TC

Wow! What a wealth of information. Thank you each and every one. I'm starting to think that a digital could be an entertaining addition to my 35mm. You give me reason to pause and change my attitude. Thanks.

kwl

GOL,

Yes, I use ofoto all the time. We use it to print photos for our albums and to send ofoto "albums" to friends to order pics for themselves (much easier than giving them negatives, me going to get it done, etc.) We've been using it for probably at least the last year, and we have maybe 15 albums up there. We've also turned many of our friends onto it as well, and they share with us their photos.

We have the original files saved on the computer at home and have just left them up on ofoto as well. Until they tell me otherwise (i.e. I've exceeded my space allotment), I see no reason to take them down. I have my bases covered in both places in case something happens to my files.

Hope this works as well for you as it does for us!

kwl

GOL,

I forgot to answer one of your other questions - yes, you can delete them whenever you want.

ALF

I am a recent convert to digital, although I still keep my 35mm Pentax SLR with the big zoom lens for telephoto shots. The latest 3+ megapixel cameras have all the quality anyone could want, unless they are making prints bigger than 8 x 10. I'm using a Olympus C-3040, which cost me $750. The comments above regarding time to make prints and the cost of buying storage media are true, but I need to tell you about my favorite gizmo: Iomega's PhotoShow, which is a 250MB Zip drive that comes with an RGB video interface and a digital media card reader. You just stick your camera's card into a slot the photos are transferred onto a Zip disk. You can then erase the card and start over! Best of all, you can plug the PhotoShow into a TV and watch a slide show of your photos, using the included remote control. I am now in the process of storing my digital photos on Zip disks, and hardly ever printing out the photos onto paper. Rather than hauling out the ol' albums, I show my photos on any nearby TV. Of course, it also works as a USB disk drive, so you can use it to download and edit photos on your computer.

Gretchen

Wow, this is an incredible compendium of information!! I am on my second digital (Olympus3030) and love it. I also still have all my SLR's and lenses. But I am really enjoying all the possibilities digital offers. As for resolution, I took a picture of a bird with both digital and SLR autofocus. Scanned the SLR pic and blew up the bird--fuzzy, not in focus. Blew up the digital--sharp focus. The possibility of using the digital as a "travelogue" is interesting--take pics at less than top resolution (still fine for 4X6 prints) and show on your TV--you can get a LOT of pics on a card at less resolution settings. For parties, rehearsal dinners, etc. they are really fun. For grandchildren they are the best--but for the christening picture, out comes the SLR!!! Get a CD-RW for storage and sharing pictures. Sony is out with a CD camera that you can use as your CD-R drive for your computer.

TC

Oh no! You guys are starting to speak a foreign language here. The last couple of posts completely lost me, but I'll do my best to figure it out. Is there a dictionary that translates digi-speak to English? I hope so. Thanks again. This is fun.

Kathy

Anyone have experience with a digital camera that includes color, black and white or sepia options?

maggi

Kathy, your photo program will allow you to manipulate your photos to black and white, sepia, etc. once they are on your computer. To TC, I received a Fuji Finepix 1400 for my birthday and I have been thrilled with it. Expense-wise, it is mid-range depending on what accessories you include. My husband got it online at computers4sure.com. With a 100 picture memory card, rechargeable batteries and battery charger (this is important - digital cameras use up a lot of batteries) it ran about $500, with the camera bag. It is small enough to carry with me in my purse and I take pictures almost every day to keep in an album that is like a photographic diary. I get my printer cartridges at Costco (about $35 for two cartridges, color or black and white). I also buy Royal Brites Ink Jet paper, 200 sheets for under $20, clear heavyweight sheet protectors, $7.99 for 200, and three ring binders, $7.99 for six, all at Costco. I use Photo Printer 2.0 LE to arrange my pics on a sheet (depending on the size, I can put 4-6 pictures on a page.) When I take pictures of an event involving a group of people I post my pics to PhotoIsland.com (it's free) and e-mail everyone involved so they can view and print them themselves. I then download groups of pictures to a CD (or you can use a disk) so all the pictures don't have to stay on my harddrive. It does take time, of course, to print the pictures, but I think it's a lot of fun and it has revolutionized my picture taking. I do agree that the quality isn't a good as a 35mm. Another option is to have your 35mm films put on disk or online by the developer and you can print them yourself this way, instead of buying a digital camera.

lisa

We have a digital (and a couple of 35mm as well). Our digital - Epson - does not have a disk. The photos are stored in the camera, and you can take up to 22. Then you load them into your computer. The photos are far from grainy! We went to the pacific NW in June, took the digital and a 35 MM. In some cases, the digital did much better than the 35mm. Also, you can immediately send the photos to friends and relatives via email.

I'd never give up the 35mm, but the digital is a nice supplement. I beleive that you do get what you pay for with digitals tho. There are many reviews of digital cameras on the internet.

Gretchen

Kathy, my Olympus 3030 has settings for B&W, and sepia. Haven't really done it yet. It is a great camera though and I never thought I would completely convert. But I think this October it will be the camera for my France trip. One problem with the digital is the need for downloading to computers. There is now a device called PHotoShow which is a portable zip drive about the size of a video tape. You download to it without needing a computer. And you can even hook it up to a TV and show your pics on that as well as saving to zip drives. That would allow taking pics at high resolution (which takes a lot of space on the memory card) and then downloading. There is NOTHING grainy about my digital pics. This is my second digital and the consensus seems to be that manufacturers are refining features at the 3.3megapixel level cameras (for the mass market) rather than reaching for more pixels--not to say they won't move on up. 3.3 is a good level for excellent resolution.

travelingman

Kathy, I got the Olympus C-2100UZ a few days ago... It has all of those modes, plus a lot of other great features (including the ability to use regular 35mm lenses and filters).

Check out all the great comments and sample photos in the Olympus forum at http://www.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1008 . It's not a typical digital camera because of its size, but the quality and features you get for around $500 are incredible! Check out http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read....essage=1430098 for just one sample of its images...