26 replies to this topic

[cowboy357]

Ok thanks to You,all, & a new ISP . My puters workin great, Now I would like to bug a digital camera so I can send pic,s to My family thru email. I need something really simple, as I dont know how to resize & all that fancy stuff. But I have no clue what to buy, preferably on the cheaper end in the states. Can anyone steer Me in the right direction as to what I need. Sorry if this is to far off topic. But You folks are as as close to friends as I have. Thanks for any help . Cowboy

[Nick Nolan]

how much you wanna spend.. i only know what to buy in the UK as i dont know if your buying online or instore and i dont know if you have the same stores as us which i pretty much doubt, lol.

Try www.kelkoo.com look for a 5 megapixel camera possibly 4, no lower, and match prices, it will tell you where to buy them as features.

[hazelnut]

All I would say cowboy, is don't be blinded with science and be talked into buying something with all bells and whistles on it that you will never use.

There are a lot of cameras out there which will serve you well for sending decent pictures to your family at a reasonable price.

[Glenn]

Reviews and good advice at ConsumerSearch.

[Andavari]

Many digital cameras software will automatically, or with a single mouse click in their software copy or move the photos from your camera to the "My Documents\My Pictures" folder.

Also something else to consider if you want prints of your photos is to take your camera or the memory card to a photo center like Walgreens, etc., as it's actually cheaper (photo paper+ink) in the long run to get your pictures professionally developed, also the off-the-shelf consumer photo paper is likely to fade in only a couple of years.

[rridgely]

I send my prints off with picasa all the time.
It allows you to edit, organize, and share your pics as well.

Once you get your camera this is a must have program.
http://picasa.google.com/

[Woody]

Hi cowboy, what Hazel says is really the point. Don't pay for things you will never use. In my opinion you won't go wrong if you buy Canon. But don't go for the highest spec.

All the best for the New Year,

Woody.

[Humpty]

Also some of the pics emailed to me by my daughter taken with her digital camera were very high quality jpegs.

I asked her to use MWsnap to take a snap of the pics then send those ones as they are much smaller in size and you can't really discern any difference between the two.

Just took a snap of a 920 kb jpeg with the snap being 64 kb so you can post many more pics in the same amount of time.

[rridgely]

I know I mentioned picasa already but it really does make sharing pictures really easy. If you download hello too you can just send pictures from picasa and have them automatically appear in whoever your sending them too's picasa. If you want to keep them organized this is an awesome way to do it.

Here is the link to hello as well:
http://www.hello.com/


As for a camera I have this one and its got very good image quality:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Nikon-Coolp...roductDetail.do

[XPSP2]

cowboy357, on Dec 27 2006, 12:45 PM, said:

Ok thanks to You,all, & a new ISP . My puters workin great, Now I would like to bug a digital camera so I can send pic,s to My family thru email. I need something really simple, as I dont know how to resize & all that fancy stuff. But I have no clue what to buy, preferably on the cheaper end in the states. Can anyone steer Me in the right direction as to what I need. Sorry if this is to far off topic. But You folks are as as close to friends as I have. Thanks for any help . Cowboy

If you are looking at the zoom, always go for lens zoom.
5X lens + 2X digital = 10X zoom
2X lens + 5X digital = 10X zoom
The first option with 5X lens zoom will produce a much better picture than the 2nd option. Lens zoom moves in closer, digital zoom expands the pixels.
As someone already stated, 5 megapixels is all most people really need. 6 megapixels will give a quality poster print the size of a door!

[rridgely]

Very good advice xpsp2! Another term for lens zoom and the one that most stores use is "optical zoom". I always tell people to never use digital zoom because the pictures can/will become grainy.

[edallen]

Cowboy, I have been using Kodak Easyshare and the Kodak digital camera that came with it in a set. Seems to take good pix and I have no trouble e-mailing them out. Check it out.

[Andavari]

While I have a Kodak camera I absolutely can't stand their Kodak EasyShare software, not only does it look outdated it also installs BackWeb - for which I've personally removed from the installer I have and recompiled.

[XPSP2]

rridgely, on Dec 27 2006, 11:23 PM, said:

Very good advice xpsp2! Another term for lens zoom and the one that most stores use is "optical zoom". I always tell people to never use digital zoom because the pictures can/will become grainy.

Thank-you for the correct term rridgely! I have been very tired for quite some time now and couldn't for the life of me think of optical. Was hoping people would understand the "lens" term but this will ensure there is no confusion and stop people looking for the "third type" of zoom.

[cowboy357]

Wow, I wasn,t expecting This much, if any help on this topic. Thanks so Much. great info & links.
Nick Nolan , I dont know how much. cuz I dont know what I,m lookin at, I,d rather keep it cheap & simple.
Andavari, Great info, Do most cameras come with software, & then You just plug Your camera into the puter somewhere? thats the part I cant get in My head.

Thanks Glenn I got some readin to do.
nope, Hazelnut no bells & whistles for Me, simpler the better.
Thank,s rridgely, Great links i,ll study them . I,m not sure what You mean by sending Your prints off with picassa, But I aint read it yet.

Thanks woody, Yep both of My regular cameras are cannon & I love Them.
Thanks Humpty, You kinda lost Me there , So I have to have a special camera to take pic,s of my pic,s Or what is mw snap ?

edallen, I,ll check that out to. thanks
thanks Xpsp2, I was wondering what those meant, Great help

As Ussual You folks are great, I,ll do some studying & see if I can at least narrow My choices down. Happy new years to All. Cowboy

[hazelnut]

Just a few last minute thoughts cowboy.

