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digital camera

updated sun 18 jun 06

 

KATHY HILL on sat 20 feb 99


Dear Jane,

You might want to avoid models that do not store images on a disc. My
husband and I have had limited experience this year with digital cameras
at the schools we teach at. His model does not have a disc and it is very
inconvenient to wait to download images from the camera before someone
else can use the camera.

I have used a Sony Mavica. The disc feature is very convenient for
sharing the camera with other staff. It has multiple settings for indoor
and outdoor shots as well as a zoom feature. It also came with a CD to
install Photo Studio on my classroom computer. I haven't tried
photographing my work yet, and I don't know what dpi is for this model.

Price last fall was around $700.00

Good luck in your search

Kathy in Ohio
glad to have my computer up and running again. My son ("nickname Techno
boy") was trying to add memory to our computer and manged to crash the
hard drive. Fortunately he has some "techno friends" !!

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Michelle Henderson on sun 29 aug 99

ebburke@bellsouth.net writes:

<< Does anyone in Clayart-land have any knowlegde or experience with digital
photography and computer enhancement? It seems to me the most critical
aspect of product photography is the lighting. I'm curious if the computer
programs, such as Photoshop, can enhance in that manner?????>>

For my studio, and my husband's custom furniture business, we decided upon a
digital camera. We initially bought a low cost Polaroid, and the quality was
very poor. We ended up with a Sony Mavica, and I cant be more pleased. I
also have a scanner, but I find that the "instant" aspect of having the
digital far outweighs the scanner, and in the long run saves on wasted film,
etc. I take pictures of my bisque before glazing, print a pic on cheap
paper, then use this as a detailed "glaze diary". I keep notes on what
glazes, techniques, etc I use on each piece for future reference. For my
husband's work, we find that our customers are fascinated by the process and
absolutely fall out over pictures of the piece from "block of wood" to
finished product. The software varies also, I tried several, and like "The
Print Shop Deluxe". It does allow you to adjust lighting, but I prefer to
take pics outside in natural light to begin with...the beauty of the digital
is if it doesnt look right, delete the pics and take more! Like I said, it
is personal preference, but I couldnt be happier..the mavica is probobly my
most satisfying purchase in a long while.
Michelle

claybair on mon 3 dec 01


Hi Veena,
I love my Olympus 3030 I bought it last year. The prices have come down
considerably since then. I use rechargeable batteries that last surprisingly
long.
I am able to brighten, add contrast, crop and repair shots taken in Seattle
area daylight which is pretty dim these days. Like the computer .... I don't
know how I survived without it! I use the 35mm a lot less than I used to
although I still use it for slides. I just love the instant gratification
the digital camera delivers.
I suggest you go to Best Buy or Comp USA and test out the ones they have to
see which you like best.
Gayle Bair- in Soggyland WA. Soon I won't need to take the ferry to Seattle
as I am developing webbed feet! A 30-40ft. Alder came down in a severe
wind/rain storm. It fell between my garden art missed the back porch by
inches... amazing!
Bainbridge Island, WA
http://claybair.com

Veena Raghavan on mon 3 dec 01


Dear Clayarters,

Here I am again with a request for help. I am about to launch myself into=

the world of digital photography to photograph my work, and I am totally
ignorant about what camera to buy. I have read many posts from the
archives, but am still at a loss.

I would appreciate any help from anyone who has bought a digital camera
recently for the purposes of photographing their work both for putting it=

on a web page and for publication. In other words, I need a camera that
will take sharp clear close-up photos of pots and such.

