What's the best overal digital camera in terms of price, convenience, reliability and ease of use? I want to use the camera to upload photos to a personal homepage for showing travel photos. Thanks for the advice.

Check out the Nov. 1999 Consumer Report Magazine. They have a whole spread on digital cameras. Any library should carry this issue.

I'm using a Nikon Film Scanner. Means, I use normal film, and camera, have it processed but no prints done, then put it thru my scanner. I consider that the most economical solution: Good quality, no expensive memory cards, can use any camera, have a permanent backup on film, can scan all my old films, too. See how nice the pictures get, visit my site www.kutu.com Regards, Martin

I've owned several digital cameras, and have to admit that the safest, most reliable method for taking pictures when abroad is to due so with normal film. There are a variety of reasons for this-- from batteries to flash cards, but the biggest reason is that I hate to lug a laptop with me the whole time. I have had problems with larger flashcards, too, 128 megs and up, with data being corrupt. Imagine how that whole "eggs in one basket" thing would play out if you lost all your pictures on one card. Yecch. Stick to film. If you simply HAVE to use a digital camera, i would recommend the Canon s10/s20. It's really damned small, has decent picture quality and wonderful resolution, and, most of all, looks and works exactly like a normal film camera. This is important every time you want somebody to take a picture of you and your mates. Hope this helps, - Jake

I myself have been researching this for about a week and finally decided on the Oly D-360L: ecost.com = $259 USD. It was between that and the Fuji MX-1200. Get a pcmcia card reader for $33 USD (if you are carrying a laptop with you) and you are set, with ultra-fast downloads that don't wast batteries. Here is a link. Email me for further info. http://pcphotoreview.com/dc/reviews/view.cfm?ProductID=91

(tgilson@yahoo.com)

I like the price of this digital camera (around $300US) but it may be difficult to download to a laptop. Photos are in jpeg format and take up to 200,000 each so you can't store them easily when you can take 40 photos at a time. There is a cord or downloading but it plugs into a port I am using for an external floppy drive. Also you could pay more and get a pcmcia flash card reader. Or you can buy extra flash cards. A role of film takes up less space. Try Seattle film works. They will develop your film and put it on the net for you to download.

(barbewire3@yahoo.com)

I researched this issue for a month. Finally, I bought the camera that Costco carries, but I didn't buy it there. It's the Olympus 450 Zoom. The day after I bought it, December (or January) PC World magazine came out. It had one and only one digital camera pictured on the front - the one that I had bought. Consumer Reports in Nov. also rated it highly.

I'd like to know what you think is a good, sturdy yet light weight, high quality travel ready scanner. E-mail me if you get this. I want it for chrome and B&W negs. Thanks, Dwight

(djgies@hotmail.com)

Have a Casio QV-2000UX, and love the camera for travelling. (but the tech support is the pits)

Advantages:
-Uses CF cards for storage, so you can use the 340 MB IBM Microdrive
-Makes a 10k JPEG preview image of EVERY picture you take. Not the greatest resolution, but good enough for a travel webpage. Who the hell needs a laptop? I LAUGH at you people who carry around laptops.

I'm currenly in Thailand, and composed my entire webpage (www.kenzemach.com) on a Palm Pilot, uploaded from internet cafes, and used only my digital camera. My web page has info on how I dealt with the memory issue, the battery issue (CRITICAL with a DCamera), and the webpage issue. If you will travel away from power supplies for an extended period of time, DO NOT get a camera that uses a proprietary battery.

The best pagefor helping you choose a DC that I've found is www.dcresource.com. Plus they have links to the best prices. They are noting that my 2Mpixel casio is now on sale at CompUSA for $299......

Currently uploading pics to my website from Thailand,

Ken
kzemach@hotmail.com


 

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