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Author Topic: Digital Camera Question Peter Berrett Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 602 From: Victoria, Australia Registered: Nov 2000 posted 05-10-2003 01:45 AM                        Hi all This is technically not a 'film' question but seeing as digital is the way of the future I reckon somebody out there may know the answer. The problem is this. I am looking to buy a modestly priced digital camera to take some photos when overseas. The camera I have my eye on is a Kodak CX-4210. The question is - how do I email or store photos when overseas? Eg Let's say I take a stack of photos whilst in Paris. How do I unload my camera so I can take some more? If I was at home I could download the photos to my pc via a usb cable, and then go and take some more photos but what to do when far away from your pc? Ideally one would email the photos to oneself however an internet cafe is unlikely to have the appropriate software to upload the photos to the computer. What to do? I understand that you can buy expanded memory but that would still limit the number of photos you could take? How does one use a digital camera in practice when overseas? Thanks Peter  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 05-10-2003 02:33 AM                     Take a laptop.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 05-10-2003 02:47 AM                        Very simple. Many photo stores can read your memory card/chip and back it up on a CD in 15 minutes for a a few dollars. Mostly you do not even have to bring a USB cable, many photo stores have card readers in their computer systems. I did that several times when I was with my camera in America and Italy. But a really big memory is worth the investment too. I have a 256MB smart media card. It was around 120 euro (=dollar), but it takes easily 200-300 pics at 1600 resolution with minimum compression or 200 at 2048 resolution. Or around 500 at 1024. When I travel, I remember where I see a photo store with digital capacity and then when the card is nearing the end of its storage capacity, I go make the backup. For emergencies, I still have the original small card which came with the camera. After the successful backup you delete the photos and start shooting like a maniac again. I have a Pentax Optio 330 GS (3.2MP) which cost 350 euro half a year ago, but the price is dropping as new models come out. It is very easy to use. The automatic functions are very effective, but you can still set all parameters manually. The image quality is very good. Take a look at Pentax products before you make your decision. There is a reason why even other manufacturers often use Pentax lenses. [ 05-10-2003, 12:38 PM: Message edited by: Michael Schaffer ]  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 05-10-2003 01:56 PM                     It is very tricky to find a "moderately priced" digital camera with good features, image quality, etc. Our sign company just purchased another digital camera for a salesperson we are about to hire. We didn't want to spend a fortune on the camera, but it had to be good enough to do survey work, etc. I did a lot of price and feature comparisons among lots of digital cameras and read a ton of reviews. Canon has some decent models and the Fuji FinePix F601 Zoom was tempting to buy. The camera we purchased is a newly released Kodak DX6340 Easy Share model for around $320 (the model just hit stores this past week). It has a Schneider 4X optical zoom lens and 3.1 megapixel CCD. The camera has 16MB of internal memory and can use Secure Digital/MMC flash memory cards. The camera has a good array of both manual and automatic controls for taking still images. On top of that, you can record sound and even video in Quicktime format (320 X 240 pixels). A 128MB SD card could capture about 10 minutes worth of video, provided you don't drain the batteries in the process. This camera is flexible in the kind of batteries it can use. It comes with a non-rechargeble CRV-3 battery. We bought a NiMH battery charger and some AA size NiMH batteries to use. This model uses batteries slightly more efficiently than the Kodak DC4800 camera we've been using. Still, turn on the LCD display only when you need it. Battery use has been my major gripe with digital cameras. In the need to be cutesy and small, most digital cameras have SHIT battery life. We had a Sony Mavica model with a 14X optical lens and LONG battery life. But the camera was designed more like a camcorder rather than a cutesy, tiny-ass gadget. It still pisses me off that one of my coworkers lost the thing. Kodak needs to improve the situation regarding batteries use / recharging, etc. with their cameras. The main knock I have against the DX6340 camera is how Kodak tries hard to make it necessary to buy the $80 EasyShare Dock 6000. The camera doesn't come with a DC cable to recharge it, or even a battery that can be recharged. That's the big pitch for the EasyShare dock. You'll spend $80 more productively by purchasing a NiMH AA charger and batteries, a large capacity SD flash memory card and a USB multi-format flash memory card reader.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 05-10-2003 02:51 PM                        Can you connect the camera directly to an USB input? Another important thing to check would be how compatible the Easy Share stand is for travel! I have a quick battery charger which comes with 4 different plugs and works with 110-240VAC and 50 or 60 Hz. If you travel in Europe, remember that most countries do have 230VAC, but still there are several different plug types.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 05-10-2003 03:14 PM                        A 1GB Microdrive would suite your needs. As for batteries, I've found using CRV-3 batteries in the Kodak DX series cameras to be the least hassle option. At about 400 pictures per battery (about $10) it's a heck of a lot better than Kodak's (and others') previous cameras.