I would like to stick with a camera that uses a flash card or Smartcard, =
so
have ruled out the Sony cameras that use either a disk or stick. The only=

camera that I have been able to actually see and handle that seems to fit=

the bill and, though expensive, does not cost the earth is the Nikon
Coolpix 995 seems to have all that I am looking for, but is still rather
pricey. A friend suggested the Olympus C-3000Z, which is less, but I have=

not been able to find it in the shops here. =


I am looking for what I would consider to be minimum requirements, as thi=
s
will be it, as I will not be able to upgrade to another camera in the
future. I would consider that the following would be necessary: a good
optical zoom to at least 110, spot metering, rechargeable batteries,
Smartcard or a flash card storage system, 3 megapixels, auto or manual
capabilities on exposure and focusing. being able to zoom into 1 to 3 fee=
t
with good focus, the ability to turn the flash on or off, a good picture
quality for printing, good color fidelity, easy to understand menus,
ability to connect to a USB port for downloading, and anything else anyon=
e
thinks is necessary. =


This is my opportunity, as the family is getting together to help me get
this as a late birthday and Christmas gift!

I would appreciate any help and advice.

I already have sites where I can see reviews, so I do not need those.

Also, someone had mentioned that the more pixels the larger the file. Doe=
s
this mean that if the camera takes pictures at 3. or more pixels that it =
is
too large a file to send out photos by e-mail, and if so, if a camera doe=
s
take pictures with that many pixels, is it possible to reduce the file in=

order to send it, so it will not overload anyones system.

What I really need here is an education! but I would appreciate any input=
!

Thank you all so much in advance.

All the best.

Veena

Veena Raghavan
75124.2520@compuserve.com

Lajos Kamocsay on mon 3 dec 01


The best digital camera under $1000 is the Canon G2 IMHO. Great metering,
macro, awesome colors, but best of all superlong battery life, and the
swivel LCD is a must.
If you need more info, go to www.dpreview.com.

Lajos

----- Original Message -----
From: "Veena Raghavan" <75124.2520@COMPUSERVE.COM>
To:
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 9:38 AM
Subject: digital camera


Dear Clayarters,

Here I am again with a request for help. I am about to launch myself into
the world of digital photography to photograph my work, and I am totally
ignorant about what camera to buy. I have read many posts from the
archives, but am still at a loss.

I would appreciate any help from anyone who has bought a digital camera
recently for the purposes of photographing their work both for putting it
on a web page and for publication. In other words, I need a camera that
will take sharp clear close-up photos of pots and such.

I would like to stick with a camera that uses a flash card or Smartcard, so
have ruled out the Sony cameras that use either a disk or stick. The only
camera that I have been able to actually see and handle that seems to fit
the bill and, though expensive, does not cost the earth is the Nikon
Coolpix 995 seems to have all that I am looking for, but is still rather
pricey. A friend suggested the Olympus C-3000Z, which is less, but I have
not been able to find it in the shops here.

I am looking for what I would consider to be minimum requirements, as this
will be it, as I will not be able to upgrade to another camera in the
future. I would consider that the following would be necessary: a good
optical zoom to at least 110, spot metering, rechargeable batteries,
Smartcard or a flash card storage system, 3 megapixels, auto or manual
capabilities on exposure and focusing. being able to zoom into 1 to 3 feet
with good focus, the ability to turn the flash on or off, a good picture
quality for printing, good color fidelity, easy to understand menus,
ability to connect to a USB port for downloading, and anything else anyone
thinks is necessary.

This is my opportunity, as the family is getting together to help me get
this as a late birthday and Christmas gift!

I would appreciate any help and advice.

I already have sites where I can see reviews, so I do not need those.

Also, someone had mentioned that the more pixels the larger the file. Does
this mean that if the camera takes pictures at 3. or more pixels that it is
too large a file to send out photos by e-mail, and if so, if a camera does
take pictures with that many pixels, is it possible to reduce the file in
order to send it, so it will not overload anyones system.

What I really need here is an education! but I would appreciate any input!

Thank you all so much in advance.

All the best.

Veena

Veena Raghavan
75124.2520@compuserve.com

____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.

Ann Semple on mon 3 dec 01


Veena
Consumer Reports tested and reviewed digital cameras in November, and their
3 top rated 3 & 4 megapixels ones were:
#1 Canon powerShot G1 ($800)
#2 Olympus Camedia C-3040($800)
#3 Olympus Camedia 310 ($1,800), C3000($600),C3030($700)
They also recommend checking prices at www.computershop.com,
www.pricecan.com, www.mysimoncom, and www.shopper.com . Hope this helps.

