Re: Digital Cameras For Beginners: When All You Want To Do Is Take ?Pictures

[[email protected]]

On Nov 16, 2:19 pm, [email protected] wrote:

> It turned out to be no problem. The battery life was excellent, even
> without conserving energy by using the viewfinder instead of the LCD
> display. And the charger runs on either 120 or 240. All that was
> needed was a cheap adaptor to convert the USA two-prong plug to the
> various European styles. I was glad I didn't go with the larger AA
> camera.

You can get spare battery (and charger) for the Canon ElPH's cheap.

More difficult to find is the little tray the OEM battery fits into
for storage <g>.

Recharge time is short, so no problem to have at least 2 charged
batteries minimum on hand. --D-y

 

[SMS 斯蒂文• 夏]

JG wrote:
> Oh, yeah - the Canon A6xx and A5xx range takes AA batteries which the
> mini's do not. If you are going on extended tour and need to use
> disposables, they are the ticket.

Hmm, unless you're camping all the time, it's likely that you'll be able
to find some electricty somewhere. The smaller size of the Li-Ion
powered cameras is a plus, and the chargers are quite small.

That said, the cameras like the A570 IS are cheaper than the SD800 IS by
about $40, and the Canon A series can take add-on lenses if you need
them. The A series still has the optical viewfinder---for now. I'd still
opt for SD800 IS due to the wide angle lens.

I think the SD800 IS may be discontinued soon. Canon has the SD870,
which is still wide angle, but lost the optical viewfinder, and the
SD950 which kept the optical viewfinder, but doesn't have a wide angle lens.

 

[Clive George]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Also, the variety of European socket styles is amazing! The adaptor I
> bought was supposed to cover all countries "except Italy." IIRC, it
> worked in some Italian sockets, but not in others. The difference
> seemed to be a slight difference in pin spacing or diameter. And I
> recall, while visiting friends in Switzerland, they searched around
> their apartment for an adaptor that would work for us.
>
> Here in America, there's much less confusion. Household electrical
> goods will plug into almost any 120 V socket. With polarized plugs or
> grounded plugs, one can get by with a tiny 25 cent adaptor, but even
> that's rarely needed.

Here in the UK there's no confusion - you need our square pin sockets, which
are all compatible with each other, are pretty much the best design in the
world, and completely different to everybody else

(our volts are EU standard though - defined as being somewhere between 220
and 250...)

cheers,
clive

 

[Lou Holtman]

[email protected] wrote:
> On Nov 16, 3:51 pm, Lou Holtman <[email protected]> wrote:
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>> On Nov 16, 1:28 pm, JG <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> Oh, yeah - the Canon A6xx and A5xx range takes AA batteries which the
>>>> mini's do not. If you are going on extended tour and need to use
>>>> disposables, they are the ticket.
>>> I thought about that a lot before I bought the Canon. Our trip had
>>> us in Europe for 6.5 weeks, and I worried that the proprietary battery
>>> would run down too quickly. I worried about being in places where I'd
>>> have trouble plugging in the charger, power adaptor, etc. I strongly
>>> considered getting a AA powered camera, even though it would be less
>>> compact.
>> Why did you think that would be different in Europe?
>>
>>> It turned out to be no problem.
>> Yes we have electricity for a while over here... ;-)
>
> True, of course - but yours comes in a different flavor than ours, and
> I was hoping not to have to spend another $30 for a converter.
> Fortunately, the charger on the camera and the one for our cell
> phone&PDA were able to handle the voltage difference. Thus, all we
> needed was a simple adaptor to cover the difference in socket styles,
> not a voltage converter.

True, but we have the right voltage ;-)
>
> Also, the variety of European socket styles is amazing! The adaptor I
> bought was supposed to cover all countries "except Italy." IIRC, it
> worked in some Italian sockets, but not in others. The difference
> seemed to be a slight difference in pin spacing or diameter. And I
> recall, while visiting friends in Switzerland, they searched around
> their apartment for an adaptor that would work for us.

Also true and that is annoying but not a decision point for buying a
camera.

