Cameras that use SD-Recommendations [Archive]

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bdegroodt

01-24-2003, 10:53 PM

I just got back from Hawaii and found out that I really could do everything I wanted to do with only my PPC and not my laptop...except one thing.

I have a Sony digital camera (The last thing I ever bought or ever will buy from them) and found that I needed my laptop in order to offload the memory stick after every 12 shots (Hi Res-8 meg stick). So, I got to thinking, wouldn't life be grand if I could get rid of my Sony camera and find another brand that uses SD as the storage format (CF if I really have to). Then I could post pics to the website, email pics, SSH into my box, take customer calls etc...All without a laptop.

So, anyone have any recommendations based upon their experience with digital cameras that use SD? Something in the 2-5 megapixel range would be best. Size isn't as important as quality of the images. Oh yeah...not that it would matter, but no Sony!

TIA!

dcharles18

01-24-2003, 11:00 PM

I'm anxious to hear some suggestions, I'm in the market for the samething.

NOTE TO MODS: I don't know what happened, but somehow this went through four times. If someone could delete all but one I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

bdegroodt

01-24-2003, 11:28 PM

spursdude

01-25-2003, 12:38 AM

We just recently got a Canon PowerShot S30. It uses CF. The images are great at 3.2mega pixels - there are a ton of features and user controllable options.

I'm really happy with it...

Steven Cedrone

01-25-2003, 02:35 AM

If someone could delete all but one I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Done... :wink:

Steven Cedrone
Community Moderator

Buddha

01-28-2003, 09:52 AM

I don't know for sure but íf one of these:
http://www.mbi.panasonic.co.jp/corp/news/news/020711.html

would work in a CF camera i think it would solve your problem and allow you to buy any CF camera you'd like. This would give you the ability to read the SDcard in your PPC and a broader choice in camera's since there are many CF cameras on the market.

But then again I don't know if this adapter works in cameras.

(Sorry I don't know of any SD enabled cameras, but I seem to remember the new credit card sized cameras that came out some time ago used SD)

I've run the above link through babelfish and it looks like this thing might be compatible with cameras. But since the translation is a little ruff I'm not 100% sure :)

EvilOne

01-28-2003, 02:31 PM

Here is a really great place that I have found that does reviews of digital cameras.. So if you can not find one here.. I dunno what to say! :)

http://www.dpreview.com/

Oh and from personal experience, I have found the Nikon Coolpix 5700 took some really bad pix and low-light picture taking is pretty much IMPOSSIBLE. So stay away from that one!

bdegroodt

01-28-2003, 02:32 PM

Maq

01-29-2003, 09:41 PM

Hi,
I can really recommend the Canon IXUS V (PowerShot S110 Digital Elph in the US) BUT it uses CF! I always bring it with me. If I would buy a new one today I'd go for the Canon IXUS V3 (PowerShot S230 Digital Elph in the US). The formfactor is important to me, if it's to big I won't bring the camera with me.

However a friend of mine bought the Konica KD-400Z which can house both SD/MMC card & Memory Stick at the same time! (You can even copy between the cards in the camera.) It's an impressive camera. If you need more resolution go for the Konica KD-500Z, 5.0 million effective pixels! And the size is Ultra Compact!

Go to a camera shop and try it out! :wink:

/Maq

bdegroodt

01-29-2003, 09:48 PM

Thanks Maq! I'll have a look at it. I've kind of resigned myself to accepting that CF is going to be my true option in this hunt. I really fell in love with the Nikon D-100, but I'm afraid that I'd be inclined to leave it at home due to its size.

I might find myself getting 2 cameras. One as a snapshot type and one as a hobby/pro-am camera. Very hard to come up with a middle of the road consensus it seems. :?

JackTheTripper

01-29-2003, 11:38 PM

My wife and I live by Minolta so I can give you a quick review of the 2 cameras we have.

This fist is the DiMAGE X. http://www.minoltausa.com/eprise/main/MinoltaUSA/MUSAContent/CPG/CPGProducts?cname=dig&fname=dig_slr&Mname=DiMAGE_X

A super-small digital camera that you can fit in your shirt pocket. At 2 megapixels, the image quality is very good. The flash, although it looks small usually ends up blinding people. One problem is the lens placement. You tend to get a lot of shots of your little pinky until you get used to holding it. Another is because of it's shape there are no finger holds. It's basically as square as a small jewlery box a necklace might come in. The zoom is OK but it does not have digital zoom. It also lacks some advanced features such as over/under exposure and some other efects. Over all a good small SD card SMALL camera. Did I mention it's small?

Next...