Ann annsemple@shaw.ca If you enjoy what you
do, you'll never w
ork another day in your life.
Confucius

Connie Waring on mon 3 dec 01


I have an Olympus CD-2100 UltraZoom and I am very happy with it. If you
scout around the web, you can find it for around $499. It uses smart
media. It is just 2 megapixel, but for mainly the web, even that generates
very large images and you have to reduce them down. It has a 10x optical
zoom and also does macro focusing. It has all the exposure features of a
good SLR - automatic, manual, shutter priority, apecture priority and
several different program modes as well as several different flash modes. I
do professional photography (film) and am very happy with the quality of the
images as well as the features rival those on my 35mm Nikon camera.

Thanks,

Connie



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
> Behalf Of Veena Raghavan
> Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 11:39 AM
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: digital camera
>
>
> Dear Clayarters,
>
> Here I am again with a request for help. I am about to launch myself into
> the world of digital photography to photograph my work, and I am totally
> ignorant about what camera to buy. I have read many posts from the
> archives, but am still at a loss.
>
> I would appreciate any help from anyone who has bought a digital camera
> recently for the purposes of photographing their work both for putting it
> on a web page and for publication. In other words, I need a camera that
> will take sharp clear close-up photos of pots and such.
>
> I would like to stick with a camera that uses a flash card or
> Smartcard, so
> have ruled out the Sony cameras that use either a disk or stick. The only
> camera that I have been able to actually see and handle that seems to fit
> the bill and, though expensive, does not cost the earth is the Nikon
> Coolpix 995 seems to have all that I am looking for, but is still rather
> pricey. A friend suggested the Olympus C-3000Z, which is less, but I have
> not been able to find it in the shops here.
>
> I am looking for what I would consider to be minimum requirements, as this
> will be it, as I will not be able to upgrade to another camera in the
> future. I would consider that the following would be necessary: a good
> optical zoom to at least 110, spot metering, rechargeable batteries,
> Smartcard or a flash card storage system, 3 megapixels, auto or manual
> capabilities on exposure and focusing. being able to zoom into 1 to 3 feet
> with good focus, the ability to turn the flash on or off, a good picture
> quality for printing, good color fidelity, easy to understand menus,
> ability to connect to a USB port for downloading, and anything else anyone
> thinks is necessary.
>
> This is my opportunity, as the family is getting together to help me get
> this as a late birthday and Christmas gift!
>
> I would appreciate any help and advice.
>
> I already have sites where I can see reviews, so I do not need those.
>
> Also, someone had mentioned that the more pixels the larger the file. Does
> this mean that if the camera takes pictures at 3. or more pixels
> that it is
> too large a file to send out photos by e-mail, and if so, if a camera does
> take pictures with that many pixels, is it possible to reduce the file in
> order to send it, so it will not overload anyones system.
>
> What I really need here is an education! but I would appreciate any input!
>
> Thank you all so much in advance.
>
> All the best.
>
> Veena
>
> Veena Raghavan
> 75124.2520@compuserve.com
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> ____________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.

Kara Rennert on mon 3 dec 01


I tried the Minolta DiMage 7 and was very happy with it. You can find it for $655
at http://www.bwayphoto.com/product.asp?item=mndimage7 It usually retails for
about $1400. But this is without a warranty, that costs extra. Otherwise, I have
the Nikon Coolpix 950 which I like, but it is not as good as the newer models. The
DiMage 7 is also 5-megapixel. A larger file is better for printed pictures, but not
for sending pictures via email. However, just open the picture in photoshop or some
cheap photo editor and change the size of the picture. The largest pictures I
usually send via email are in the 300-500 pixel range width and height.

-k

Richard Jeffery on mon 3 dec 01


Hi Veena

I love my Nikon Coolpix - earlier version - latest one fixes the three
complaints about mine - no USB, built in flash too close to the lens, and a
poor lag time between pressing shutter and it actually taking picture.

