requesting digital camera update

Bird · Mar 2, 2002

SHF, I've got the Olympus D460Zoom and use the Flashpath adapter, too. It's certainly been good enough for me; got it at Circuit City. I first got one of the Sonys that used a floppy disk, but it was defective - no flash, and by the time I got that thing sent back and got a refund, I decided no more Sony products./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

blurrybill · Mar 2, 2002

SHF and Bird,

Thanks for the "width" comment -- didn't realize that was an issue but makes sense. How are those measurements given? For example, what is the width measure for a standard 35mm camera? Also guys, excuse my ignorance, but please explain how a "flashpath adapter" works and compare it to other systems. Thanks.

Bill

Buck · Mar 2, 2002

F.Y.I.

1) Kodak as of Dec. and Jan. is #1 in digital camera sales.

2) At the PMA (Photographic Manufacturers Association) convention last week, they printed photos taken from a variety of different digital cameras. They showed these photos to the attendees for blind rating and Kodak won!

3) You might not have known this, but Kodak invented the digital camera. They own many of the basic patents, and now Kodak is the only company making money in this business. Therefore, ask yourself who will be in this business in ten years.

4) I know a lot of you won't buy anything unless the company is Japanese, but you ought to look at Kodak's easy-share system. It allows you to recharge the camera's batteries and transfer pictures to your computer while the camera is place in a simple mount. Very simple to use.

Buck

Robert_in_NY · Mar 2, 2002

Don't clump all sonys into one group. Sony is like all the other companies and has many different products at different scales. I have a Sony DSC-D770 which takes exceptional pics. It uses the memory stick which is no big deal as they hold a lot of images. I paid around $670 and am looking at the new Sony DSC-D707 which is a 5 mega pixel camera. I have used others and have a Kyocera also but prefer the Sony. This pic was taken with one of the lowest settings on my camera.

Bird · Mar 2, 2002

explain how a "flashpath adapter" works and compare it to other systems

Bill, my Olympus uses a "Smart Media" card to store the pictures (approx. 1.5" x 1.75" in size) and came with the cable to plug to connect the camera to the computer to load the pictures into the computer. Of course, the ports on the computer are on the back and I didn't want to go to the trouble of hooking up and unhooking cables, so I've never use the cable. Instead, when I bought the camera, I also bought the "Flashpath Adapter". You take the little Smart Media card out of the camera, insert it into the adapter, and insert the adapter into the floppy drive and use it like any floppy disk. Just seems to be the most convenient way to do it for me. The "Flashpath Adapter" came with software you have to install on your computer, but that was simple.

Anonymous Poster · Mar 2, 2002

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/forumfiles/35-67298-Camera-Bird-Fairtest.jpg>Picture from my Kodak 2 Mega Pixel camera</A>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=photos&Number=91584&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1>Another thread on Buying Digital Cameras</A>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=off&Number=92205&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1#Post92205>Speaking of Digital Cameras…</A>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=photos&Number=55129&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1#Post55129>Testing a Cheap Digital Camera…</A>

I started with an el cheapo $49. digital, moved to a Kodak clearance unit... and now waiting for a Olympus release of a 10X optical {E100 successor?}...

Hopefully Muhammad will jump in here and give some of his digital camera expertise... I saw him take a number of pictures in very poor lighting conditions and then the posted results... I was there and I still don't believe the beautiful results... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

blurrybill · Mar 2, 2002

Thanks for this compiled info, John. BTW, are you the John Miller that coordinates the athealth.com newsletter? Just wondering.

Bill

Bird · Mar 2, 2002

pictures in very poor lighting conditions 

That's an interesting thing about the digital cameras to me, John. I've taken lots of pictures indoors (for example, in my shop building) where the lighting wasn't too good and when I put them on the computer and use the "Instant Fix" feature of the Olympus software, the pictures frequently look better than the real life scene./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

TerryinMD · Mar 2, 2002

I bought a Kodak DX3600 last fall. I would classify it as a middle of the road digital camera. 2.1 Megapixels with 2x optical zoom. It uses the compact flash memory cartridges which are relatively inexpensive and easy to use. I just recently bought the Docking station for it that makes copying the pictures very simple. Just slip the camera into the dock, push the button, and the camera is recognized by the PC and the pictures are transferred to the PC. The docking station also charges the batteries. Neat setup.

You can the camera and docking station at Sams for around $350.

Terry

Anonymous Poster · Mar 2, 2002

...are you the John Miller that coordinates the athealth.com newsletter?...

No Bill...

But they did name a room after both of us... /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif