Camera Help
Apr 21st, 2006, 04:34 AM
#21
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Thanks so much, Tom. This information is very helpful. When I get the camera and start using it, I'll probably have a million questions for you. I'm leaving 3 weeks from today so I'll be doing some heavy duty studying in the next few weeks.
I'm just going to get a bunch of memory cards, but out of curiosity, what type of gizmo is there to download photos that is easy enough to carry around on safari?
And yes, I'm like your wife. Not only do I take photos of everything, but I take 5 or 6 almost exact photos of the same thing.
I'm just going to get a bunch of memory cards, but out of curiosity, what type of gizmo is there to download photos that is easy enough to carry around on safari?
And yes, I'm like your wife. Not only do I take photos of everything, but I take 5 or 6 almost exact photos of the same thing.
Apr 21st, 2006, 04:52 AM
#22
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panecott- Storage gizmos. You "download" the SD card onto a hard drive. Perhaps a 60 gig hard drive, holds a lot of photos. This means you have to plug the SD in and push a few buttons. (The proper buttons and in the proper order!). In above messages the Epson P2000 was mentioned. It is a photo storage and viewer and I believe it also plays movies. Costs about $500. A laptop PC will do this and it is the choice of many people. However, a laptop can be expensive, big, and looks expensive so it is (more) vunerable to theft. Then there are other smaller cheaper storage devices than a laptop PC. Generically called PSDs (portable storage devices). (The Epson P2000 is a PSD). I use one made by Archos. Here is a web site that talks about 30 of them - http://fhoude34.free.fr/PortableHD_Main.htm
If you're interested in using a PSD, see if you can find a store that can demonstrate for you what they sell. You really need to see if you are going to be comfortable using that gizmo. It almost seems that the stuff you need to support the digital camera; cards, batteries, spare batteries, battery charger, power adaptor, PSD, maybe also a backup PSD, is more than the camera itself !!!!
There's a lot to be said for simply having a lot of memory cards. And, not huge memory cards, to limit the risk of losing everything should a card go bad or lost. Nobody said life is getting any simpler
regards - tom
If you're interested in using a PSD, see if you can find a store that can demonstrate for you what they sell. You really need to see if you are going to be comfortable using that gizmo. It almost seems that the stuff you need to support the digital camera; cards, batteries, spare batteries, battery charger, power adaptor, PSD, maybe also a backup PSD, is more than the camera itself !!!!
There's a lot to be said for simply having a lot of memory cards. And, not huge memory cards, to limit the risk of losing everything should a card go bad or lost. Nobody said life is getting any simpler
regards - tom
Apr 21st, 2006, 04:58 AM
#23
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panecott:
Memory devices include a video ipod with camera adaptor (double as music during the looooong flight and something like an epson 4000 which is better for photo storage but more expensive.
I'm using an ipod on our upcoming trip to EA in June and the other couple coming with us is using the epson.
Lots of memory cards are a good option also, but I like the idea of redundancy.
Marty
Memory devices include a video ipod with camera adaptor (double as music during the looooong flight and something like an epson 4000 which is better for photo storage but more expensive.
I'm using an ipod on our upcoming trip to EA in June and the other couple coming with us is using the epson.
Lots of memory cards are a good option also, but I like the idea of redundancy.
Marty
Apr 21st, 2006, 06:48 AM
#24
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Thanks, guys. I think I'll defer the storage device to another time and just take a lot of cards with me. I'm having enough trouble just trying to learn digital lingo, not to mention learning to use the camera when I get it!
I looked for cards on Amazon and noticed there's a 2GB for less than the price of two 1GB cards. But I read some user reviews that talked about speed etc., and have no idea what this has to do with the size of the card. And some cards are "Secure" and some are "Ultra Secure". What does all this mean?
Will a 2GB card yield twice as many pics as a 1GB? And approximately how many photos will I get with a 1GB card? Thanks.
I looked for cards on Amazon and noticed there's a 2GB for less than the price of two 1GB cards. But I read some user reviews that talked about speed etc., and have no idea what this has to do with the size of the card. And some cards are "Secure" and some are "Ultra Secure". What does all this mean?
Will a 2GB card yield twice as many pics as a 1GB? And approximately how many photos will I get with a 1GB card? Thanks.
Apr 21st, 2006, 06:59 AM
#25
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Speed and size of card are two very separate issues.
Size of card is relevant, of course, to how many images you can fit onto the card - and yes, a 2G card will hold double the number of images. I myself use a 2G card and, with my 20D set to save in RAW format, I can get 250+ images on one card. If I choose to save in superfine JPG mode I can get a LOT more images on and it gets to silly numbers if I save in medium JPEG format (though I never do). It's not possible for anyone to give you the exact number (unless they have the same camera as you) as it's dependent on the size of files created by that model. Best thing is to put a card into the camera, set it to the mode you want to save pictures in and see what the display says. The display is an estimate of how many, by the way, not an exact number, as the JPG format uses compression to reduce file size and each image can be compressed to a different extent depending on the data.