It depends what you want - the swivel body/lens arrangement is handy for
studio work, but perhaps less so to take out and about for "regular"
photography.

I really like it because it takes external flash - in fact I have used it
with my Bowens studio flash very successfully, in manual mode. The built in
flash can be turned off when using external flash, which is great. Of
course, the additional Nikon flash isn't cheap, although it does give very
good automatic results. It also has additional lens converters - I have a
wide angle which equates to about a 24mm lens in 35mm land.

That said, if I had the money I would buy something from the Nikon D1
series - SLR which takes Nikon lenses, etc.

If I didn't want the swivelling body, and fancied something more robust
looking to take outdoors (I'm not saying the Nikon isn't robust - it has a
metal body - I just worry about water entry at the swivel), I would go for
the Canon G2. I've not used it, but it has excellent reviews, and most
importantly in my opinion for studio type work, it can take external flash,
which should permit off the camera lighting.

Expensive? Yes - but high quality products usually are. You're also buying
into a warranty and service support deal. Canon and Nikon have been making
good cameras a long time.

Last, but by no means least, I would take a look at the Fuji range - again,
they make pro cameras of all sorts. have seen some stunning work done on
early Fuji digitals, but can't recommend any recent model. back to the
reviews, I'm afraid.

Of course, Nikon do/did cut down versions of the Coolpix 995 - not sure what
you lose apart from the swivelling body.

hope you find something

all the best

Richard

-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
Behalf Of Veena Raghavan
Sent: 03 December 2001 17:39
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: digital camera


Dear Clayarters,

Here I am again with a request for help. I am about to launch myself into
the world of digital photography to photograph my work, and I am totally
ignorant about what camera to buy. I have read many posts from the
archives, but am still at a loss.

I would appreciate any help from anyone who has bought a digital camera
recently for the purposes of photographing their work both for putting it
on a web page and for publication. In other words, I need a camera that
will take sharp clear close-up photos of pots and such.

I would like to stick with a camera that uses a flash card or Smartcard, so
have ruled out the Sony cameras that use either a disk or stick. The only
camera that I have been able to actually see and handle that seems to fit
the bill and, though expensive, does not cost the earth is the Nikon
Coolpix 995 seems to have all that I am looking for, but is still rather
pricey. A friend suggested the Olympus C-3000Z, which is less, but I have
not been able to find it in the shops here.

I am looking for what I would consider to be minimum requirements, as this
will be it, as I will not be able to upgrade to another camera in the
future. I would consider that the following would be necessary: a good
optical zoom to at least 110, spot metering, rechargeable batteries,
Smartcard or a flash card storage system, 3 megapixels, auto or manual
capabilities on exposure and focusing. being able to zoom into 1 to 3 feet
with good focus, the ability to turn the flash on or off, a good picture
quality for printing, good color fidelity, easy to understand menus,
ability to connect to a USB port for downloading, and anything else anyone
thinks is necessary.

This is my opportunity, as the family is getting together to help me get
this as a late birthday and Christmas gift!

I would appreciate any help and advice.

I already have sites where I can see reviews, so I do not need those.

Also, someone had mentioned that the more pixels the larger the file. Does
this mean that if the camera takes pictures at 3. or more pixels that it is
too large a file to send out photos by e-mail, and if so, if a camera does
take pictures with that many pixels, is it possible to reduce the file in
order to send it, so it will not overload anyones system.

What I really need here is an education! but I would appreciate any input!

Thank you all so much in advance.

All the best.

Veena

Veena Raghavan
75124.2520@compuserve.com

____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.

Barbara Skelton on mon 3 dec 01


Hi Veena. I have a CoolPix and while I'm new at it and haven't used it much-
it is an excellent camera--and approved of by friend's hubby and my oldest
son-= both professional photographers. Very sharp images, easy to use--etc,
etc---down side is it runs it's batteries down very fast so be sure to buy
the battery charger. Mine is a 990.
Good luck,
Barb in Oregon

Steve Mills on tue 4 dec 01


Dear Veena,

I have an Olympus 20/20 (this is old spec now), but if you can find one
it will do the job. It is 2.1 megapixels, has 3 X optical zoom, uses a
smart card, and is very compact and friendly. It uses AA batteries (I
use rechargeables), and if you avoid using the TFT screen all the time
it doesn't eat them! For photographing pots I use a mains adapter which
makes life a lot easier. I love it.

