Our initial impressions of the Mercury CyberPix S-450V digital camera weren't very favourable, as the image resolution was on the lowest setting of a choice of 1,024 x 768, 2,048 x 1,536 and 2,560 x 1,920 pixels. Although increasing the resolution bumped up the file size from a typical 160KB to just over 1MB, the improvement was well worth having.
The other problem was that the self-timer was turned on, so there was a seven second delay between pressing the shutter and taking a photo. In fairness to Mercury, one of the many icons on the LCD display alerts you to this fact, once you recognise that the icon is a little stopwatch, and then it's a single button press to cancel the timer.
After we'd changed those settings our opinion improved somewhat, but nothing can change the fact that this is an incredibly plain camera. Essentially it is a small grey box with a lens housing on the front (no optical zoom, just digital). With a four-way navigation pad and three buttons on the back, plus a rotary control on the top, it is simple to come to terms with this camera, although our initial experiences should warn you against complacency.
Mercury could improve the on-screen help as most of the icons and settings simply aren't clear enough, partly because they are quite small. That's almost inevitable with an LCD that measures 30 x 22mm, but then the camera itself is quite small at 97 x 63 x 28mm, which means that users need all the assistance that Mercury can offer.
The CyberPix S-450V runs on four AAA batteries and has an SD card slot in the battery compartment, although the 16MB of internal memory should be more than adequate for taking quick snapshots.
We weren't entirely impressed by the controls as they require a fairly deliberate press, and that is particularly true of the shutter button. Once you press it there is a small delay of a second or so, then the flash goes off and after that the status light flashes red and green while the camera sorts itself out, then after five seconds or so it's ready to take another picture.
We had mixed feelings about the quality of the pictures that we took with the CyberPix S-450V. They were generally quite good, but we have seen as good - or better - from a quality 2-megapixel camera. The flash on the Mercury is far too bright to use indoors, and colours tend to be either too dark or rather washed out depending on light levels. Close up shots using macro mode were surprisingly effective and sharp, though.
You'd have no problems using the CyberPix S-450V to take happy snaps at home or in the office, but it's not the sort of camera that you would want to use when taking pictures at memorable occasions such as weddings or kids' sports days. Mind you, at less than £70 it seems harsh to expect too much.
