O/T digital Camera

Re: O/T digital Camera *LINK*

Clay C in Miami

>Look at the Nikon 4600 or the Canon A520. Both are pretty straightforward, and (very important) will take regular AA batteries. Nothing worse than being far from home with a camera that either only uses its proprietary battery, or that needs recharging. They also use a 'standard' memory type -- here SD cards. Look at either one of these from Beach Camera (or Abe's of Maine, or similar) for about $160.

With the spare $40, add a larger storage card (at least 256MB - the tiny 16-32 MB ones that come with cameras are useless) and a set of rechargeable AA NiMH batteries and a charger. For another $10, add an 'SD card reader' - it's much faster (and saves your batteries) to download your pictures to the computer using a card reader than to do so directly from the camera itself.

Below, the link to the Nikon at Beach Camera.

Have fun!

Clay


Nikon 4600 at Beach Camera

Re: O/T digital Camera

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Todd,

Just about anything you get between $100 and $200 should work great.I got mine for $200 three years ago and it still does all I need.However,my camera is obsolete. You can get one like it now for $50.Technology grows in leaps these days.---Jack

For about $50 more...

Hoa Dinh in Alameda

>I recommend the Canon PowerShot SD300. You can find it on-line for about $250.

A few months ago, we decided to reward our son with a camera. He could pick his own camera, given a budget. After a week of researching, he decided on the SD300.

The quality of the photos blows me away. Its 4MP photos are comparable in quality with the 5MP photos from my Canon G5. Its start-up speed is amazing, about double the speed of the G5. I bought my son 2 no-name spare battery packs for $12 from eBay. During our trip to Washington DC, my son took more than 400 photos on three little battery packs (about 1" x 1 " X 1/4"). He has a 1GB SD memory card (about $60 IIRC).

The only complain I have about it is the weak built-in flash. But that's a given for all small cameras. For extended flash range (e.g. ceremonies), I use a G5 with an external flash gun.

-- Hoa

Re: For about $50 more...

kees

>sh canon ixus 30

Re: O/T digital Camera *LINK*

Bob Fawcett

>Here you go.


Buy me

Re: O/T digital Camera

Arw01

>Pay special attention to it's macro ability. This is the minimum distance from an object the camera can focus. When trying to get close ups, this can be an issue. Also in a dark shop, a tripod is necessary for many exposures.

Alan

Macro Ability

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native in FL. Exile :~(

>Alan,

What numbers or other indicators would I look for when it comes to Marco ability. I want something that would be good taking up close pics.

Thanks all for the tips so far, I'm going to research them all, and any others that I get.

Todd O.

Re: O/T digital Camera

Todd Hughes

>I use an old Sony Mavica that i bought over 7 years ago. It has been a real work horse, after taking many thousands of photos I have never had one bit of trouble other then having to buy a battery 4 years ago.Is big and clunky compared to some you can get today but for what I ,[and what you describe your needs to be] it works fine.I like the fact that it takes cheap 3 1/2 in. disks which I think makes it easier to use esp. for a slow head like me. No wires etc.Certainly takes great photos and is no trouble at all to get great detail.Matter of fact I often zoom in on a marking I can't make out and look at the photo to see what it is. I guess it's a dinasaur but again it works and that is what is important to me. I think I paid close to $600 for it way back then, now good used ones of newer vintage sell on the ebay for under $100. I bought my girlfriend one for christmas year last for around $100 off ebay that was like new and she hasn't had any trouble with it at all and uses

it alot.

Simple,Cheap, Sturdy, works great......what more could you want? ....Todd

Re: Macro Ability

Arw01

>Focus distance and what lense zoom setting.

EG 6" at 38mm is not as close as it sounds, 9" at 120mm would be WAY closer detail because of the magnification of 120mm vs 38mm.

Alan

Re: O/T digital Camera

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native in FL. Exile :~(

>Simple,Cheap, Sturdy, works great...what more could you want?

That is exactly what I've been wanting. We used a camera very similiar to yours in the Navy. Very easy to use. Take a picture, and POOF! it's right on disk, no fuss no muss. Been looking to find a camera like that, but have had no luck. I thought they quit making that style as everything now has momory cards/chips. I couldn't remember the name of the camera, but now I've got it Mavica. I know that you've used your extensively, and if it'll survive the rigors of you it won't have a problem with me.