Hope this helps

Steve
Bath
UK


In message , Veena Raghavan <75124.2520@COMPUSERVE.COM> writes
>Dear Clayarters,
>
>Here I am again with a request for help. I am about to launch myself into=
>
>the world of digital photography to photograph my work, and I am totally
>ignorant about what camera to buy. I have read many posts from the
>archives, but am still at a loss.
>

--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK

Dave Finkelnburg on tue 4 dec 01


Hello Veena!
Just a brief comment about the smart card that Steve Mills mentioned. I
don't favor downloading pictures to your computer via a cable link, as your
originally mentioned. In my experience it is much faster to get a
self-powered 3.25-inch floppy disk. You remove the card from the camera,
plug it into the floppy, and put that in the computer's floppy disk drive.
The smart cards have become much less expensive, too.
Good luck in your camera quest!
Dave Finkelnburg

Jim Bob Salazar on tue 4 dec 01


hey there,

i have one of the sony mavica (mvc-fd87) digital cameras. it is very simple to
operate and even more simple in my opinion to retrieve and manage images. it takes
a 3 1/2" floppy and you just take the floppy out of the camera an put it right into
the computer and viola. another reason i really like it is because floppies are
less expensive than the memory sticks although this camera will do both. seems to
take pretty good photos to, here are some i have taken just days ago. these were
taken and posted with no cropping or "doctoring".

http://www.sulross.edu/~finearts/artfgal.html


have a great day,

jim bob

Richard Jeffery on tue 4 dec 01


for about £40 in UK - so much less in US, I guess, you can also get a USB
card reader for flashcards or smartmedia.

take the card out of camera, insert into reader (just a small gizmo with
slot, on a long cable so it hangs around the side of the PC).

Card then appears as another hard drive on PC - makes image transfer much
easier.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
Behalf Of Dave Finkelnburg
Sent: 04 December 2001 13:49
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: digital camera


Hello Veena!
Just a brief comment about the smart card that Steve Mills mentioned. I
don't favor downloading pictures to your computer via a cable link, as your
originally mentioned. In my experience it is much faster to get a
self-powered 3.25-inch floppy disk. You remove the card from the camera,
plug it into the floppy, and put that in the computer's floppy disk drive.
The smart cards have become much less expensive, too.
Good luck in your camera quest!
Dave Finkelnburg

____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.

Robert Dye on wed 5 dec 01


Why in the world would you rule out memory sticks? I have a sony and am
very happy with it. I bought it to photograph my work, but am finding
great enjoyment using it for creative photograpy.

Do be aware however, that first day with whichever camera you decide on
will be very frustrating, it will seem very complicated. The digital
cameras have capabilities not even thought of before. You can change the
resolution, you can review your pictures in the field, and delete those
that didn't work. You can display your pictures on many TV sets, directly
from the camera. You can automatically show the date and time in the lower
right of your photos, or not. All these capabilities come at the price of
complexity. These things will seem complicated at first, but are easy to
learn, just look up each feature in the documentation as you need them,
they will seem intuitive very quickly.

I highly recommend a lithium battery which is usually extra, and the
equivalent of at least 32 meg of memory. This will give you around 40
pictures before you need to empty your camera, depending on what resolution
you choose to shoot at. If it doesn't come with the camera, get at least a
house current recharger; if you might use it on field trips you may need a
car lighter recharger, and an extra memory stick, (or whatever.) My camera
didn't come with anything but flashlight batteries, a 4 meg memory stick, a
usb cable, and a tv cable, meaning I had to buy a camera case as well.

Robert Dye on wed 5 dec 01


The difference in download speed between a floppy and USB is not
noticeable, and my feeling is that USB is faster, but I haven't timed them,
since my digital camera came with USB.