1. How will you keep the batteries charged? Some cameras use batteries and these don't last long and can run out at an inconvienent time, so you can get a battery charger and always have a couple of charged batteries ready. With our last camera ( a fuji finepix) we were lucky in a sale and it came with a dock charger (rather like a small base for a cordless phone) and you just pop the camera in it when not in use and it's always charged. Also you can take the dock on holiday with you as it plugs in to any socket.

2. Watch what size internal memory the camera comes with, sometimes this can be small and will only store 30 photos or so. Try to make sure you can put an external memory card in the camera, which you can get good deals on for say, a 512mb size, which will store a lot of photos. Look online at the prices for the memory card your choosen camera will take and you will see they are cheap.

Finally I don't need any software with my camera, I just use picasa like rridgely. Put your memory card into the computer and picasa will put them in order for you!

[Andavari]

cowboy357, on Dec 28 2006, 08:57 AM, said:

Andavari, Great info, Do most cameras come with software, & then You just plug Your camera into the puter somewhere? thats the part I cant get in My head.

I'd think any digital camera would come with free software as that's how you'd get the drivers for Windows, however whatever you choose before you install the software look for an updated version at the manufacturer website as it makes no sense to install outdated software that's been updated.

Yeah you just plug it into a USB port and since the drivers are installed you'd have instant access. If the installed camera software is wisely crafted it may auto-load to allow you to transfer the pictures, then again it may automatically do that for you.

The points hazelnut makes are very good ones about the batteries, in the long run it will actually be drastically less expensive to use rechargable batteries either via a camera dock, or a separate external charger. I know here in the U.S. you can get the 2 batteries and the charger for about $50, well that's at least the prices I noticed. I don't know if any of them charge via the USB port (slow as hell) like an MP3 player or not so that's something to ask about.

Another good point hazelnut brought up is the memory capacity, don't get taken on a good deal only to not have enough memory, however that's easy to remedy via a separately purchased memory card.

hazelnut, on Dec 28 2006, 09:56 AM, said:

Finally I don't need any software with my camera, I just use picasa like rridgely. Put your memory card into the computer and picasa will put them in order for you!

With newer Kodak cameras their EasyShare software has to be installed, otherwise trying to access the camera via Windows Explorer will crash the whole computer.

[hazelnut]

Andavari, on Dec 28 2006, 05:07 PM, said:

With newer Kodak cameras their EasyShare software has to be installed, otherwise trying to access the camera via Windows Explorer will crash the whole computer.

That's not very nice of kodak! I shall never buy one!

My present camera is a really good top of the range panasonic and I do not connect the camera in any way to the computer. I simply pop in the external memory card from the camera into the computer, and let picasa catalogue them, slideshow, edit (that's fun) or anything I want including resizing for emails, and putting them on a cd.

[XPSP2]

If your computer or printer has a card reader that will take the card for your camera, then this is the preferred method to download pictures from the camera to the computer as using the USB method drains the batteries according to my sister and another friend of mine. Also was shown this on my computer by my sister. Batteries had a good charge, albeit not a full charge, plugged into my USB, not enough juice left to fully completely download all photos. Lots of printers come with software that will work with the cameras without having to install the cameras software. I can plug anything into my computer and it will give me all the info on the product and get required drivers if it does not already have them. Hence my sister can come here and download pictures to my computer without having to bring and install the software for the camera. My printer is an HP and is basically equipped with a darkroom. Also, batteries I was talking about in sisters' camera were not worn out rechargeables, were not even rechargeables and meter registered a strong charge before we plugged it into my computer. She tried this later on her own computer and found the same thing happened. USB=dead batteries.

[cowboy357]

Uh Oh. Yer startin to loose Me again. Puter crashes certainly aren,t My favorite topic. hehe. But again some very great info, if I can just sort it out. I dont want to buy one of those printer deals You plug the the camera in. I just want a simple camera to email pics. I,m A wildlife freak, So For My important photo,s I will still take with My high dollar cameras with the big zoom on them, & I guess if need be They can put them on a cd for Me to send if I want, Is that correct ?

But I don,t know what to do from there. I assume It will load in My pictures in My documents, But I,ve never done that either. I figured if I got a digital I could sort thru whats worth keeping & whats not. To send thru email. As I go thru probably 5 rolls of film a week, My wife takes to town to get developed. Mostly critters. to keep for Myself. But I also mail them to My Sis,s & Brother, & it,s gettin kinda expensive.

Sorry if this is to much info, just trying to cut corners & have more options To make it a little cheaper & more enjoyable for Me. As I have turned into a hermit, Haven,t left My property in 5 years or been around anyone. So just tryin not to get any crazier I guess.

Plus My Wife Works for a cruise line & travels all over the world, & I thought it would be away for Her to send Me instant pictures via email. Allthough I might be wrong. Anyway I,m still sorting thru the info & trying to figure out the best options. Thanks again for any input.

right now I,m looking at the cannon MP PowerShot A530 allthough it only has a 16mb flash memory I can get the igb memory card for about anuther 30 bucks. the camera is on sale for $140.00 So I thought I might buy 2. Doe,s this make any sense Or am I going about it the wrong way. Thanks again . Cowboy