketed through TV infomercials in the USA. Emson's real address is:

230 5TH AVE STE 800 NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10001

As for Bell and Howell, their name is slapped on almost anything you care to imagine these days it seems, and the original company that went by the name Bell and Howell has long since ceased to do so.

Two more business names Emson goes by:

QX TELECOM, LLC 230 Fifth Avenue, Suite 800 NEW YORK, NY

WELLQUEST INTERNATIONAL, INC. 230 5th Avenue-Ste. 800 NEW YORK, NY

The Better Business Bureau has info on most of these companies, incidentally, although they state that the "Emson" name only recently came to their attention, and they're still gathering information on it.

Oh, also related is Tony Hoffman Productions, which has a VERY long file with the BBB and is rated "unsatisfactory" there. Note that the BBB says that company does business as:

"Bell & Howell; Bell & Howell Sunlight Lamp; Bell + Howell; Bell + Howell Sunlight Lamp; Bell&howell Sun Lamp Dept.5308; Bloussant; Emson; Emson/T.H.P.; Hot Dog Express, The; Magazine Resources; Smart Abs, Dept. 505; Sona Air Massager; Strech Away; The Hot Dog Express; THP; THP Sales; THP Sales Com; Tony Hoffman Productions; WellQuest International, Inc.; WQT Courtesy Health Care and WQT*Vital Solutions."

...and lists Eddie Mishan as company president. Tony Hoffman Productions, Wellquest and others have gotten in trouble with the FTC in the past for making unsubstantiated claims about their products.

Thank you all for your contributions! You saved me the $249 and probably a lot of hassles.

I am now in the habit of researching products for comments from previous buyers. A simple Internet engine search yields a treasure of information. I hope this will affect enough manufacturers and that consumers will be the better for it.

Bell & Howell?

Yeah, they used to make a decent projector, if I'm not mistaken. They are by no means a players in the world of digital cameras though.

It is indeed a "Chinese manufactured camera" using Bell+Howell name. I have contacted the Consumer Affairs & have linked them to various sites including this forum. I purchased my camera thru "ThpSales.com"(Emson). Both of these companies have been reported to the BBB & are on public file. I hope that more complaints are filed for the fraudulent misrepsentation that these companies are getting away with. I have contacted the sales company above for a refund & submitted a copy of my request to the BBB.\ Damn, I hate to be taken in by such. Learning more every day to research the item before buying! Good luck to all & hope anyone who plans on purchasing on of these cameras has come to this forum first! Tim

The name Bell + Howell is used on this camera because of its historical name brand value. Bell + Howell, may HAVE BEEN a reputable manufacturer, however, the Bell + Howell imaging products of the 20th century have nothing to do with this digital camera. This camera was NOT MADE by the Bell + Howell company that comes to your mind. To understand this camera better, think of such terms as "cheap piece of crap" and "scam" and you'll better understand this "Dazzling" camera.

The clues are all in the printed advertisement. In the first paragraph it talks about an "8x digital zoom portrait", and clarity being knife edge. Impossible. Digital zoom is worthless and will never get you clarity. Digital Zoom actually takes you in the exact opposite direction of clarity -- it increases distortion and blur. The ad nowhere mentions optical zoom -- the only worthwhile zoom to have in a digital camera.

In the second paragraph we find this camera has "an amazing 16 mb of built in flash memory". This is nothing special and nearly worthless for storing images. Most cameras provide on-board memory or memory cards of 32 or 64 mb. It is becoming more common even for manufacturers to include cards of 128 or 256 mb as an added value incentive.

The ad goes on with all these "amazing" value added benefits -- the truth is, none of these items are special. TV and USB cables and software? What camera DOESN'T include these with a new camera.

Most of the kind people on this site have already pointed out most of the technical deficiencies of this camera -- so I won't repeat them here. My encouragement is that you read between the lines and see the white lies, distortion and obvious attempts at deception. This type of marketing is basically stealing. The company is trying to take advantage of unsophisticated, naive, or otherwise uninformed consumers.

I estimate the camera's value to be about $35 to $70. However, it is a $70 camera that is posing as a $250 camera, which makes it even more worthless than a $70 camera that honestly attempts to give you $70 worth of features. Even if it did deliver a $70 value, I would never recommend that someone buy a regularly priced digital camera valued under $100.

I've been impressed by the television commercial for the electric Bell and Howell razor -- after understanding this company's marketing strategy a little bit better now, however, I would never buy any kind of Bell + Howell product. One word: Scam.

I don't know what Bell & Howell cameras you are referring to. I bought the 10.0 megapixel with optical and digital zoom and was so impressed with it I bought the 10.0 digital zoom. Yes the camera is made in China but most electronics are. If you set the camera at the highest setting it is 10 megapixels. But you really only need that for large poster blow ups. At the middle setting the camera is about 5 megapixels which is more than enough for great quality prints or for emails. The cameras are loaded with features like video and audio recording and when I called for info their customer service was very helpful and courteous and very clear about what interpolation was (software). I couldn't be happier with both cameras. Both are great quality.

Thanks Barbara. What a load. You sign up to this site only to post this one message. Sounds like a shill. One more reason to stay away from this crap camera as the sellers themselves use psydonyms to post BS to try and refute the truth. How do these people live with themselves? Screw people over, lie about it, all for money. Sad really. No shame. No class. Empty people.

Sorry, that should be "pseudonyms". Spell checker failed me.

I too purchased this camera,in part because it was a "special" advertised in the American Legion magazine. I sent it back because the photographs were HORRIBLE. I assumed there was a defect in the camera they sent me, but after reading some of these answers, I will now tell them to keep the camera and refund my money. And, it isn't like this is my first digital camera, DUH. When I first called them they asked me the stupidest questions and tried to make me feel like I was doing something wrong.

I'm a little late on this by the dates all of you had trouble with the camera so you'll have to excuse me. I received the camera as a gift from my Dad who thought it was going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. When I opened it, it felt very cheap and plastic-y feeling. I've been trying to decide what to do with it and decided it's going back after reading all the comments on it. I called the 800# and the guy is supposed to be sending me the form to send it back. What I want to know is if any of you got your refund without a hassle or was it some long drawn out deal? I didn't think it was going to be worth a hoot since I couldn't find any reviews on it or even the name in digital camera searches. Let me know about the refund, I'd like to prepare myself for the agony. Thanks!

Thanks for the valuable information....can anybody suggest which company is providing good digital camera with 10MP and their rates...

Thanks, Raj.

Raj:

http://www.dpreview.com