Marie Gibbons on wed 5 dec 01


In a message dated 12/5/01 6:09:59 AM Pacific Standard Time, dyerc@TRITON.NET
writes:
> The difference in download speed between a floppy and USB is not
> noticeable, and my feeling is that USB is faster, but I haven't timed them,
> since my digital camera came with USB.
>

I think the biggest difference between a USB and floppy is convenience. I
use a Sony Mavica.. it uses a floppy, and I love it... the convenience of
just changing disc and not having to empty the camera... also you don't have
to download and then save the files to another program, you can just keep a
file of the disc and work from that when you want to use the images.

marie gibbons
www.oooladies.com

Natalie Winter on wed 5 dec 01


(This is my first post on the list, I've just lurked hitherto, so hello
to everyone from Natalie in Exeter, UK)

Regarding the "floppy disk" adapters for digital cameras: They are not
as fast as a USB cable, not by a long way. I think the contributor who
said that cable downloads were too slow was probably thinking about the
old RS232 serial data cables, now thankfully obsolete! USB can shift
data at 48 times the speed of a floppy disk adapter.

Many modern digicams have a built-in USB port so there's no need for a
separate adapter of any sort. The camera's smartcard appears as another
hard drive on the system as soon as you plug the cable in. You can then
open up picture files directly with any software you like.

For what it's worth, I use a Fuji FinePix 4700 which I've had for about
a year. It can go up to 1800 x 1200 resolution and has adjustable levels
of compression. I've found it very suitable for photographing pottery,
with a good macro facility. Before that I had an ancient Fuji DX-7 that
was much less suitable. The 4700 takes smartmedia cards (you can get
hundreds of pix on a 64 MB card) and has built-in USB for downloads. I'm
very satisfied with it, which is unusual for me -- I'm usually very
picky about any kind of computer equipment :)

Hope this helps,

Natalie Winter

The Dawnmist Website:
http://www.dawnmist.demon.co.uk

Erin Hayes on wed 5 dec 01


Hi All!

Our department just invested in a Sony Mavica camera with a mini CD-RW
storage - it goes right to a CD in the camera. This is a fantastic camera
with very high resolution, since you can save to a mini-CD. I think at the
highest resolution possible up to 18 images will fit on the CD, and at low
res over 800 images.

You hook it up to the PC/Mac with a USB cable and use it almost like another
drive. You can transfer images from the camera's CD right to your CD-RW
drive in your computer to save hard drive space. The camera has white
balance, a steadying feature and other very useful gadgets.

The only drawback is that it's absolutely abysmal for taking action shots.
We had a dance/music performance recently and by the time I clicked the
shutter to capture the ballet dancers in flight and the camera could capture
the image, the dancers were landed and moving on. But for stills it's
fantastic.

I think the model was Mavica MVCD-1000 - maybe? I think it's the only one
with an internal CD drive. We got it for about $800 or so, which I think
must be a good deal since we use it so much.

Erin.

Mike Gordon on wed 5 dec 01


Hi,
I use a Sony also and the floppy is great but it can't compare to my
Nikon 35mm for clarity. I would like to see the comparisson that Mel
talked about with his video stills. Mike

Richard Jeffery on wed 5 dec 01


Hi Natalie - welcome...

I keep meaning to try out your raku casting mix at some stage.....

Richard
Bournemouth UK
www.TheEleventhHour.co.uk


-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
Behalf Of Natalie Winter
Sent: 05 December 2001 18:45
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: digital camera


(This is my first post on the list, I've just lurked hitherto, so hello
to everyone from Natalie in Exeter, UK)

Regarding the "floppy disk" adapters for digital cameras: They are not
as fast as a USB cable, not by a long way. I think the contributor who
said that cable downloads were too slow was probably thinking about the
old RS232 serial data cables, now thankfully obsolete! USB can shift
data at 48 times the speed of a floppy disk adapter.

Many modern digicams have a built-in USB port so there's no need for a
separate adapter of any sort. The camera's smartcard appears as another
hard drive on the system as soon as you plug the cable in. You can then
open up picture files directly with any software you like.

