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So unless you have a very old computer, I wouldn't buy this model. The drivers provided on the CD would not work with any of these. The binoculars worked fine, but I have no idea how the cameral worked. We have 3 computers (laptops) with 3 different operating systems - windows 2000, vista & windows 7. I called Bushnell & was told that there were no available updates.
I've never had that problem with a pair of binoculars before.Bushnell has always been a good name but they sure couldn't prove it with this product.Buyer BEWARE. There is absolutely NO DOCUMENTATION on how to get the pictures off the camera so I opened Photoshop and used import and sure enough Bushnell was there. Luckily the disc she got with the purchase worked.She has Photoshop already so all I installed were the drivers from the CD onto her XP Pro computer. Once transferred, I checked image size and it was 640x480 at 1mp per inch, so scenery is visible but I have my doubts as to small animals etc.Another thing that irritated me was that I couldn't get the 2 sides of the binoculars close enough together to get a good view, in other words I had to look through 1 lens at a time. Excellent idea but Bushnell really fell down on the job with this one. My fiance bought this used for $10.00 and now I'm glad she didn't pay anymore for them.It's my job to figure out any new gadgets she gets so I went to Bushnell's site first and after some browsing, I found the binoculars and there was a manual available in PDF (it shows the camera functions only) but no drivers to be found. I clicked on it and the Bushnell software came up but it's a "by guess and by gosh" process to figure out how to transfer the pictures from the camera into Photoshop.
However, it is not available anywhere for download. Do not waste your money on this or any other Bushnell product, customer support is non-existent. The driver disk that I have will not work anymore, so I figured that I could download it online. Now I am stuck with a product that is useless to me.
Along comes the Bushnell 10 x 25 VGA Digital Camera Binocular. Even with manual adjustments, you simply cannot correct them like a normal digicam shot. Telephoto shots are notoriously fuzzy because you simply can't hold the camera & lens that steady without VR built-in or something like a stump, tree, or monopod to make it rock-steady. When it asks about the editing program, I simply asked it to use my Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0. Are these National Geographic images suitable for framing. Now it is quite possible to buy a high-power spotting scope and put your camera lens right on the viewfinder and snap the image. The original software installed readily in my PC with Win XP Pro and those original software drivers work just fine. Don't expect mind-blowing images folks.
Do your binoculars store the images you are viewing. No way. Colors are not true unfortunately. And don't forget to use a monopod to steady the device. It does NOT come with VR (vibration reduction). It's just a great little device for carrying in your backpack or pocket.
But the spotting scope isn't nearly as portable. My Nikon VR telephoto lens does an outstanding job even hand-held so I know that it is feasible with the right equipment. and import the images after doing the transfer with no difficulty. Likely the answer is no to both questions. I first saw a demo in Costa Rica by a nature guide pointing out a huge iguana sunning on a log 50-60 ft from us.
Detailed editing proceeds normally. 3.5-4.0 stars (good to very-good) Maybe Bushnell will come up with a VR feature in the future. Does your digicam give you 10x optical magnification. This binocu-camera combo does a reasonable job.
For the price, it's just fine.
They focus like normal binoculars and I didn't have a problem with them (other than not being able to see through both lenses at the same time).The extra buttons and the on-screen menu for the camera were easy to understand. The on-screen menu also allows you to go through your pictures to preview and delete if you wish. I felt that they also drained the batteries quite heavily.The binoculars themselves are good enough. I imagine they will suit some purposes well - like racing tracks where your target is over 30 feet away and there is nothing between you and the target for them to focus on - but the fact that you can't adjust the focus on the camera was a huge problem for me.I'll be happy to answer any questions in the comments.
I was also able to turn off the beeps that some have mentioned. It has a set focus range of 30 feet, which means that unless you are at least that distance away, your target will not be in focus in the photograph. I wonder if this is because I was using an SD card. With the extra equipment between the two eye pieces, I couldn't look through both lenses at the same time. The camera DOES NOT adjust focus with the binoculars. I found this a particular problem as I wanted to use them for backyard bird spotting/photographing, but a lot of the time the birds were just too close. the binoculars wouldn't close in narrow enough for my skinny nose.3. The little preview screen was very useful - I would search for my target through the binoculars, then center it on the screen before I took my picture.I'm not sure why other people are having trouble previewing their pictures.
Perhaps the people having trouble with this were just using the camera memory.Overall, I would say think very carefully about what you need them for before you go ahead and buy this particular set. These binoculars are good, but they do have their limitations.1. If they were further away, they were still out of focus because the camera would focus on leaves and trees that were at the 30 feet marker.2. I was able to do this.
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