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-10-2003 03:58 PM                     San Disk makes a compact flash 1Gig module and they now have a 2 and 4 gig avaiable as well  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 05-10-2003 05:27 PM                     The Kodak DX6340 does come with a direct camera to USB port cable for offloading pictures. It is aggravating that it did not come with a DC 3V power adapter. Obviously they want you to buy the Dock6000 and other accessories for a good bit extra. The CRV3 batteries last for a decent amount of time (about 4 times longer than standard AA batteries). But at $10 or more per battery it can get expensive. I'd rather have a bunch of recharged NiMH AA batteries. It is great that digital cameras are taking ever sharper pictures. I think 10 megapixel cameras will be common and affordable within the next couple years. But what I would like to see in a digital camera is more powerful zoom lenses and MUCH LONGER battery life. Sony was using camcorder style batteries in some of their old Mavica line. One of the batteries we had could last 4 hours, even with the LCD display running!  |  IP: Logged Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 05-10-2003 08:34 PM                     [ 01-15-2004, 08:26 PM: Message edited by: Paul Linfesty ]  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-10-2003 08:42 PM                     Paul, Your purchase was not towards obsolescence at all. Aside from getting REAL film experience you will also get the real film look. The film look is still way way ahead of the digital camera look....even the multi million pixel jobs. Just avoid Sy the photo guy for your processing needs! Mark  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 05-10-2003 09:59 PM                        I have used Hassleblads during almost all of my professional photography career spanning almost forty years but my first love has always been the 35mm format camera. I have been very fortunate to own and use all of the professional Nikon cameras starting with the rangefinder Nikon SP in the late fifties and sold it and bought Nikon's first SLR, the famous "F" model. After that came the F2 and the F3 and the F4. Shortly after Nikon came out with the current top of the line model, the F5, they released another professional camera that has a lot of features found in the F5 and also some others that are not included in the more expensive model. The camera is the F100 and I own two and prefer it to the F5 because it very easy to use and not bulky as the top of the line model. I also work with a Nikon N90 whenI have to shoot chrome (slide) films and prefer to use that camera because I find it well suited to that type of film because of the very precise exposure meter found in that model. During the past year and a half, almost all of my professional work has been created with my Fuji Finepix Professional S1 digital camera. All of the pictures Joe Radifer was kind enough to post for me recently on my "KUALOA PHOTO SHOOT" topic was created with the S1 camera. Mark is correct when he said that film is better but professional digital imaging is getting there and eventually film will be completly replaced by digital. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Peter Berrett Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 602 From: Victoria, Australia Registered: Nov 2000 posted 05-11-2003 03:48 AM                        Thanks everyone I went out today and bought the Kodak CX-4210 after studying its specifications. The important thing to note is that I'm not interested in professional photography but rather just want a camera that will take 35mm or similar quality photos. I took the camera for a test run today and am happy to report that I am very impressed with the results. Uploading to a computer using the USB cable is easy - you just connect, turn the computer on and the software automatically recognises that you want to upload the pictures. I found the quality of pictures to be very good and the 2mg resolution pics quite adequate for my purposes.The software that comes with the computer is quite easy to use. I plan to add a 128 meg mulytimedia card (MMC) to the camera before going on holidays and this will mean that plenty of photos will be able to be taken before needing to upload. There was a similarly priced camera (a Polaroid) but this used Smartmedia. I figured that MMC, being a Kodak product, is likely to be more widely accepted at Netcafes etc than Smart media. It's a bit like choosing Visa over American Express. My inlaws were also impressed with the camera. I can recommend it as a good beginners camera. At $US140 or thereabouts it's good value. Here are some examples of the finished product (at 2 meg resolution) http://members.optusnet.com.au/~p.berrett/1.JPG http://members.optusnet.com.au/~p.berrett/2.JPG These files are reasonably large and may take a while to load. They are of two paintings I purchased in Bali. cheers Peter  |  IP: Logged John Spooner Expert Film Handler Posts: 186 From: South Australia, Australia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 05-11-2003 09:44 AM                     Dear Peter. I have had a Kodak DX4900 camera (4mp resolution) for a few months now, it is quite a good unit. My photo on the left was taken with it. I also purchased the travel kit which includes a soft carry case, camera pouch, nimh battery and rapid charger. I don`t have an easyshare dock as the usb cable is included with the camera.. As a matter of interest, Officeworks are currently having a sale of the Easyshare 2 dock for a good price. Regards. John S, Adelaide.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 05-11-2003 09:47 AM                        A very good program to look at and organise digital pictures is ACDSee. There are also some basic editing tools included.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 05-12-2003 01:45 AM                        Windows XP might also be worth having for digital camera users, as it can use USB-connected memory card readers without any additional drivers and software: the functionality is built in.  |  IP: Logged

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