BASICS (what every camera needs)
Storage
Media
Cameras are designed to use one particular storage
media so you generally have no choice between technologies once you settle on a
particular camera model. Some higher end cameras give you a separate slot for
two different types of storage media (SM and CF see below). Once you fill
up the capacity of the storage card, you upload the pictures to your computer
and then you can erase the pictures from the card and keep using it over and
over again.
Smart Media was one of
the earliest media types used for digital camera image storage. SM cards, as
they are often abbreviated, are very thin (credit card thickness) and quite
small (1.5 x 1.75 in).
Hold the SM card so the gold colored rectangle is on
top and note the beveled corner on the top right -this should help you orient
the card for proper insertion into the camera or a card reader. SM cards are
still very commonly the only storage media in cameras with less than 2.5
MegaPixel sensors. The largest capacity SM card available today is 128Mb and
prices are now well under $100.
Compact Flash cards are
available in higher storage capacities than any other digital storage media
(with no moving parts), and are marketed by various brands as having extra fast
speeds. Actual tests show that the marketing blurbs overhyped and the speed
ratings are unclear since the testing conditions are not spelled out. For
example reading and writing speeds are not necessarily the same.
Memory Stick invented by
Sony is used only in Sony digital cameras and portable MP3 players. It is
shaped like a stick of gum but shorter and until recently they were far more
expensive than the alternative digital storage cards like SM and CF. Higher
capacity Memory sticks are not yet available. Because Sony digital cameras use
only Memory Stick storage Sony digital cameras are a breed apart -non standard.
Unlike the Beta/VHS controversy Memory Stick is, as far as I can tell, not
technologically superior to other storage media.
Secure Digital Media
(SDM) cards are the newest storage media for digital cameras and a variety of
other portable digital devices (portable audio players, PDA's). Shaped much
like SmartMedia card , they have tiny lock, to prevent data erasure, and are
capable of encrypting stored data. They are currently available in capacities
up to 256 and 512Mb. Some prognosticators think that SDM is the single digital
camera storage media that will become the standard of the future. We'll have to
see.
IBM Microdrive is an
extremely small hard drive with a current capacity of 1Gb. At a price of about
$300, the 1Gb Microdrive is substantially less costly than a 1Gb Compact Flash
card. So if you need lots of storage capacity look for a camera that is capable
of working with this storage media (virtually all of the newer of the mid or
higher priced cameras are compatible.
Battery
Power
NiMh (and Lithium Ion) rechargeable batteries will
provide the longest lasting and most economical power for your camera. These
batteries can be charged and recharged over and over again
(at least 1000 times). Unlike NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) which tended to
lose most of their capacity if you kept topping off their charge, rather than
letting them discharge prior to charging them, you can keep topping off the
charge on NiMh without penalty. The most cost efficient batteries are AA
rechargeable available in a variety of brands and capacities. Look for 1800ma
capacity and brands such as Powerex (Maha), and GP. There are a lot of
rechargers for these AA batteries with the Powerex ones rated best by careful
laboratory tests. Most cameras use four of these AA batteries which have
typical costs (for 4 pieces) of about $24 or less. A top notch battery charger
made by Powerex sells for about $30 and can charge up to 4 batteries at once.
The most versatile chargers also provide the capability of a full
discharge/recharge function.
Some cameras can only use special
proprietary rechargeable NiMh or Lithium Ion batteries which come in special
shapes. Consequently these batteries also require special chargers to
accommodate them. Prepare to pay $45-75 for these special batteries and $35-55
for these special proprietary chargers.
Convenient Data
Transfer: Card Readers
Using a Card Reader to transfer your images (or any
information stored on SM or CF cards) has several advantages over other ways to
do this.
