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Digital camera ???

Started by isawlogs, February 16, 2004, 07:11:11 PM

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isawlogs

It's time to get a camera ....I'm thinking that its time for a digital but dont know anything about them  :P... Can any of you help with what I should be looking for  ??? What is the price of one  ???
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Tom

Mines aging and an old model but it is an olympus D-340R and has done a good job for what I've asked of it.  It is a point and shoot that we gave about $300 about 4 years ago.  It uses a "Smart Card", as opposed to a disk, which I read with a card reader on my HP printer.  I can use a cable and plug it into my computer also.

Here is an old thread on Digitals

https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=general;action=display;num=1069949617;start=18

rbarshaw

A good place to look is Best Buy. They can advise you. Prices range from $29.99 to Beyond most peoples reach. I got an AIPTEK DV 3100 for $119, it seems to meet most of my needs, still learning to use it for the finer points, it is easy to use.
Been doing so much with so little for so long I can now do anything with nothing, except help from y'all!
By the way rbarshaw is short for Robert Barshaw.
My Second Mill Is Shopbuilt 64HP,37" wheels, still a work in progress.

Texas Ranger

I dropped and destroyed our $1700.00 professional Sony.  Went to Ebay and found the same camera, bought it for $202.50 on bid.  Of course, it is dated technology, but one I am familiar with, and am satisfied to use.
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

etat

I just bought a Kodac Digital DC280 off of ebay.  I shopped very carefully, and emailed the owner before buying.  The camera was about two years old and well taken care of.  He sent me copies of pictures he had taken with it.  It came with a hard case, all cables and software, battery charger, and extra new batteries, and extra photo and close up lens.  He said he was selling because he was upgrading to a later model and I believed him.  It also has a card that you can take a LOT of pictures on.  You can download them on a computer and then resize them with a number of programs, some free, some you have to buy.  InfraView, and ImageForge is a couple of pretty good ones to try, there may be others but I used these because they'd let you try them for free.  I am going to purchase one of them and get the avalable upgrades as soon as I make up my mind which.  You can crop, rotate, resize, a whole bunch of things.  Tom gave me some really good tips before I started learning but it's still kind of complicated to me.  I always save the orginal picture because sometimes I mess em up a bunch.  As long as you save the original picture you can always start over.

This is my son Jamie, my daughter-in-law Michelle, and my new grandson, RYAN



This is Ryan and it is the same picture, just closed in and a circle around him, a little better job of optimizing as the actual picture was too light, something about the way I had the flash set.




And here's the latest.  It was taken through the glass of the nusery with the camera held right against the glass and the lens right between the chicken wire stuff in the glass, no flash, and set for florscent lights.  I took a BUNCH of em just to get a few good ones. This one all I had to do was resize and crop and save using the settings on imageforge.



Older reviews on the DC280 indicate that there are other camers that do a lot better job of taking inside pictures.  Somewhere on this forum there was a link to a picture and story of fireman fighting forrestry fires, and a bad outcome.  The story said that this is what kind of camera the photographer used, so I figgured it was good enough for me.  It's pretty heavy and I'm sure there are others that are newer, lighter, and better, but I'm happy, especially compared to what I had.

Try to size pictures according to the tips on this forum, and as you are dealing with pizels try to crop out anything but what you want the final picture to be. This will make the final quality of the picture better as you won't waste your pixels on junk.  Then try to save them at as close as possible to the maxium of 15000 bites, without going over.  These are all tips I received from Tom.

I spent many many hours trying to learn what Tom was saying.  If anyone wants any help if you'll send me an instant message I'll try to help and pass on what I have learned even though I am far from expert..   Again, Thanks Tom.

Old Age and Treachery will outperform Youth and Inexperence. The thing is, getting older is starting to be painful.

Haytrader

Mine is a Kodak DC3200. It came with a printer and all the cables to hook to the puter plus photo paper to make pictures.
All purchased at Wally World for just over $200 on sale.
I think after the sale they discontinued them.. >:(
If I was getting another all I would want different is zoom.
Haytrader

Engineer

I have a Fuji Finepix S602Z, which was $699US new, and may be out of most casual users' price ranges, but it's an absolutely *awesome* camera, with far more features than I'll ever use.  I bought it to replace a Canon film camera, and the picture quality is stunning - better than the film in most cases.

Jon

Bill_B

I just purchased my first digital camera Kodak 6340. Walmart had it on sale under 250. I have posted photos to the forum and used Irfan- view to resize.  Irfan-view is free.
Bill B

rebocardo

One of the most important things is does it work with your operating system and computer. Might be iffy on an older system. In that case, an older Sony that uses floppies is ideal. Actually, I like the idea of using floppies rather then memory sticks, especially in the woods.

If you are taking pictures of stuff just for E-Bay and such, 640x480 will be enough. If you are doing family memories, then get a camera that does true color, has a LCD viewer, and will work with a photo printer without being attached to a computer.

