Digital camera recommendations (again)

Any recommendations for a decent (2.1+) megapixel camera?

My Nikon just ate it. Actually, it kicked the bucket yesterday morning, and I waited until trying a fix to reset its internal parts before determining this.

After searching the net, it turns out a whole lot of Nikon Coolpix cameras are ending up in the garbage for the same reason. The motor inside grinds around like broken glass for a monent, and then it displays "SYSTEM ERROR" and goes **** up, unable to retract or focus its lens. Yes, the dreaded - and always fatal - Nikon system error.

So what I need is a camera that is RELIABLE and with at least 2 megapixels. Preferably one that can be set in a manual or fixed focus mode so I can use it with macro lenses.
This also assumes of course I can get my $400 back.

If not, off to California it goes for warranty repair, and I probably won't be able to do any updates (not the kind needing photos anyway) on the site for a few weeks to a month or two until it's returned.

That's sad to hear. Seems like you haven't been having much luck with stuff lately, what with your computer problems and so on. (By the way, I sent you some mail about PC parts, did you get it?)

Anyway, I'm on my second Olympus digital camera at the moment, and pretty happy with it. Its only my second because I decided to upgrade - my old one was a 1.3megapixel, with no USB - old fashioned serial port only..
My current one is the C700 Ultra zoom, the one with the 10x optical zoom. Its 2.1megapixal, and hasn't given me any problems at all for about a year now. I quite like it. It also can use normal AA batteries, which is very handy. I prefer this to other cameras like most Canon ones which can only use a special litium ion rechargable battery..
Olympus cameras use Smart media though, rather than the slightly more common Compact Flash..
I'd recommend Olympus, but I don't know what experiences others have had..
I've been wanting to upgrade again to a 4 megapixel one, but can't really justify it at the moment.

Graham

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Graham:
That's sad to hear. Seems like you haven't been having much luck with stuff lately, what with your computer problems and so on. (By the way, I sent you some mail about PC parts, did you get it?)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My PC is being a pissy little thing right now, and I'm having some trouble accessing my e-mail. Nothing's corrupted or anything, but some stupid attribute got changed somewhere along the line, and now the inbox comes and goes as it pleases. Next time I have it up, I'll check for your messages.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Graham:
Anyway, I'm on my second Olympus digital camera at the moment, and pretty happy with it. Its only my second because I decided to upgrade - my old one was a 1.3megapixel, with no USB - old fashioned serial port only.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Radio Shack has a little Olympus Camedia for well under $200 (maybe closer to $150) that I might buy as a backup camera. At least then I could start putting pictures on the site again starting sometime in the 1st week of May, instead of a month or even more it would be while waiting for Nikon to repair my CP775. It's only 1.3 megapixels, but it still beats out my old Polaroid by half a million pixels.

Either way, it looks like no wheelchair batteries (I'll yank the half-dead ones out of my spare), and no bidding on that brass Arc either.

Man, I hate it when everything goes to he77 at once. So frustrating.

I LOVE my Nikon 950. I would be really Pi$$ed if it broke. So far so good on it.

I have an Olympus 620 Digital you can BORROW for a couple of months if you want; it has closeup lenses etc, so should work fine for what you need. (Better color rendition than my Nikon, if not as convenient and easy to use). Also has a telephoto attachment, and I can also loan you a parallel port card reader for it too if you want.

PM me if your email isn't working if you want to use it camera for a while.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Silviron:
Man, I hate it when everything goes to he77 at once. So frustrating.

I LOVE my Nikon 950. I would be really Pi$$ed if it broke. So far so good on it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Having everything go sour at once really sucks. Dead wheelchair batteries, dying computer, dead camera, dead photometer, all within the span of a couple of weeks.

The photometer has since been replaced; I can steal the half-shot batteries out of my spare wheelchair; the computer setup is kludgy, slow, and inconvenient but can be lived with; but I definitely cannot function (website-wise) without a camera.

I screwed with mine some more a short while ago, and found that with a lot of patience and careful f**king around with the lens while the motor noise is on, the gearing eventually "caught" and finished extending the lens and booting the firmware. That means I might get at least one more batch of pictures out of it, AS LONG AS I DON'T TURN IT OFF or change modes again. And I'll have to "focus" by putting different power eyeglass lenses and other lenses in front of it, as it can no longer focus on its own. It appears to be stuck with the focus at infinity.

At the very minimum, I can take pictures of all the LED-LENSER stuff I got and get that project finished up this weekend. I'm also expecting two large batches of lights from two different sources, so if they show up Monday I can at least get some preliminary shots done before sending Mr. Nikon off to the big dumpster in the sky.

I won't be able to find all the packaging & accessories for the Nikon by the end of business today anyway, so I might as well make use of it over the weekend before sending it off to California around the middle of next week.


