I would like to purchase a Digital Camera to hopefully post some pictures on ECN.
But, what sort of camera should I buy?,
would just a basic one do for the resolution required for the Forums?
As these cameras are very expensive over here, what should I do?.

I use a Vivitar 3615 with 2x digital zoom (that I never use), macro (which I use a lot!), and 2.1 mega pixel capability. At 800 x 600 (plenty big), it'll hold 64 pix on the internal memory, and flash cards are available, but I've yet to need one. Battery life is poor, so buy Nickle-Metal Hydrides and a charger (the 3615 comes with both!).

It was $179US plus 6% WV sales tax at WalMart.

I'm very pleased with it, and I'll never go back to film! Most of the fuzzy pix of mine are due to "pilot error", no fault of the camera.



[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 10-11-2002).]

Good thing it's only a camera your piloting!

Mine's about the same as 66's only it's a Fuji Finepix 1300.I bought it at Best Buy for around $200.I've had it for along time though,dont think they still make The 1300.

Mine's a Sony Mavica. I love it because it records to a 3.5" floppy or a memory stick, but the newer models can record to a 3" CD. It also has a screen so you can look at your shot right away to see it it came out OK, nice feature. Mine was about $800 a few years ago, I'm sure they are cheaper now.

Glad this was posted as I am looking for a camera also. Christams present though . Would appreciate any and all opinions. Actually I wish I had it the other checking a skid tank mounted diesel pump.Would have been a great picture to show how folks can screw up a wiring job on a simple piece of equipment. I still can't figure out why anyone would do what these guys did which was make the male end of a 120v plug hot

Electricmanscott,

You mean pilot error like this?




One point landing , got too low and too slow.

Ouch! How do you post pictures? If I have no clue should I even be asking? By that I mean is it difficult?

if you're in new zealand i would definitely get one with the option for an underwater housing, yehaw, i'd love to take a diving vacation there. the olympus D40 with the oly housing is 4 megapixels with lots of options and as close to professional as you'll care to be. check ebay to see what you should pay, about $450-550.US for the D40, and $300 for the underwater housing, a good deal for a housing. voltage compatibility and versatility for travel might be important too. i haven't used my pentax for 2 years. no film, no waiting, easy to use, delete, zoom and print, pocketsize. for cost savings though, you could probably pick up a good used 2 or 3 megapixel that would work good for less than professional uses. people are always upgrading and selling last years model cheap, sound familiar?
i have lots of pictures of installations not to code. its a really good tool to have in your van.

Well, now Cindy, how come you ain't shared the pix with us?

Cindy,

You've been holding out on us?


Bill

Get the one that meets your expectations at this time for your budget... figure it's going to be your "learner" digi-cam.

Suggest a model that will use non-rechargeable AA batteries like discount-store alkalines, but also Eveready L91 lithiums. "CompactFlash Card" memory modules seem very popular, competitively priced and well supported to the west, at least.

Get the one that meets your expectations at this time for your budget... figure it's going to be your "learner" digi-cam.

Suggest a model that will use non-rechargeable AA batteries like discount-store alkalines, but also Eveready L91 lithiums. "CompactFlash Card" memory modules seem very popular, competitively priced and well supported to the west, at least.

In its own right, an end to drugstore trips is almost manna from heaven.




[This message has been edited by Bjarney (edited 10-12-2002).]

Even when I finally get this Dcamera,
how do I download images to accompany a ECN
posting?.
I need help from those that have done this
before!.

Just send them via e-mail with attachment to photos @ electrical-contractor.net. Bill or the webmaster post them in a day or so. They do good work.

Adding some info to the thread;

My Digital Camera is a Kodak DC3400 and it works Beet-chun!

Nerd info:

• 2.0 Megapixel maximum resolution,
• 2X optical zoom,
• 3X Digital zoom,
• Lens focal length = 38mm to 76 mm - equivalent to 35 mm,
• Focusing range = 0.5 m to infinity,
• Real-image optical viewfinder,
• Uses COMPACTFLASH cards,
• File transfer via either USB orRS232 Serial ports,
• Video Out NTSC/PAL,
• Software for Win 9x, NT / 2000 or Mac machines,
• Very rugged and reliable

The current Flash card I use is 32 MB, and will hold 60+ "Full Sized .JPGs" (Highest Resolution and Pixel Depth). This image size would be 1760 x 1168 pixels.

Tweeked down, at 1760 x 1168 using a lower pixel depth, I can get 76 images per 32 MB Flash.

Tweeked to the extremes, I can get close to 350 images - settings at 960 x 520 and lowest pixel depth.

The Camera is the first step in the "Image Posting" process. You will need some type of Image Editing Software for cropping, resizing to 640 x 480 [around this size] and to compress the .jpg properly. Ask a few users for their pros and cons, or ask here.

Lastly, unless you pay someone for Internet Hosting, you will need to submit the photos for posting. As mentioned, You can contact Bill or submit to the Webster's address.
Alternately, you could contact one of the site's moderators.

Good luck!

Scott S.E.T.

Allow me to add:

Editting Software:

Adobe Photoshop (albeit expensive, around $100) is the best out there, and there are also alot of decent clones. MSPaint (unless you have Bjarney's sense of humor) is kind of out, and many others range in between.

I use Adobe Photoshop 5.0, an older version but good.

As far as hosting:

Your internet service provider (like aol.com or stargate.net, etc.) that you use to access the Net may provide a package to upgrade your account for $5 or so a month for several MB of web space, usually 5 to 20MB. If they offer a package for web hosting (like for a webpage with no ads) then you're set!

I pay stargate.net an extra $5 a month for the privilage of a small website ( http://www.fat-headed-monster.com ) and the ability to post pix on ECN.

It's worth it!

[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 10-17-2002).]

My ISP (SBC) gives 15mb of free website.Plenty for uploading a picture or two,which is all I use the site for.The installation software for my camera(Fuji) included FinePix Viewer and Adobe Activeshare.I can resize the photos with FinePix for uploading.The Active share wont resize but it has a direct email link,so no searching files looking for attachments:just choose a pic(s)thumbnail and send.


Long way of saying compare the included software as well as the cameras,since as Virgil mentioned,the editing software can get expensive.


[This message has been edited by txsparky (edited 10-18-2002).]

Thanks for all of your comments, people, but I think that I am more confused now, with all this talk of MB's, Digital Zoom, megapixels?
AArrrggghhh!,
Someone please help.

>Thanks for all of your comments, people,
>but I think that I am more confused now,
>with all this talk of MB's, Digital Zoom,
>megapixels?

Megapixels is the resolution, i.e. how many little "dots" the image is divided into. The more megapixels the finer details can you see. However, computer screens have rather big "dots" and any digital camera is beyond the capacity of the screen. Thus, to post pictures on the ECN, you can use any camera. If you want to replace your ordinary camera with a digital one, you may want one with high resolution.

MB's - how many pictures you can get into the camera before it's full.

Digital zoom - the camera "zooms" by only showing the central part of the picture. (Imagine having a huge computer screen and only looking at the central part. Sure, the tiny ant in the middle is now very big, but it consist of very few pixels.)

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 11-04-2002).]