Re: [OT] Digital Cameras

Sean Bayan Schoonmaker wrote:
> 
> And as I've just done some research and purchased a digital camera
> myself (it should arrive tomorrow or Friday :-))

Just out of interest, which one did you go for ? I might be looking for
one soon thanks to my employer's newly instituted 'long-service award'
policy (they've decided that five years' constitutes long service in tha
games industry).

> Things that I looked at:
<snip Schoon's list>

I'll add another point to Schoon's

INTERFACE : if your PC has USB ports (anything less than 2-3 years old
should have) and Win98, go for a USB connection over parallel / serial.
If it doesn't have onboard USB ports, go out and buy a USB interface
card. It's soooo much faster, as we continuously point out to the bozo
who decided we should buy a serial-only camera :-(

On the point of resolutions, anything more than 640x480 (maybe 800x600)
is overkill for web images. Even if you want to use the camera for
taking holidays snaps etc (which I intend to - it's how I'll get it past
the 'Purchasing Approval Authority' - ie my wife) then 1800x1200 is
still enough resolution for 6"x4" prints on a 300dpi printer.

On the point of cheap second-hand SLRs vs digital cameras - don't forget
to add the cost of developing and a flatbed scanner to the cost of the
SLR when figuring the difference. And there's convenience as well - a
picture taken with a digital camera can be up on the web within a few
minutes of it being taken. Alternatively, you can see immediately if
it's out of focus / too dark / smudge on the lens / camera strap across
the picture etc.

---------------------------
Tony Francis
Senior Software Engineer