Digital Camera Memory

[macbaseball]

I have two upcoming trips, and I decided that I want to buy a digital camera for the trips. I'm going to get the Canon Powershot A95. I seems to be an excellent camera for a beginner as it is point and shoot, with good specs. So I have two questions.

1) I only want to upload my pictures once a day, and I plan to be taking a lot of pictures throughout the day at full resolution. I don't know what size of memory chip I should get.

2) Is there a way to get the pictures off of the camera, other than hooking it up to a computer. Like a flash memory chip or something, or would I be better off just getting a huge chip and keep all the photos on there. My trip is only 4 and a half days, so if I got either the Transcend 2GB or Kingston 2GB for $100 would I just be able to use it the whole trip. What about using an iPod. (I have one) I want to use the most economical option.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Don't get the memory card at the last minute: many cameras are not compatible with 1 Gb and 2 Gb cards. Test first. You may be better off with multiple 512 Mb cards. Canon does not state a maximum card size in their specifications, however I have customers with Canon Powershots (don't know models off the top) for whom 1 Gb cards did not work.

Figure on 2.5 Mb per picture at fine resolution highest quality JPG (smaller sixe indoors, higher outdoors in high contrast). Estimate how many pictures you need between uploads.

There is the iPod Camera Connector and the Belkin product (you should be able to dind them in the Apple Store, verify compatibility with your model iPod before ordering). These might be pricey however.

I would get an extra battery. Also figure out how you're going to record the details of what it is you are shooting -- notebook, voice recorder, ??

The A95 is a terrific point-n-shoot, by the way.

 

[macbaseball]

Ok thanks. I guess I'll just take the Powerbook, since I now realize I'm not going to take over 200 pictures, I'm going to use a 512 chip. My sister has a cheap digital camera, but it's pretty recent so I'm hoping her 512 chip works. As for batteries, I'm just going to go to Costco and buy one of those huge packages of batteries. Those are a good deal, and I won't have to deal with the hassle of charging the batteries.

 

[wcj912]

Hi there,

I've used Canon cameras for about eight years now - I still consider them the best. Originally I started out with a 1GB IBM Microdrive for storage on long trips since I didn't have a computer to upload every day. Anyway you will probably find that a 1GB card will give you around 240+ images on highest resolution. I think that's plenty - even for the the most diehard users!

I like the idea of having one large card instead of heaps of small ones - just make sure you buy a reliable card, preferably with a high transfer rate. I am currently using a SandDisk Extreme III 1Gb CF card - the quickest (data rate transfer) currently available. What this equates to is less time rewuired between shots to record the image to the the card, therefore a faster 'shot rate' or a reduction in 'lag time' between shots. I know these cards are pricey - but don't forget when you go digital - your card is your film - so if your card stuffs up - your pictures are as good as gone. SanDisk also gives you data rescue software just in case the card ges haywire.

SanDisk Ultra CF cards are also reliable based on past experience. I haven't tried Transcend or Kingston, they may well be just as good. However, have a look at the read and write rates for the different cards when you go shopping.

Hope this helps

 

[Inspector Lee]

I use a Lexar 1 GB card with my Canon G1 (3.3 MP) and at highest resolution settings I can get over 550 shots. Over the years, I've also accumulated 128 MB and 256 MB cards to go with the above 1 GB and the paltry 16 MB that shipped with my camera. Collectively, these more than cover my needs. I do a fair amount of backpacking so I don't have the luxury of transferring images or recharging my camera. I bought an extra lithium ion battery for it a year ago as backup but haven't had to fall back on my extra yet.

One of the things that can drain your camera battery is transferring images off the card to another source so down the road you might want to consider picking up some type of card reader if it suits your fancy. Also, your camera uses AA batteries and I'm not sure what the life of those batts is. If you shoot without the LCD, you'll get more shots per set of batteries but if the viewfinder on the camera is weak, you'll be unhappy with the pics. Shooting with or without the LCD on also depends on what you are photographing.

I'd definitely play around with it before the trip. Best of luck.