Re: Choosing a Camera
- From: Isaiah Beard <sacredpoet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 01 Aug 2005 11:09:41 -0400
Alan S wrote:
I wandered the world a couple of years ago, took lots of shots (1500+) with my normal (film) point-and-shoot camera and faced a horrendous developing bill when I got home. I also had some problems with airport security (20+ flights) trying to X-ray my exposed films as they mounted up.
1. Non-expert user. Simple and quick for fast operation when needed, but also suitable for modest portrait and artwork use. No additional filters, lenses etc.
It might help us out if you told us what model of film camera you were using, and whether you want to keep a similar feature set, or if you want to get a bit more advanced.
2. Budget <AU$500 (US$350) (Yeah - Iknow:-) 3. Reasonable zoom ability.
Quite a few cameras fall into this range, usually in the 5-6 megapixel range. Though a Nikon 7900 (7.1 Megapixel) can be had through B&H in the US for $329 + shipping.
4. Able to crop and expand small segments of a photo later without too much loss of definition.
Haven't seen any consumer cameras that do this natively. Most leave this kind of processing up to the user on photo editing software on a computer.
5. Reasonable memory storage, simple to use, and capable of uploading to home base using internet cafe's.
Well, most digital cameras have minimal amounts of internal memory, mainly for intermediate processing before storing to a user-supplied flash memory, CD, CF, xD or other format of memory card. The amount of storage is up to you, and how much storage you want/can afford to buy. I currently have a 1GB and a 512MB SD card for my Nikon, and in total those cards generally hold around 375 photos in high quality JPG at 7.1 MP. As I don't take shots of *every* animal, vegetable, and mineral I come across and often have a laptop handy or at least stowed away within decent walking distance, this is plenty of storage for me. In total this memory costed around $150, though you can get similar storage cpacity for cheaper or more expensive, depending on brand name, advertised level of quality, and speed. I stuck with the mid-high range (Lexar Platinum) because I didn't feel it wise to go cheap on photo storage.
As far as uploading photos to home via an internet cafe, that depends on the cafe and its capabilities. If the have computers equipped with card readers, you can just insert the memry cards and upload directly off them. Failing that, if the cafe will let you hook up to a USB port, then you can hook your camera up directly. Most cameras have a generic "mass storage device" profile that will usually work withouth having to isntall software, as long as the internet cafe's computers and OS versions are up to date.
Personally, I avoid internet cafe's altogether. With the amount of computer use and volume of data transfer I amass while travelling, I determined it was cheaper in the long run to get my own laptop and store images there until I can get home. If the hotel has broadband, all the better: I use the laptop to send my images home. If not and I absolutely must get something out, a GSM/GPRS/EDGE-capable cell phone connected to the laptop over bluetooth or USB will get the job done to send the more important images back, albeit a bit slowly.
6. Memory capable of transfer to floppys or CD/DVD at internet cafe's for mailing home.
Again, this will have to depend on the internet cafe's abilities, which may vary from place to place.
-- E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. .
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