HARDWARE
It's hard to be a thrifty high tech camera whore, but I've learned to appreciate the beauty of rapid-fire Polaroids and heavily pixilated LCD screens. Aiptek's PenCam Trio fits perfectly into my cheap-but-cool camera collection. It functions as a digital still camera, Webcam, and camcorder (sans sound). Aiptek forgoes an onboard LCD and uses cheap CMOS image sensors instead of pricey CCDs - a bonus, since they also suck up less battery juice.
In an attempt to live out my girlhood spy fantasy, I've been taking the PenCam with me all over town. I filled up its 80-frame capacity with undercover footage of dancing Hare Krishnas and random people on the street.
The moment of truth came when I downloaded the shots via USB. The software let me convert the frames into individual pictures, or compile multiple frames into a movie. The grainy quality isn't for a model's headshots, but my 10-second shaved-scalp footage could make it as a Dogma 95 short.
PenCam Trio: $89.99. Aiptek: +1 (949) 455 1800, www.aiptek.com.
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