i like the look of the Kodak 215 myself - in between sort of price - and quality of picture.
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David Allen
Wizard Signs - It's a kind of magic!
ICQ 3467358
Email wizsigns@esatclear.ie
ICQ Pager 3467358@pager.icq.com
www.esatclear.ie/~davidallen/wizard.htm
Proud $ Supporter of the Website
I really think the Sony Mavica is the way to go. I have the 88, and wish I had waited until the 91 was available. All the Mavicas take pictures directly to 3.5" floppies in JPG format. In hi-rez mode, the 88 takes a picture that is about 250k and you can usually print photo quality 8x10's with no problem. A friend has a 91, and it is even better, as it has a much better lens. Another really big feature is that the Sony's use a rechargable camcorder battery so you don't end up going broke buying AA batteries. The 88 sells for around $900 US, and the 91 is about $100 more.
The first digital camera I got was a Casio and it was such a worthless piece of junk that I took it back and got my money back. I then bought a Minolta Dimage-V. It was a lot better camera, but it ate batteries like crazy and the images weren't all that great. It also was extremely slow downloading and took it's own special software, so you couldn't download the pictures to just any computer that you happened to be around.
Even the older Sony 81 and 83 series were superb cameras and some of the discount houses seem to have some super prices on them.
Jerry Mathel
Jerry Mathel Signs
Grants Pass, Oregon
jmathel@grantspass.com
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[This message has been edited by jmathel (edited November 21, 1999).]
I was impressed with the pix it took, the floppy media, 400 zoom, and the fact that you could get five seconds of audio with each jpeg.
Not only that, but this model could also record mpegs, about a minute per floppy.
Imagine, you never miss getting that perfect photo by a couple of seconds.
Of couse, digital is still no match for a good SLR in competent hands, but someday, who knows?
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SCP
spurcell99@mediaone.net
Cape Cod, MA
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Sonny Franks
Sign Creations
Lilburn, GA
"If you do what you've always done, you'll be what you've always been."
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Mark Meagher
MediArt Visual
Greencastle, IN
I use it to shoot storefronts and signs for documentationa adn presentations. I use an AGFA 307 that I bought on the Egghead auction for $121 over a year ago and it's been real good for my needs.
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"The codfish lays ten thousand eggs,
the homely hen lays one
the codfish never cackles to tell you
what she's done
And so we shun the codfish while
the lowly hen we prize
Which only goes to show you
that it pays to advertise!"
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Ogden Nash
The Sign Shop
Mendocino, CA.
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Pete Kouchis
Say it with SIGNS, Inc.
Orland Park, IL, USA
Phone: (708)460-3001
Fax: (708)460-3006
Excellence is doing a common thing in an uncommon way
Booker T. Washington
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Pete Kouchis
Say it with SIGNS, Inc.
Orland Park, IL, USA
Phone: (708)460-3001
Fax: (708)460-3006
Excellence is doing a common thing in an uncommon way
Booker T. Washington
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Henry Barker #1924
akaKaftan
SignCraft AB
Stockholm, Sweden.
A little bit of England in a corner of Stockholm
www.signcraft.se
info@signcraft.se
If you want a cheap one, go to ebay
start new from 50 on up for 640x480 which
will be fine for estimates or photo presentation.
If your into large format printing, I'd invest in the sony.
either way 1 job will pay for it.
Good Luck
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Ron Percell
Percell Signs
Petaluma, California
Home of the MicroMeet!
E-mail
percell@percellsigns.com
Web-Site
www.percellsigns.com/
I chose this model because of the ease of getting the pictures onto other people's computers, and ultimately, my web site.
There's no special software needed and the pics are saved as .jpg files onto floppy disks which are available worldwide in just about every city - something not true with smart card media or the other small card storage media
If you haven't seen any of the pics I've posted, they are located at http://www.difsupply.com/trippin.html
I have the pics thumbnailed so just click on any images you want to see at the full size.
The first couple of links on there, I had been saving the pics to my web site using Sony's e-mail resolution. This was a very fast download but the picture size just wasn't satisfactory for most people who looked at the pics.
When I started downloading pics at the 640x480 resolution, the size was better and the download time still wasn't bad. I spent minimal time editing the pics before posting them. You can judge from them the range it captures from close facial shots to far scenery shots.
The first Kodak digital cam I tried would not allow me to save files small enough for quick internet downloading - my main purpose for getting the camera. So I returned that and got the Sony.
I chose the FD88 because it was smaller and easier to transport than the FD91 which Pete has, and because it was almost the same price as the Kodak I had just returned. The file sizes it can save pics at are more than sufficient for internet and for customer quotes and casual pictures printed on inkjet kind of printers.
I like the large LCD screen on back for composing pictures and there are many settings you can use to take shots at other than standard settings. You can overide the automatic exposure and lighten or darken the image before it's taken, or you can apply any of several special effects like sepia tone, negative, solarize, & black & white.
I also like the little icon which warns you ahead of time when the rechargeable battery is running low. And there's two options for numbering the images on the floppy. I recommend using the sequential numbering system so that you don't wind up with several floppies with the same filenames - something that happened to me on the first 6 disks until I realized it. Sending these files to my web page resulted in images overwriting other images since the filenames were the same. Once I renamed everything on the floppies, all went well and I then started saving all files sequentially.
There was one or two better models when I bought my Sony but one of them used a proprietary memory card and an unusual proprietary battery also - two items I was sure I would find difficult to replace in smaller towns, should the need arise. It is an extremely small digital camera but I didn't want to take the chance of missing out on pictures because of dead or broken batteries or storage media.
I also recommend buying an extra battery (rechargeable) so that you can immediately pop it into the camera when the first one goes dead. No missed pictures. I have needed this many times on my trip and I'm really glad I spent the $80 for an additional 3 hour battery.
end of commercial ;-)
------------------ 14
EmpYŽ is also known as...Mayo Pardo
Visit my Australian adventure in progress at http://www.difsupply.com/trippin.html
Elgin IL 60123
847 931-4171
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David Allen
Wizard Signs - It's a kind of magic!
ICQ 3467358
Email wizsigns@esatclear.ie
ICQ Pager 3467358@pager.icq.com
www.esatclear.ie/~davidallen/wizard.htm
Proud $ Supporter of the Website
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Dave Grundy shop#340
AKA "applicator" on mIRC
"stickin' sticky stuff to valuable vessels and vehicles!"
in Granton, Ontario, Canada
1-519-225-2634
dave.grundy@odyssey.on.ca
www.odyssey.on.ca/~dave.grundy
"A PROUD $ supporter of the website"
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Bruce Evans
640x480 - 120 pics
1280x960 - 36 (high quality)
1280x960 - 18 (super high quality)
Under $300
The one that did it was the Olympus D340R. It comes with an 8 meg smart card, 2 CD's of software, one set of regular batteries, one set rechargable batteries with charger, serial download plug, Reeeeal long camera strap, and a book that helps you learn French and Spanish.
Sure, in about 6 months I'll get one that will also do video, audio and a USB port for 400 bucks. For now this thing is GREAT! Everyone that sees it wants one, especially after they hear the price! The only problem is finding them in stock somewhere. I finally ended up at a Walmart after waiting 2 weeks for a raincheck. Plus it was only $288.
Why get a $1000 camera because you can get floppys anywhere? Get a bunch of extra smart cards and get some cool sign stuff with the leftover money....
Just a thought.
That camera again - Olympus D340R - $288
($299 most places)
Order yours Today!
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Bruce Westfall
DeSigns Unlimited
Glouster, Ohio
bruce@frognet.net
[This message has been edited by BruceWestfall (edited November 24, 1999).]