Todd O.

I'll only use it to take pics to put on WC and possibly e-bay. I'm the only guy I know of that toted a camera around while on Navy cruises and never took a picture while in foreign ports.

Re: O/T digital Camera - reviews

Barryvabeach

>Todd, there are a couple of sites that review digital cameras http://www.steves-digicams.com/ is one that I like as it has a picture of every side of the camera and gives you all the specs. you could ever need. Issues to consider , at least for me, battery ( I like the AA based so you won't be stuck waiting for a pack to recharge ), optical zoom ( I generally ignore digital zoom numbers - if you expect to use the camera outside your shop the zoom feature is nice), case type and closure - if you are going to keep it in your shop all the time, try to get a camera that closes up or is protected from sawdust - some have a shutter cover, others - some cameras have a sliding cover that encloses the whole front of the camera when you are not using it ( look at steves site at the canon A75 v the A300 when closed, lcd size - when you use macro mode to take a picture up close I use the LCD screen as a viewfinder - the larger the better - . As to megapixels - to me it is a nonissue - especially here or ebay, you want to post a small file and a 2MP or better can take photos that have more than enough detail. With my 2 MP - the "regular" or default quality photo is about 450 kb, the lower setting is about 60 kb which is much easier to upload. Good luck.

Re: O/T digital Camera

Clay C in Miami

>I agree that's a good simple choice - but that same model is $40 cheaper at Beach Camera (or Abe's of Maine, if you want to send your $ back 'home').

Clay

One concern ... *LINK*

Clay C in Miami

>Those older Mavicas do use the 3.5" 'floppy' disks. But nowadays, most basic computers don't come with a 3.5" drive at all, and they will become ever more uncommon in years to come ... whereas some newer ones already have built-in CF and/or SD card slots. Since you'll have to add either a 3.5" disk drive or a card reader as an option to any new computer you buy hereafter, that just doesn't make much difference. (Also, even at low resolutions, a floppy isn't likely to hold more than 15-20 images. A 512MB SD card for either the Canon or the Nikon can cost under $20 [including shipping], and will hold over 350 times as much as a 3.5" floppy [1.44MB]. A reader for the SD card costs under $10.)

It's true that you have no need for high resolutions - for posting on line, the 5, 6, 8-and-up MB cameras are way more than you need. But do compare prices - looking around for my sister recently, I found that some of the newer 4MB models were actually cheaper than their older, lesser 3MB equivalents! Indeed, that's why I recommended the Canon A520 or Nikon 4600 to you - strangely, they are now cheaper than the equivalent 3MB models, the A310 or Nikon 3200.

But, the 'macro' issue raised above is a very good one - lots of tool shots will make that awfully useful. Look at the Steve's Digicams reviews for any models that you're considering, and he'll tell you if it's decent for macro. Link to Steve's reviews below.

Have fun!

Clay


Steve's Digicams

Re: tripods are great!

paul womack

>Also in a dark shop, a tripod is necessary for many exposures.

A tripod is the best accessory for any camera, digital or film.

Using my digital camera, (a Canon A510, chosen for its manual control options) I simply set the aperture to F8 to get maximum sharpness and depth of field, and (usually) let the camera work out the exposure. Depending on available light, the exposure may be quite long. For any exposure over 1/125 a tripod will improve quality, be reducing camera shake. When doing this, you may as well go the whole hog, and either use a cable release (not commonly an option) or 2 second shutter delay, so you're not wobbling the camera when you capture the image.

sample image

BugBear

sagitta

john jesseph

>I followed a couple of links, and came to the sagitta discussion. This may be just what I need to calculate the arc of a comb on a triple back windsor with comb, before adjustment for aesthetics and comfort. I see a lot of these chairs that don't work visually because the comb is so far out of plane with the bows.

I really need to work on my digital photography, scrub/jack looks great!

Re: piccies...

paul womack

>I really need to work on my digital photography, scrub/jack looks great!

It's only a 3Mpixel camera - for web use, ANY modern camera has enough pixels.

But pixels aren't the only thing...

BugBear