This point and shoot camera was nicknamed the Owl.  Because it looks a bit like an owl.  But does its eyesight match up?

Big eye

This camera was nicknamed the Owl as it kind of looks a bit like a cartoon owl.  Maybe.  The other thing that’s owl-like is the enormous view you get through the massive viewfinder.  It’s pretty unusual for the viewfinder to be bigger than the actual lens as they usually save the good quality for the important bit that actually takes the pictures, but here the lens is glass and the viewfinder just plastic.

looking around

The lens is a pretty standard 35mm – which means the view is roughly the same as you see without the camera in front of your face.  That also means that that big viewfinder doesn’t cram in any extra details – the amount you can see through it is the same as any 35mm camera with a 35mm lens and a tiny hole to peep through at the back.  However what you do see is a lot brighter and it’s a lot easier to look around inside the view to pick out details you might like to focus on.

It is fully automatic with only a dial to select the flash and a self timer, so there isn’t a lot more to say about it.  It looks quite modern and it’s nice to use, but it would have been an entry-level model back in 1997 when it was released.

regular pics

The autofocus has done its job and it has produced a few quite nice, fairly sharp images.  It definitely does best on sunny days, but you still have to hold it pretty still as the fastest shutter speed is not that quick.  It performs poorly indoors and the flash only reaches pretty close objects, but this is common to most cameras of this type.

It’s certainly worth the 99p I paid, and the results with an 88p film are pleasing as well, but a camera which was designed as a simple snap shooter should work better in more varied conditions.  Compare it to the pictures I took at night, in the snow on the ten-years-older Sure Shot Tele and you’ll see what I mean.