Tim meyers , May 21, 2005; 08:50 a.m.
Can someone please fill me in on the Bell Howell 10 mp digital
camera. It states it is only 249$, which I thought would be
wonderful for a secondary camera for my pocket. I do not want to
get something that isn't any good though. Any thoughts? thanks
Rob Bernhard 
, May 21, 2005; 08:55 a.m.
It's not 10MP, it's interpolated images from /maybe/ a 5MP sensor if you're lucky.
Stay away from Bell Howell.
Walter Degroot , May 21, 2005; 10:08 a.m.
the adv. in the recent tv guide , right?
Greg Chappell , May 21, 2005; 11:13 a.m.
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.
Shourya Ray , May 21, 2005; 11:15 a.m.
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.
Paul - , May 21, 2005; 05:09 p.m.
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.
Kelly Flanigan 
, May 21, 2005; 05:48 p.m.
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 :)
Mike ( Lab Monkey) , May 21, 2005; 11:58 p.m.
This is much the same as those cameras with a digital zoom. Stay away!
Paul - , May 23, 2005; 09:19 p.m.
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.
Sharon Richards , Jun 01, 2005; 01:24 a.m.
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!!!