Some people prefer two 1G cards to one 2G card - I guess if a card becomes corrupt you lose less images though I haven't had that happen to me yet.
Speed refers to how fast the card can be written to by the recording device, in this case the camera. As with hard drives in computers, some media can record new data more quickly than others. The reason this can be important is that the sooner an image is written to the card the sooner the next one can be taken.
There are other factors affecting this though - cameras themselves have a maximum speed at which they can write to the media. So there's no point having a card that accepts the fastest speed currently available if your camera model doesn't write that fast (although if price and brand are same, I'll opt for faster over slower since my next camera might be able to take advantage even if my current one can't).
Other things that affect how quickly you can take the next picture are the camera's buffer memory - this is onboard memory that holds the captured image data while it's being written to the media. Some cameras have enough of a buffer to hold several images worth.
Size of card is relevant, of course, to how many images you can fit onto the card - and yes, a 2G card will hold double the number of images. I myself use a 2G card and, with my 20D set to save in RAW format, I can get 250+ images on one card. If I choose to save in superfine JPG mode I can get a LOT more images on and it gets to silly numbers if I save in medium JPEG format (though I never do). It's not possible for anyone to give you the exact number (unless they have the same camera as you) as it's dependent on the size of files created by that model. Best thing is to put a card into the camera, set it to the mode you want to save pictures in and see what the display says. The display is an estimate of how many, by the way, not an exact number, as the JPG format uses compression to reduce file size and each image can be compressed to a different extent depending on the data.
Some people prefer two 1G cards to one 2G card - I guess if a card becomes corrupt you lose less images though I haven't had that happen to me yet.
Speed refers to how fast the card can be written to by the recording device, in this case the camera. As with hard drives in computers, some media can record new data more quickly than others. The reason this can be important is that the sooner an image is written to the card the sooner the next one can be taken.
There are other factors affecting this though - cameras themselves have a maximum speed at which they can write to the media. So there's no point having a card that accepts the fastest speed currently available if your camera model doesn't write that fast (although if price and brand are same, I'll opt for faster over slower since my next camera might be able to take advantage even if my current one can't).
Other things that affect how quickly you can take the next picture are the camera's buffer memory - this is onboard memory that holds the captured image data while it's being written to the media. Some cameras have enough of a buffer to hold several images worth.
Apr 21st, 2006, 07:02 AM
#26
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PS I take the storage device option myself - I travel with a 2G CF card, an older 512MB card as backup and a storage device to empty the card onto - usually once a day is sufficient.
If I am taking the laptop then I'll just take the one storage device as I also copy the card onto the laptop before clearing and reusing it.
If I'm not taking the laptop I take two storage devices and copy each card onto both of them.
I'm a touch paranoid but hey, I've not lost any images yet (touch wood)!
The downside of the storage devices is that it gives me yet more items that need frequent charging.
So I end up having to recharge batteries, recharge storage devices/laptop, copy CF cards to both and reformat them for reuse... it can be quite a challenge!
If I am taking the laptop then I'll just take the one storage device as I also copy the card onto the laptop before clearing and reusing it.
If I'm not taking the laptop I take two storage devices and copy each card onto both of them.
I'm a touch paranoid but hey, I've not lost any images yet (touch wood)!
The downside of the storage devices is that it gives me yet more items that need frequent charging.
So I end up having to recharge batteries, recharge storage devices/laptop, copy CF cards to both and reformat them for reuse... it can be quite a challenge!
Apr 21st, 2006, 07:33 AM
#27
Kavey, quite a challenge is right! I think my brain quits working when I'm on vacation. I can never remember which card I've downloaded where and which ones are ready to format. I need to number the cards so I can make notes as to what I'm doing.
Apr 21st, 2006, 01:05 PM
#29
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Wow, what a really good discussion and info on this subject. Ain't the internet wonderful, really? As for redundancy, you don't have redundancy unless the same stuff is on two physically seperate devices. As I've told the story here before, we had cruise photos on a laptop that got drowned with hot coffee. But the photos were also on my Archos.
regards - tom
regards - tom
Apr 21st, 2006, 06:52 PM
#30
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cary...you are absolutely right about the redundancy issue. I'm the one (I think who brought that up.). I intend to attain redundancy by having enough cf cards and an ipod.
Sundowner is also right about the need to number the cards to avoid confusion. I'm going to do that as well.
Great discussion here.
Sundowner is also right about the need to number the cards to avoid confusion. I'm going to do that as well.
Great discussion here.