For what it's worth, I use a Fuji FinePix 4700 which I've had for about
a year. It can go up to 1800 x 1200 resolution and has adjustable levels
of compression. I've found it very suitable for photographing pottery,
with a good macro facility. Before that I had an ancient Fuji DX-7 that
was much less suitable. The 4700 takes smartmedia cards (you can get
hundreds of pix on a 64 MB card) and has built-in USB for downloads. I'm
very satisfied with it, which is unusual for me -- I'm usually very
picky about any kind of computer equipment :)

Hope this helps,

Natalie Winter

The Dawnmist Website:
http://www.dawnmist.demon.co.uk

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Steve Mills on thu 6 dec 01


Re. photos for the web; there's a company called Spinwave, who market a
product called JPEG Cruncher (they also do one for GIFs) their website
is: http://www.jpegcrucher.com
it does exactly what it says; reducing the file size to manageable
limits quickly and easily. You can try it out on the web in either
format, the cost if you buy it is very small and worth it.
I have no connexion with this company other than that of a satisfied
customer
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK

Veena Raghavan on fri 7 dec 01


Hi Ursy,

Thanks for your input. I think the 5000 will more much more than I can
afford, but it is probably the reason why the 995 has come down in price.=
I
think that is probably the one I will get.

Thanks and good luck with your new camera.



All the best.

Veena
Veena Raghavan
75124.2520@compuserve.com

Greentree on sun 22 feb 04


Chris, Walter Mossberg did a review in the WSJ last week on digital =
cameras. He's my technology guru. You might want to look at his =
reviews. I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday, but not sure. =20

Good luck.

Nancy

p.s. a couple years ago i bought a reconditioned nikon cool piks 775 =
for about $240 and it's been great. I know things have advanced a lot =
since then, but going digital is the right thing no doubt.

Sheron Roberts on sat 17 jun 06


Just last month I received an Olympus FE-120
from my husband(early birthday gift)
It has 6megapixal capabilities, a memory card
12x zoom, movie mode, as well as other features.
The things I like about it most are, you can take
close up pictures of your subjects, closer than
any other camera I have ever owned, as close
as 7.9 inches, and the=20
download to the computer is extremely easy,
via usb. =20
The camera is also capable of 3 differant=20
resolution sizes and panaramic shots.
My problem is now I annoy my 2 year old
grandson, following him around with the camera.
I researched the internet and found this camera
priced at anywhere from $120.00 to $320.00 US.
Sheron in NC

Allyson May on sat 17 jun 06


Hey David,

I am very low on the proficiency scale when it comes to technology. I =
received a Canon Digital EOS Rebel XT for Christmas and with just a =
little reading of the manual was taking pictures. I had a friend show =
me how to hook it up to the computer so you can see what you just shot =
on a big screen. It comes with a software package that helps you do =
this. Really beats bending down to look at the little window after =
every shot. I have been very pleased thus far and am getting better =
with each photo session. Everything seems pretty easy to learn and all =
the button functions are sensibly organized. I made the decision to get =
one due to the high cost of professional sessions as well as the fact =
that the last photographer I used dropped a piece and shattered it. =
Yikes!
Hope this helps.
Peace,
Allyson May
Stoney Creek Pottery
Bloomington, IN

Brian Fistler on sat 17 jun 06


On Sat, 2006-06-17 at 10:25 -0400, Sheron Roberts wrote:
> ou can take
> close up pictures of your subjects, closer than
> any other camera I have ever owned, as close
> as 7.9 inches,

I was thinking my wife's Canon A620 I got her can get focus about 2"
away from an item.. The only problem at that range is trying to get
light around the camera for a good picture. The primary condieration
for her (Lampwork artist) was the ability to take closeup pictures of
her glass beads.

There were quite a few other choiced out there with at least comparable
close-up ability. Most have to be put into "macro mode" which varies
from manufacturer to manufacturer. You might want to read through your
manual, it's possible you can get even closer than your 7.9 inches.

Brian