>
> Here in America, there's much less confusion. Household electrical
> goods will plug into almost any 120 V socket. With polarized plugs or
> grounded plugs, one can get by with a tiny 25 cent adaptor, but even
> that's rarely needed.

True but you still use inches, foots, yards, lbs, stone etc. That's
annoying for us ;-) Thank god you drive one the right side of the road.

Lou


>
> - Frank Krygowski
--
Posted by news://news.nb.nu (http://www.nb.nu)

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 08:30:14 -0800, SMS ???• ? <[email protected]>
wrote:

[Camera known variously as Powershot SD 800 IS/Ixus 850 IS/Ixy 900 IS]

>a) optical viewfinder
>b) wide-angle lens
>c) image-stabilization
>d) Li-Ion battery
>
>There are _no_ other small cameras on the market with these seemingly
>basic features. Almost no small cameras have a wide-angle lens, and the
>optical viewfinder has disappeared from most cameras.

Note, though, that the optical viewfinder is mostly useless. It's tiny,
and my big nose gets in the way. Usable, just barely, in emergencies. The
LCD is actually really good, and doesn't wash completely out under
anything except the very most difficult circumstances, and battery life is
still awesome (compared to the 2AA and 4AA NiMH Olympuses I've used
before, for sure).

SDHC support means you can fit memory cards over 2/4 gigs, which SD pre-HC
is limited to (for in spec/out of spec respectively), which means never
having to fiddle around with changing cards unless you want to or have a
large collection of small cards.

The built-in orientation sensor is used to good effect. It records in the
DCIF metadata for each JPG whether the camera was normal or portrait
orientation at the time. It uses this information along with the current
orientation of the camera to keep or rotate the images in display mode,
which works very intuitively. Oh, and the camera has a flat bottom *and*
side so you can put it down on a table with the selftimer in either
orientation.

For long travel, it's a light shame the battery charger isn't built in to
the camera, like a phobile moan -- you actually have to physically remove
the battery and insert into a fairly large charger (well.. pretty much the
same size as the camera, which is tiny in real units but large in
comparison). Although it's relatively big, it weighs close to nothing (I
think less than the provided line cord..), so it's not a huge deal.

dpreview reviewed the camera (if you plan on buying one, I recommend
reading that review) and notes that the wide angle 28-104 lens is not
*quite* as good quality as the 35-135 zoom fitted to most of the Canon
subcompacts, but the difference is only marginal.

Oh, and the IS thing.. It really is quite fricking amazing indoors,
compared to most digital cameras. ISO above 400 is not really usable due
to noise, but sometimes getting the shot is more important than it looking
good. And the IS really does seem to help. I've shot handheld steady
pictures up to 1/4 second (although that usually requires several tries,
but that's why you have a digital..).


Jasper

 

[[email protected]]

On Nov 17, 3:45 am, Lou Holtman <[email protected]> wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
> >
> > Here in America, there's much less confusion. Household electrical
> > goods will plug into almost any 120 V socket. With polarized plugs or
> > grounded plugs, one can get by with a tiny 25 cent adaptor, but even
> > that's rarely needed.
>
> True but you still use inches, foots, yards, lbs, stone etc. That's
> annoying for us ;-)

And we measure our power using horses. But hey, we're organic!
That's supposed to be good!

Actually, we in America don't use "stone." I recall that during a
cycling tour in Ireland, we stayed at a B&B that had a scale in the
bathroom. I was curious about whether the huge Irish breakfasts had
overpowered the miles on the bike, so I stepped on, wondering "Which
will it say: about 180 pounds, or about 80 kg.?"

But the scale didn't give either of those numbers. It read somewhere
around 12 or 13. And at the time, I had no idea what that meant.

- Frank Krygowski

 

[still just me]

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:52:47 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:

>With polarized plugs or
>grounded plugs, one can get by with a tiny 25 cent adaptor, but even
>that's rarely needed.
>
>- Frank Krygowski

Or diagonal cutters and file!