DR_Buck

Owned and operated 5 digital cameras over the last couple years.   What you are willing to pay will determine which camera you should buy, so I won't suggest any specific one.  But here are a few points you should consider:

1.  Make sure it uses standard batteries.  Stay away from anything that uses custom or proprietary battery packs.  AA NM hi 1800 MA work well for most all that use AA batteries.

2.  Get as much 'optical'  zoom as you can afford, 3x or better.  Digital zoom is a waste.  

3.   Get something with at least 3.2 mega pixels.  This will allow you to print 5x7 prints that should look good from any of the low end photo printers like the cheaper Epsons.

4.  Look for something that uses smart media (SM) or secure digital (SD).   These are not as expensive as other media formats and readers for your computer are fairly cheap as well.  Get a couple at least 128 MB.  The last thing you will want to do is run out of media space (film) when you are away from the computer and can't download the media and clear it.  Beware, Sony cameras use a proprietary media that is more expensive than most other formats.

Any of the Minolta, Cannon, Toshiba and Fuji Fine-pix are decent cameras and take great pictures.  As I said, its all in what you are willing to spend.

Good Luck Looking,

Dave :)
Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

DextorDee

My first digital was a Kodak DC 3200 great camera really simple. Cameras have come along way since that one.
Also got a Fuji 2650 with 3x optical bought on sale at Bestbuy. Not impressed with this one. :-X Bought the girl friend a Canon with 3xoptical great camera uses compact flash .
Best advice I can give is shop around, compare,campare and compare some more digital cameras are like computers. They got a new bigger better one before ya can get out the door.
Agree with DR Buck about memory, batterys ,digital zoom don't even be concerned with digital zoom or 10 zealon megapixels.
I also been looking at the Kodak 6340 waitin on the price to drop.
I luv digital cameras jus git ya some extra memory and a pack of AA batterys and shoot away, ya can always delete whatch don't want.
Whew I'm done ;D
Good Luck
Ken
Ken
KI4BMW
North East Georgia

Jeff

QuoteMake sure it uses standard batteries.  Stay away from anything that uses custom or proprietary battery packs.  AA NM hi 1800 MA work well for most all that use AA batteries.
 
I gotta disagree with that, at least with our application. We had a very forgetable camera before we got this sony, and it ate regualr batteries. The rechargable battery pack that we got with the sony mavica, plus the back-up has been all we need. It can be charged in the car, or a hotel room and they will take a couple hundred photos on a charge if you dont mess with the display and movie playback functions to much.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

SwampDonkey

All good advice, BTW

I have a HP 618 digital with 2.1 megapixel. I've had it 3 years now. Its been a good camera, although I think its a little hard on battery power. The regular Duracell and Energizer die fast in this. I use a rechargeable Energizer battery for digital devices and they last alot longer. When you use the realtime video display your battery meter goes.....blimp in a few minutes. So I only use realtime video when pluged into AC and doing closeups, closer than 4 feet. There is a CF card slot, USB slot and DC slot. Also there is a audio capture button, however I've never figured it out and the manual doesn't explain how it works either other than to say push and record after you take a picture. It was pricy when I bought it back then and I see HP have new 5.x megapixal cameras for under $500 CDN. I picked up some Tiffen lenses and lens mounting bracket at Best Buy in Knoxville TN on a trip down there 2.5 years ago. They are a nice set of lenses and worth almost as much as the camera. That's the way prices seem to work out on lens items. The camera has red eye reduction, flash, night flash , auto focus range settings(macro-infinity), timer, remote. I'de buy another HP if the need arrises. This unit sure has been handy for my management planning work and the landowner sure likes pictures of his/her woodlot when your describing what each of his stands are comprised of. Get alot of praise for that. Comes in handly for before and after shots of some of our work also. Absentee landowners are especially gratefull for the shots when you submit to them a monthly progress report. Makes the owner feel he's right there on sight.


cheers all
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

DR_Buck

Jeff,

I started out with the Mavica FD-90 and it worked fine.  I had 3 battery packs at $45 each. I could get around 70-80 picts without the flash per recharge.  Problem come in when you're not somewhere to recharge, like the Australian outback or even a weekend Boy Scout camp.   I've averaged 8000 picts a year since I went digital back in '97 and the convenience of being able to stop at any drug store for those 'emergency' AA batteries can't be beat.   My latest camera, a Minolta Dimage 7, eats regular alkaline AA batteries, but with 1800 MA and higher NM hi batteries I get about 80 flash pictures per recharge.  Best thing is I pay around 80 cents per battery and get 100 recharges.
Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

isawlogs

I really appreciate all of your input on this I have not yet decided on what to buy  :P. Seems like it is harder to decide on what camera to get and with what then it is for me to get a car... ::) ??? At least with the car I know where I stand or at the minimum think I know where . ;D
 I've been reading this post over a few times ( 4or5) and still I 'm not quite sure of a few things
 : pixels.... 2 or more and what do they do  ???
 : optical 3x  ??? ???
  
