Genius is a Taiwanese company that's starting to build a reputation for designing small, affordable, multifunction digital cameras (still and video) and its latest 5-megapixel G-Shot continues the tradition.
From the second you take it out of the box you realise just how feather-light it is (a mere 88g without batteries) and it's roughly the size of a credit card (88.5 x 59 x 28.5mm). Powered by two AAA batteries, you power it on by sliding back the stylish black lens cover and you're ready to point and click.
There's a storage capacity of 32MB internal memory and 2GB external (we used a 2GB SD for the review but it also supports MMC) which will allow you to capture a maximum of 3,094 images (at 5MP) or record up to 129 minutes of video. Everything is viewed through the 2.4-inch TFT LCD display on the back and there's a playback facility for both slide shows and video (there's a built-in microphone, but no speaker).
The control system is simplicity itself. Turn on, hit the Menu Mode button, use the two zoom buttons to scroll up and down through your choices and hit the large Set button to confirm. As this is a multifunction machine, you have five options: Digital Still Camera, Digital Video Camera, Web Cam, Game and Mass Storage Device.
The still camera has a fixed F3.0/8.0 lens with a Macro range of 17-19cm and with resolutions from 1,280 x 960 to an interpolated 4,048 x 3,040, plus a 4x digital zoom. High quality images up to the maximum resolution remain sharp even in 12-inch x 18 -inch prints. The video camera aspect produces AVI format movies at either 320 x 240 (30fps max) or 640 x 480 (23 fps max). Both stills and videos can be transferred to PC via the supplied USB 2.0 cable and then edited or catalogued using the included Presto VideoWorks and Presto Mr Photo software.
The same USB 2.0 lead will help turn your G-Shot into a Web Cam at a passable 320 x 240 (15fps max) or 640 x 480 (14fps max). However, if you just want to kill some time you can play one of the four supplied games (Boxboy, Tetris, Memory and Gobang), though beware of the fact that the batteries are quick to deplete.
Essentially this is a fun, quick-snap camera that you can slip in your handbag or pocket and bring out almost on impulse to catch that special moment.