 

[still just me]

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 09:45:55 +0100, Lou Holtman
<[email protected]> wrote:

>True but you still use inches, foots, yards, lbs, stone etc. That's
>annoying for us ;-) Thank god you drive one the right side of the road.
>
>Lou

Hey, we tested and disposed of that "metric" thing back during the
Gerry Ford Administration. It didn't pass muster.

 

[still just me]

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 15:20:09 +0100, Jasper Janssen
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Note, though, that the optical viewfinder is mostly useless. It's tiny,
>and my big nose gets in the way. Usable, just barely, in emergencies. The
>LCD is actually really good, and doesn't wash completely out under
>anything except the very most difficult circumstances, and battery life is
>still awesome (compared to the 2AA and 4AA NiMH Olympuses I've used
>before, for sure).

A general comment though: For the OP' stated intent of "just take
pictures", an optical viewfinder is fine. Shutting of the digital
display is a major battery saving step.

 

[M-gineering]

Lou Holtman wrote:
Thank god you drive one the right side of the road.
>
> Lou

<asbestos> who cares, Merkin cars are shite anyhow </asbestos>



--
/Marten

info(apestaartje)m-gineering(punt)nl

 

[Lou Holtman]

still just me wrote:
> On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 09:45:55 +0100, Lou Holtman
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> True but you still use inches, foots, yards, lbs, stone etc. That's
>> annoying for us ;-) Thank god you drive one the right side of the road.
>>
>> Lou
>
> Hey, we tested and disposed of that "metric" thing back during the
> Gerry Ford Administration. It didn't pass muster.


Why? Is shifting the decimal point too easy? You like fractions?

Lou
--
Posted by news://news.nb.nu (http://www.nb.nu)

 

[A Muzi]

>> Lou Holtman <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> True but you still use inches, foots, yards, lbs, stone etc. That's
>>> annoying for us ;-) Thank god you drive one the right side of the road.

> still just me wrote:
>> Hey, we tested and disposed of that "metric" thing back during the
>> Gerry Ford Administration. It didn't pass muster.

Lou Holtman wrote:
> Why? Is shifting the decimal point too easy? You like fractions?

It's said Bendix cones are 47/64 inches just to keep people out! That
may be an urban myth but it seemed to work!
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[SMS 斯蒂文• 夏]

Jasper Janssen wrote:
> On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 08:30:14 -0800, SMS ???• ? <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> [Camera known variously as Powershot SD 800 IS/Ixus 850 IS/Ixy 900 IS]
>
>> a) optical viewfinder
>> b) wide-angle lens
>> c) image-stabilization
>> d) Li-Ion battery
>>
>> There are _no_ other small cameras on the market with these seemingly
>> basic features. Almost no small cameras have a wide-angle lens, and the
>> optical viewfinder has disappeared from most cameras.
>
> Note, though, that the optical viewfinder is mostly useless. It's tiny,
> and my big nose gets in the way.

Hmm, my nose isn't huge, but it's not tiny either, and I've had not
problem using the optical viewfinder on a succession of P&S cameras, and
film cameras for that matter.

 

[Tom Sherman]

M-gineering aka Marten Gerritsen wrote:
> Lou Holtman wrote:
> Thank god you drive one the right side of the road.
>>
>> Lou
>
> <asbestos> who cares, Merkin cars are shite anyhow </asbestos>

The cars built in the US by Japanese companies are higher quality and a
better value than those made in Europe. Of course, many USians buy
expensive [1] European cars due to the "Heritage & Mystique®" factor.

[1] The Europeans abandoned the inexpensive car market in the US, since
they were not able to compete.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"the grinning buddy bear carries a fork." - g.d.

 

[Tom Sherman]

still just me wrote:
> On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 15:20:09 +0100, Jasper Janssen
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Note, though, that the optical viewfinder is mostly useless. It's tiny,
>> and my big nose gets in the way. Usable, just barely, in emergencies. The
>> LCD is actually really good, and doesn't wash completely out under
>> anything except the very most difficult circumstances, and battery life is
>> still awesome (compared to the 2AA and 4AA NiMH Olympuses I've used
>> before, for sure).
>
> A general comment though: For the OP' stated intent of "just take
> pictures", an optical viewfinder is fine. Shutting of the digital
> display is a major battery saving step.