Minolta's DiMAGE S404 http://www.minoltausa.com/eprise/main/MinoltaUSA/MUSAContent/CPG/CPGProducts?cname=dig&fname=dig_ps&Mname=DiMAGE_S404

An absolutely awesome camera! 4 mega pixel, 4x optical zoom plus digital zoom. Has every bell and whistles you can imagine. Both auto and manual settings. Allows you to over and under expose in auto mode. Has two multi-shot modes: Continuous (Hold down trigger and it takes shot after shot) and bracketing (Hold down trigger and it takes 3 shots. One regular, one slightly under exposed and one slightly over exposed.) Image sizes up to 2272x1704. Just an amazing camera. I've attached a couple images taken with this camera below. (Sorry, don't have any from the smaller camera.) Oh, and this camera takes CF cards, not SD.

Oh, both cameras record in movie format but only for a max of 60 seconds. And the sound quality isn't that great.

So anyway, here are the pictures... I went to Hawaii last month and here is just a couple of shots.

http://www.bobx3.com/hawaii/beach.jpg

http://www.bobx3.com/hawaii/palmsunset.jpg

http://www.bobx3.com/hawaii/orangesunset.jpg

Message me if you have any questions.

bdegroodt

01-29-2003, 11:45 PM

JackTheTripper

01-30-2003, 12:54 AM

Wow! Those are some very nice pictures Jack. Just curious about a couple of things. Are those pictures raw from the camera or did they make a stop through Photoshop etc? Also, if it does it, what image quality are those pictures from (For instance, the Sony I have now does High, Medium and Low resolution.).

Those are some very nice shots. I wish we could have captured some of the same clear shots you got from your trip.

Sorry, forgot. Straight from the website...

Image-quality modes: Super Fine, Fine, Standard, Economy

I took all those shots at 1600 X 1200 at *I think* fine quality. If you go up to super fine it really eats up memory. These images are raw from the camera except for resizing them and saving for web in Photoshop to bring down file size. But I didn't do any other adjustments to them. I will tell you that I under exposed them quite a bit to pull out the colors I got.

Just let me know if you have any more Q's.

Oh ya. The only thing I don't like about the S404 is the digital zoom isn't adjustable. I didn't know that when I bought it. But you learn to live with it. Not adjustable. Does that make sense? For example, when you reach the end of the optical zoom then rather than the optical zoom taking over and slowly zooming in more the digital zoom zooms all the way out. It jumps to full zoom. Make sense? let me know.

Janak Parekh

01-30-2003, 01:58 AM

Brian,

I have one other suggestion - if you end up with a CF camera, get a CF-to-SD adapter, preferably the Panasonic one from Japan where the SD card fits flush in the unit. That'll do the trick.

Me, I use a Casio Exilim (www.casio.com/exilim). Tiny, tiny camera. You are giving up some quality, though, and no optical zoom, so it doesn't sound right for you. A new Exilim is coming, though, with optical zoom: the EX-Z3 (http://www.dpreview.com/news/0301/03010902casioexz3.asp).

--janak

hollis_f

01-30-2003, 08:26 AM

I might find myself getting 2 cameras. One as a snapshot type and one as a hobby/pro-am camera. Very hard to come up with a middle of the road consensus it seems. :?Yup, that was my solution. A very small point'n'shoot with 2x zoom that I can carry almost unnoticed in my jacket - so it's available always. T'other is larger with 8x zoom and bigger lens - for when I want to take better pix than snapshots. That one spends most of its time at home.

bdegroodt

01-30-2003, 12:41 PM

Brian,

I have one other suggestion - if you end up with a CF camera, get a CF-to-SD adapter, preferably the Panasonic one from Japan where the SD card fits flush in the unit. That'll do the trick.

Thanks Janak. I actually saw one of those little Exilim's recently. I liked it. I wasn't sure about image quality from such a little thing though.

On the SD-CF adapter, do you have a link for one of these? All I seem to find is CF cards that accept/convert SD/MMC cards. From your post, it sounds like you are saying there are SD cards with a CF adapter on the end?

Janak Parekh

01-30-2003, 04:53 PM

Thanks Janak. I actually saw one of those little Exilim's recently. I liked it. I wasn't sure about image quality from such a little thing though.
Yes, the quality is not going to be the same. It approaches a "real" camera at times but needs a fair amount of light to get the good pics. The low-light pics are more subject to noise and it needs a bit more exposure time. I'm not a camera person, though, and as a result this suits me perfectly.

On the SD-CF adapter, do you have a link for one of these? All I seem to find is CF cards that accept/convert SD/MMC cards. From your post, it sounds like you are saying there are SD cards with a CF adapter on the end?
I was indeed talking about a CF-sized adapter that would take SD cards. You can then remove it from the camera and insert the SD card into your PPC.

See this link (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5990).

--janak