One of the most frustrating things that can happen whenever you go on a trip is to witness some extraordinary event but not to have available at hand something to help record what going on in front of your very eyes. Well, it would seem that the Simmons Optics company does have a pretty nifty solution available in order to solve this problem, in the form of the CaptureView 8x30, 3.2MP/CV-6 binoculars, which will do more than magnify distant images: they will actually record them.



Practically, what we're dealing with here is a combo between a pair of high-power binoculars and a digital camera. The device has been equipped with a 30-mm objective lens and folding roof prism lenses, fully coated. It also provides a 16-feet close focus and quite an impressive field of view, of 367 feet at 1000 yards. The magnification power is also rather OK, since we're talking about an 8x factor.



Leaving the optics-related features aside, it's important to mention that the CaptureView binoculars have also been equipped with a powerful, 3.2 sensor, which can take photos at up to 2272 x1704 (3.2MP). The optical device also incorporates 16 MB of flash memory and 16 MB of SDRAM memory, used for storing up to 20 high-resolution photos.



Moreover, you can use the exclusive Flashback feature to save the last 5, 10, 15 or 20 seconds of any recording, then view an instant replay of what you recorded on the built-inch 1.5-inch color LCD display.



The device connects to a host computer via an USB 2.0 interface, which can be used for downloading the stored photos into a computer. As for power, it is provided by 2 AAA 1.5V alkaline batteries.



Fortunately, the CaptureView 8x30, 3.2MP/CV-6 binoculars are not exactly very expensive, as they can be found for under 100 US dollars at various online retailers.