The feature that I really want in a camera is a hidden explosive charge
that can be remotely activated to blow the hell out of the thief that
steals it.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"the grinning buddy bear carries a fork." - g.d.

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
Tom Sherman <[email protected]> wrote:

> M-gineering aka Marten Gerritsen wrote:
> > Lou Holtman wrote:
> > Thank god you drive one the right side of the road.
> >>
> >> Lou
> >
> > <asbestos> who cares, Merkin cars are shite anyhow </asbestos>
>
> The cars built in the US by Japanese companies are higher quality and a
> better value than those made in Europe. Of course, many USians buy
> expensive [1] European cars due to the "Heritage & Mystique®" factor.
>
> [1] The Europeans abandoned the inexpensive car market in the US, since
> they were not able to compete.

VW Rabbit starts at $15.5k.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"My scenarios may give the impression I could be an excellent crook.
Not true - I am a talented lawyer." - Sandy in rec.bicycles.racing

 

[Tom Sherman]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Tom Sherman <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> M-gineering aka Marten Gerritsen wrote:
>>> Lou Holtman wrote:
>>> Thank god you drive one the right side of the road.
>>>> Lou
>>> <asbestos> who cares, Merkin cars are shite anyhow </asbestos>
>> The cars built in the US by Japanese companies are higher quality and a
>> better value than those made in Europe. Of course, many USians buy
>> expensive [1] European cars due to the "Heritage & Mystique®" factor.
>>
>> [1] The Europeans abandoned the inexpensive car market in the US, since
>> they were not able to compete.
>
> VW Rabbit starts at $15.5k.
>
Is VW making any money off of it, or is it a "loss leader"? The Golf
Mark 5 is reported to be an expensive car to build. Also, will it match
the Japanese transplants in quality and maintenance costs (it does have
significantly worse fuel consumption).

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"the grinning buddy bear carries a fork." - g.d.

 

[Clive George]

"Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Is VW making any money off of it, or is it a "loss leader"? The Golf Mark
> 5 is reported to be an expensive car to build. Also, will it match the
> Japanese transplants in quality and maintenance costs (it does have
> significantly worse fuel consumption).

Interesting that the US spec Rabbit only comes with a 170hp 2.5 petrol
engine, with associated fuel costs. This side of the pond, the TDi versions
are the most popular - and they're notoriously miserly on fuel.

cheers,
clive

 

[Tom Sherman]

Clive George wrote:
> "Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> Is VW making any money off of it, or is it a "loss leader"? The Golf
>> Mark 5 is reported to be an expensive car to build. Also, will it
>> match the Japanese transplants in quality and maintenance costs (it
>> does have significantly worse fuel consumption).
>
> Interesting that the US spec Rabbit only comes with a 170hp 2.5 petrol
> engine, with associated fuel costs. This side of the pond, the TDi
> versions are the most popular - and they're notoriously miserly on fuel.

Automotive diesels are temporarily unavailable due to tighter emissions
standards leading the availability of low sulfur diesel fuel.

The last time I look at new vehicles 2½ years ago, the TDI Golf Mark 4
cost half again as much as a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"the grinning buddy bear carries a fork." - g.d.

 

[still just me]

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 16:38:14 -0600, Tom Sherman
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>The cars built in the US by Japanese companies are higher quality and a
>better value than those made in Europe. Of course, many USians buy
>expensive [1] European cars due to the "Heritage & Mystique®" factor.

"Higher Quality" is an arguable concept, and somewhat make/model
specific.

If you mean "general overall minor maintenance costs are lower", then,
yeah..., I'd agree. However, some European engineering is very good
and some of their stuff is very high quality.

In addition, Euro cars often have a certain level of refinement in
driving that Japanese cars still lack. I drive and modify both... but
despite the higher running costs, I still appreciate certain Euro
cars.