EyeClops BioniCam

Product Details

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Look at familiar objects in a whole new way; review images on a TV or computer The Bad: Learning to focus the eye takes practice In a Nutshell: Unique video microscope provides creepy close-ups and informal science lessons At a Glance Ages: 8 and older Requires: 5 AA batteries; TV and/or computer for full effect

A belt clip battery pack makes it easy to take the BioniCam anywhere. View larger.

Even old blue jeans look cool viewed through the BioniCam. View Larger.

Magnify Your World,
To get started, simply insert five AA batteries (not included) into the belt clip battery pack, insert the included USB memory stick into the top of the BioniCam, and turn the unit on. With the camera's ergonomically shaped handle in one hand, you can focus on any number of everyday objects--such as coins, fabric, your pet's fur, or your own hair and skin. The magnified images appear in real time and full color on the LCD screen. Below the screen, you'll find easy to use buttons that allow you to navigate the menu, select video or photo options, review your gallery, and delete unwanted images.

A zoom dial offers either 100x, 200x or 400x magnification. To focus an image, twist the I.R.I.S. lens attachment until you achieve the results you're looking for. Getting a crisp image takes a little patience at first, especially at the highest magnification. But with practice and with the help of the easy-to-read focusing gauge, you'll be focusing the lens in no time.

Photos and Video Without Complicated Setup
With no software to upload and minimal set-up, the BioniCam makes sharing discoveries easy. Plug the USB memory stick directly into your computer for quick access to images, then save and edit them or post them to your blog. Alternately, you can use the included video cable to display images on your TV. When you are plugged into the TV, the LCD screen turns off, but you still retain all the functionality of the BioniCam. This makes reviewing huge enlargements in real time a fun group activity.

Contagious Fun for the Whole Family
The hand-held magnification "eye" is fun to hold and makes it easy for your child to explore the microscopic world without complicated scientific instruments. Viewing the magnified images on your computer or TV screen in full, vivid color encourages kids to take learning into their own hands and provides numerous opportunities for parents and children to play fun and educational games together.

The excitement of seeing objects in your child's everyday world magnified to up to 400 times is sure to be a hit with whole family. Fortunately, the lightweight, durable plastic unit fits comfortably into both small and large hands. And if you need some help getting started, the easy-to-read instruction booklet offers lots of tips for finding items that hide interesting textures, from pine needles to sponges and insects.

On the lowest setting, the LEDs occasionally prove too bright for viewing lighter-colored objects, and these images may remain unclear on large viewing screens. On the higher magnification settings, however, this did not seem to be a problem, as textures and colors came through flawlessly. And while the battery pack makes it easy to explore indoors and out, the LCD screen can be tough to read in direct sunlight.

Overall, these are minor concerns that should do nothing to prevent this fun, educational toy from being big hit with all kinds of kids.

What's in the Box
BioniCam, I.R.I.S. lens attachment, removable USB drive, and video cable.

Product Reviews

(4 stars) - Not perfect, but still a great toy
We bought the bionicam for our son's 5th birthday. i thought he would absolutely LOVE it! He does enjoy it and finds it fascinating to see what some things look like magnified - dad's face with whiskers for example is a great one. But it is a little difficult to use in that you have to get the light just right to be able to see the image. It's great to be able to take it outside, unlike the other eyeclops, but it does look the coolest when it's on the tv screen anyway. my other complaint is that when you take a picture, it comes out blury. so it's most interesting to just see in real-time what thing look like. Because of these things, he'll use it at my suggestion but it's not the homerun hit i thought it would be. But while it has some flaws, i don't think there is anything else that would allow a kid to easily see the microscopic world like this, so i give it a thumbs up.

(5 stars) - I liked it
My girls enjoyed the eyeclops, but I loved it. Toys like this tend to lose the kids interest after awhile, but they do tend to pull it out of the toybox every now and then.

(4 stars) - My opinion
This is a pretty cool toy. I'm 31 years old and I purchased it for my gardening needs to diagnose different mites and pests on them and it's a pretty handy and fun device. My daughter likes it alot also. She was hopeing that it was for her. Even simple things look cool with the Eyeclops. Like looking at clothing at 400X looks like ropes. Your skin looks pretty nasty at 400X !!

The downfalls of this toy is that the screen is really hard to see under bright light. It is also kina touchy when you're trying to get a good shot or view something. Over all, I'd say it's worth it's money.

(3 stars) - great pictures
Taking 100x or 200x pictures with this toy is great but the viewing screen to take the pictures with is not useful for looking at things in real time. The viewer is too dark to see much. Learning to focus and take a picture and view it on the computer works better but there is a learning curve in getting the focus right. The 600x is very difficult to focus and not very useful for this reason. My view screen came scratched but that does not affect pictures. Maybe this is an easy toy for a kid but not for an adult. IF you need to take 100x or 200x pictures on a regular basis this toy is worthwhile to learn how to use.

(1 stars) - Disappointing and interesting for 5 minutes
I'll reiterate what's been said already since I had the same experience - the light on it is so weak that it is nearly impossible to get a 'real' picture. I think we spent 30 minutes indoors and then another 30 minutes outdoors and couldn't even get one picture. Gave up and threw it in the toy box and had a HUGE regret over how much I paid for this. It's been a year now and my daughter won't even look at it twice after that first frustration.

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