- No constant plugging and unplugging USB
cables (you may not want to leave the USB cable you got with your camera
hooked up all the time if you want to carry it with you when you travel
- Fast simple download using Windows
Explorer (File manager). The card reader appears on your computer as
another storage device with a drive letter (Windows). If you first create a
folder, you can then either Copy or Move the images to your new folder using
Windows Explorer (File manager) .If you use the USB cable that comes
with your camera you are forced to use whatever program the camera manufacturer
includes with the camera. Many of the programs that come with your digital
camera suffer from terrible, confusing interfaces that often force you to work
their way rather than however you wish to work. Believe me, their way is
generally pretty stupid -they have not really thought things through very
much.
- Save running down your cameras
battery. If you transfer directly from the camera using a USB cable the
camera must be powered on. When you use a card reader you simply remove the
storage media (SM, CF etc.) and insert into the Card Reader -your camera stays
powered off! The Card Reader is powered by your computer (via the USB cable
hooked to the computer).
- If your camera only provides Serial Port
transfers capability (true only of older cameras) then the USB connected
Card Reader will provide 20-30x faster transfers.
If you use WinXP or Mac OS 10.1.2 or later then you
do not need to load any software to make use of your Card Reader, because these
operating systems will recognize the Card Reader as a "Mass Storage Device".
If you use Win98 and Win2000, then you simply load the software driver
that is provided with the card reader. Windows 95 does not support USB
devices.
Final point. You don't absolutely need a Card Reader,
but it is a smarter way to work.
Must have Computer Software
Digital Content Manager
Software is an application utility (program) that generates
thumbnails of all your photos and allows you to view and "manage" a large
number photographs with great ease. It is near impossible to devise filenames
for each picture that you accumulate over time that are sufficiently
descriptive, unique, and brief to permit accurate identification. A thumbnail,
which is a reduced copy of a picture, is the best way to sort through a lot of
pictures when you want to find the correct one. You will want to create folders
to organize your photos just as you would organize printed photos into albums.
Furthermore, most operating systems do not supply a really good application for
simply viewing pictures rapidly and conveniently. Internet browsers which are
often the default JPG viewers do not automatically scale pictures so you can
see the entire picture, nor do they lend themselves to viewing a whole folder
of pictures one after the other.
Compupic is my favorite
Digital Content Manager software. It is by far the fastest program of its type,
and it has a very well designed, intuitive, easy to learn interface. You can
only purchase Compupic (or the more powerful Compupic Pro) on the web from its
publisher -Photodex. For the cost of about $40 you get free updates for an
entire year. You can download a fully functional demo which will work for 30
days.
Compupic Download site
ACDSee is another very popular
digital content manager which is sometimes bundled with some hardware. I find
this program's inteface less well designed, slower and not as pleasant to look
at as Compupic and it costs a bit more too.
You can download a demo of this program by clicking below.
ACDsee Download site
Digital Imaging Software
lets you Edit, Retouch , Modify, Create and Manipulate digital images. Digital
images include but are not limited to digital photographs. For example you can
simply "draw" or "paint" an image on the computer so that the use of a camera
is not essential for image creation. Some programs such as Corel Draw and Adobe
Illustrator (vector based images) are designed primarily to "draw and paint"
certain types of images and are not suitable for editing and retouching digital
photographs (which are bit mapped images). Vector based images are stored as a
bunch of lines described mathematically whereas bit mapped images are stored as
pixels (picture elements). The crucial distinction between vector and bit
mapped images is that vector images can be scaled up or down in size with no
loss in resolution, whereas bit mapped images degrade (show staircase
blockiness) if they are scaled up in size.
For editing Photographs the most capable tool is
Adobe Photoshop
and it's various less expensive "light" versions published as Photoshop
Lite and Photoshop Elements (versions 1 and
2). The "light" versions, which do not have all of the power of the standard
expensive version and cost less than $100. These simpler versions are perfectly
good for those people who have less demanding requirements and are not willing
to spend a lot of money for their "Digital Darkroom".
Another program which has many enthusiastic followers is Jasc Software's PaintShop Pro. This program costs a
fraction of the standard full Photoshop and has some serious capabilities and
costs under $130. Want to test drive PaintShop Pro? You can download a demo
version which is fully functional for 30 days.
PaintShop Pro Download site
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