Creative DiVi CAM 516

Creative has long been lauded for bringing fun and value to the masses with its extensive range of digital entertainment products. The DiVi CAM 516, the company's latest digital video camera, is no exception. A video camera, still camera, voice recorder, MP3 player, Webcam and mass storage device all rolled into one, the DiVi CAM 516 offers amateur videographers and non-geeks more bang for their buck with a single, fuss-free device for all their prime multimedia needs.Design
At first glance, one has to marvel at the compactness of the DiVi Cam 516. No bigger than a digital camera, the DiVi Cam 516 is lightweight yet reassuringly sturdy. The device is designed to fit snugly in the heart of your palm, but users with bigger paws may find it awkward to manipulate the controls on the fly.

	Shoot some Creative videos with these.

Available in three colors (black, silver and light blue), the DiVi Cam 516 also comes with a black nylon pouch that will fit into any school bag or briefcase. It is no fashion gadget, but the smooth finishing on its light chassis gives it a gleam of simple elegance.

The left door of the DiVi Cam 516 opens up to a swivel 1.7-inch TFT LCD that supports a screen resolution of 480 x 240. The LCD screen is simply too small, but Creative minimizes eye squinting with large, simplified icons and a foolproof setup menu. The Display button directly above the LCD toggles the view for icons and other settings.

Opening the LCD gives you access to the memory card slot for SD or MMC cards. The microphone is positioned near the top of the camera, allowing for better audio capture. The controls at the back of the DiVi Cam 516 are relatively well-aligned and easy to reach. The power switch is sensitive and wisely placed at the bottom of the camera to avoid accidental startups. Left-handers may however find the camera frustrating to use as the majority of the controls are positioned on the right side of the LCD.

A light nudge of the Play and Menu buttons reveals the camera menu setup options on the LCD. Navigation is achieved using either the four-way joystick at the top of the camera or the jog-wheel scroller directly beneath it. These options may confuse users at first, as settings can be selected only by pressing the scroller and not the prominent Shutter button of the four-way joystick. The tactile buttons vary in responsiveness--the four-way joystick requires extra prodding while an overgrown nail could easily activate the scroller by mistake.

The Macro switch and Mode dial are located on the right side of the camera, above the battery cover that slides open and close with ease. The USB port and TV-out port are aligned at the front of the camera, as are the flash, the headphone jack and the protruding lens. Creative has thoughtfully thrown in a camera strap that can also be attached to the detachable lens cap.Features
For a device this tiny, the DiVi Cam 516 really impresses with its number of practical features. Aside from taking fluid videos at a resolution of up to 640 x 480-pixels, the camera's 5.1-megapixel sensor allows for beautiful still captures.

The camera's Video Mode is supported by a set of options commonly found in today's mobile camera-phones. Users can experiment with Macro mode, exposure compensation and the 4x digital zoom to get that perfect angle.

Taking stills in Photo Mode is also easy as pie. Users can choose from various flash modes, image sizes and resolutions for their snapshots, all of which are typical of digital cameras and camera-phones. Other useful features include a self-timer and a camera shake indicator.

A handful of color effects (color, black and white, sepia) and basic white balance options (auto, daylight, cloudy, fluorescent, tungsten) are also available in both Video and Photo mode.

Videos are saved in the popular MPEG-4 (AFG/AVI) format, directly eliminating the tedious format conversion process. Still captures are stored as JPEGs and can be printed directly from the camera using the Direct Print Standard setting. While users shouldn't expect stellar photo quality from these prints, the feature is a nifty addition for amateur shutterbugs.

For a family night in front of the tube, users can easily set the DiVi Cam 516 to play videos and stills on the telly with the TV-out and audio cables bundled in the package. The DiVi Cam 516 can also be used as a Webcam when connected to a computer.

Interestingly, the DiVi Cam 516 also boasts MP3 playback capabilities. Don't be fooled by the camera's -schizophrenic tendencies--this feature is impressively usable. The four-way joystick and scroller are used for changing tracks and volume control, and users can review their card memory status on the LCD. Users can store MP3s and other media files in SD or MMC cards, on top of the device's built-in 32MB memory.

The DiVi Cam 516 also sports a simple voice-recording function to record memos and extra ditties on-the-go. As the camera runs on four replaceable AAA batteries, users can relish a fuss-free experience without the hassle of chargers or power adapters.Performance
In Video mode, the DiVi Cam 516's automatic focus lacked responsiveness and accuracy. There was no manual focus to fall back on and Macro mode worked well only with large, clearly visible subjects. The camera was also missing an image stabilization feature to ensure steady shots.

The white balance function also yielded inconsistent results. Footage shot in a dim room was barely visible, while the preview of a florescent-lit room was overly red. Users should stick to the auto white balance function for better color and brightness. The frustratingly small and dark LCD screen also makes it tricky to gauge the quality of the video output, and is rendered unusable under direct sunlight.

In Photo mode, the image preview on the LCD was as grainy as before, though the Macro mode focus produced significantly sharper still captures. The camera shake indicator icon was perpetually on and appeared to be more of a reminder for users to stabilize the camera than an indicator of an unsteady shot.

The white balance and exposure functions were just as inaccurate in Photo mode. We achieved the best results shooting under natural sunlight, using the camera's auto white balance mode.

Video file extraction was slow with the DiVi Cam 516's USB 1.1 connection, but additional waiting time was eliminated by the skipping of the video conversion step.

The camera's built-in microphone was sensitive and sharp, picking up the tester's voice even in a moderately crowded room. Audio playback was impressively sharp and well-rounded.

Stripped to the bare basics, the DiVi Cam 516's MP3 mode was straightforward and easy to use. Be, warned, though. The device assigns all stored MP3 files numerical file names without any option of viewing the track name or artist. Another major downside was the inability to rename these tracks and having to feel your way around the maze of a music library. Users should enjoy their audio and MP3 files through the bundled pair of Creative earphones as sound output was barely audible through the external speaker.

As a Webcam, the DiVi Cam 516 delivered sufficient quality for a casual video conference on Skype or MSN. It lacks the sophistication and visual clarity of an actual Webcam, but remains a cool and fun feature to impress your friends with. Image Quality
As a video camera, the DiVi Cam 516 has sacrificed significant image quality for convenience and ease of use. The deployment of the camera's 4x digital zoom increased the blurriness of the picture, resulting in an unrefined, pixelated output.

The exposure and white balance settings on Video mode were neither accurate nor responsive enough to ensure high-fidelity videos. Colors were often inconsistent and the exposure settings barely managed to reduce the burn on certain outdoor shots.

Footage reflected on the LCD was very dark under regular fluorescent light and almost impossible to see under low-level lighting. Upon extraction, the output appeared grainy, blurry and dim when viewed on a computer. The footage was only slightly brighter and better in quality when seen directly from camera to TV.

The still captures taken by the DiVi Cam 516 fared better with clearer and sharper image quality. Stills were well-defined even after immolation. The DiVi Cam 516 suffered from brightness problems and its weak in-built flash did little to salvage the overall low picture quality.