  to make this easy ;D ;D  not necessarily to have a brand name but what are to basic requirements needed in a camera
 I"m thinking $ 200.00 $300.00 range
 Ebay is fine with me (dont need to be new )
  I would like to be able to take pics of pics that I have and maibe print some 8x10
  As far as the puter goes its fairly new(1 year) and it is   equal to a pent 4  Its run with win xp
 I would like to take time to thank those of you that are helping me with this  8) as I'm getting into this digital thing with blinders on I have no clue as to what to get... ;) ;) ;D ;D
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Tom

Pixels kinda equate to the little dots in a picture in the newspaper.  The more little dots, the more apparent sharpness the picture will have.  My Olympus has 1.3 megapixels and will produce an 8x10 if care is used in framing the picture when it is shot so that minimal cropping is required.  Even though it is capable of the higher pixel count, it has 3 other options of lower pixel count that allows more pictures to be shot on a card without emptying it. You sacrifice sharpness for quantity of pictures.

There are two types of zoom.  One is optical zoom and one is digital zoom.  

Optical zoom is the same thing you use on a film camera.  The zooming is done with the glass lense and the image on the film is the stated density whether the image was zoomed or not. It's just that a digital camera has sensors in stead of film.

Digital zoom does nothing but crop a small portion of the picture before it is shot to be stored on the storage device.  that means that the densityof the entire picture is one thing but the density of the cropped out part has a density no greater than its part of the whole..  Kinda like cutting a picture out of the newspaper and then cutting a part out of it.

isawlogs

Tom
  Are pixels that important .. Do they have anything to do with the amount of pics that you can take  ???
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Tom

Yes but more importantly they relate to how much definition you get in your picture.  Why have a big picture if you can't tell what it is?  Storage capacity depends on the number of Bytes in a pixel.  A byte is a term for the computer storage definition and is composed of bits. A certain number of bits (switches that are on or off creating a binary system) make up a byte which represents a number, letter, color, etc. These numbering systems, binary, octal, decimal, hexadecimal, etc are used in computers to maximize storage.  

Not being a techy I'm not able to explain it any better than this.  More pixels is a good thing.

Let me go learn a little more techy stuff and see if I can explain it better.  I'll be right back. :D

Tom

Ok!  I'm Back and I found just the thing.  This little write-up is good and explains how to shop for a camer and even gives pictures.  Now we're getting somewhere. :D

http://www.photo.net/equipment/digital/cameras/basics/

I hope this solves some of the questions.  Come back when you finis it. ;D

isawlogs

I just went and did some reading  :P  The pixels are for resolution ...and the more memory the more you can store pics
 I think that I' m learnen a bit....
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Tom

Here is another site that may simplify the understanding of digitals.

http://www.shortcourses.com/

isawlogs

  Thanks  Tom
  I'm reading that book and when I finish  I'm sure I'll know what I need .
 How did you come on to this site  ??? I've been looking for something like that for a wile . It's great tells you everything in plain  english that even I can understand (my english is not real good takes foreever to write having to go to dictionary and back ) Would be a lot easyer if I good write it in french and push a buton and translate it ...
 I have a lot of pics that I would like to put on the forum and  once I get the camera it should be easier....Was going to get a scanner but a wile back  Jeff talked me out of it , seeing that you could take a pic of a pic and post...
  If you count the price of film developement  the trip ther eand back then the film itself  the digital does not take long to pay off ...
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Tom

I think your English is pretty good.  It'll get better too.  Has to since you are writing on the forum.  It's harder in print than to talk so you'll be getting pretty good at this before long.

If you can only have one device, Jeff's right.  There is still a use for a scanner and you may want to get one of those later.  I have one that has helped me to save some of my old family pictures.  It even has a device on it that allows me to copy slides.   Copying these old pictures and then using the software to retouch scratchs and folds has been a chore but it is certainly rewarding.

Jason_WI

Those cheap wally word cameras like the aiptek use a CMOS imager and don't work well at taking pictures in low light or indoors.

I have a 3 year old EPSON 850z that is 2.11 MP. I have printed out 8x10 pics and they look great. It has 3x zoom, hot shoe, uses 4 AA batteries, and compact flash or micro drive. I spent 720 on it and another 150 for a add on lens set that I can take pretty good closeups with.

Jason
Norwood LM2000, 20HP Honda, 3 bed extentions. Norwood Edgemate edger. Gehl 4835SXT

Stump Jumper

We are still looking also bought one from Meijers think is was samsung did 3.2 megapixels was not happy with the color quality.  One thing nice is the 30 day money back guarantee try it and if you don't like it take it back.

 Depending on what you will be using it for is how many pixels you want.  I like to do pictures up to 8x10 so I need the higher pixels and better quality haven't found one to meet my needs in my price range yet.
Jeff
May God Bless.
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