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Silviron:
I have an Olympus 620 Digital you can BORROW for a couple of months if you want; it has closeup lenses etc, so should work fine for what you need. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Let's see how this goes first. I'm going to have to buy a "spare" camera anyway (regardless of any offers of loaners) so let's hold off on this until the middle of next week when I figure out exactly what my financial situation will be for May. If things are going to come up short, I may take you up on your offer. I know I'm getting a break on my May rent because of utility refunds (this alone would almost cover the cost of a cheap Olympus Camedia 1.3 megapixel that Radio Shack has on sale now), but I don't know how the rest of the bills will be until I receive them.

(Edit): I just received the first of the two large shipments of lights, so I'll try to get at least the first run of pictures done before the camera craps out again. There's some nice looking stuff here coming out of the Tektite labs (Thanks Scott!) including a proto that I might not be able to show just yet. I'll start a new thread in the LED forum before I get too far off base here.

Craig,

The swivel part of my first Nikon digital, a CP900 broke and so I sent it off to Nikon for warranty repair. I can't remember exact times but I got it repaired and returned quite quickly, inside two weeks for sure and maybe it was quicker then that.

Love my CP990 except my next digital will have ability to focus in lower or low light sitations, something of which Nikon continues to ignore even in the latest CP5000 release.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by geepondy:
I can't remember exact times but I got it repaired and returned quite quickly, inside two weeks for sure and maybe it was quicker then that.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Did you have to send everything back (the box, manuals, CD-ROMs, etc.) or just the camera and your receipt?
Knowing this could save me both time and aggravation spent looking for everything.

They don't want any accessories to be sent in with the camera, unless it has something to do with the problem- So you should retain everything not needed, straps, filters, battery, etc.
The Nikon service center happens to be in NY, so I was lucky in that regard; just walked up to the counter and dropped it off. Turnaround time was pretty fast with my CP800, where I "bumped" the camera on the rug, and it stopped working.

Yes, I sent just the camera back and I imagine the receipt although the camera had not been out for a year so they all were under warranty.

Well that's good to hear. No need to hunt for all the sh** that came with it - just the receipt.

It will probably be Wednesday before it goes out. Plenty of time to find the yellow "DK" envelope that I put the paperwork & receipt in.

(Edit)... turns out my Nikon stuff ended up in TWO different yellow envelopes, and they have since both turned up. So I'm in good shape now. But Wednesday is still the target date, as I'm broke until then.

Just picked up the Rat Shack flyer that polluted my mailbox today. They have the Olympus Camedia D-100 plus a few throw-ins on sale for $149.99.

The 1.3 megapixel camera has 1.5" LCD screen, 2x digital zoom (digital zoom always sucks) and auto-focus lens. Comes with 8 and 16 meg smart-media cards, USB and video cables, and rechargeable lithium battery pack. It can also use two ordinary AA cells. No doubt I'll have to spring extra for a switching PSU for AC use, but this would serve as a spare or backup camera, not my every-day one. So that part I could probably skip.

I found a page with pictures taken from it, and it seems to do alright. Certainly well enough for pictures of flashlights.

That sounds like the updated version of my first digital camera - seems like they just moved to USB support from that slow old serial port on mine.

Anyway, 1.3megapixels is still fine for posting stuff to the web etc, I reckon.
$150 sounds like a good deal, I'd say.

Graham

If you have an AC adapter for your Nikon, you may be able use it on the Olympus- At least MY Nikon works perfectly well with my Olympus AC adapter.

FYI Craig - my Sony DSC P-50 (2.1 Mpixels)hasn't hiccup'ed yet. It doesn't get as good of a macro shot as your Nikon but it does a pretty good job. The price has dropped recently.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Silviron:
If you have an AC adapter for your Nikon, you may be able use it on the Olympus- At least MY Nikon works perfectly well with my Olympus AC adapter.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't think they're compatible. The Nikon CP775 uses 8.4 volts, the Camedia D-100 is 3.0 volts. Wouldn't want to let all the "magic smoke" out of the new camera before I even get to take pictures with it.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Quickbeam:
FYI Craig - my Sony DSC P-50 (2.1 Mpixels)hasn't hiccup'ed yet. It doesn't get as good of a macro shot as your Nikon but it does a pretty good job. The price has dropped recently.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My funding is much more limited, so I pretty much had to take what I could get. So today I came home with the Camedia Brio D-100 from Olympus. The special "CR-V3" lithium battery is primary, not recharageable as had been thought. I think Radio Shack sells them for around $15 a pop. So I had to spring an extra $30 and change for the switching power supply, or else I'd end up going bankrupt buying batteries for the thing. For what I use digital cameras for, it only makes sense.

Camera, PSU, two memory cards, etc., all for around $190. Thank the city's utility rebate for that.

All I need to do now is figure out how to get it out of interpolation mode, and how to fuss with the white balance & exposure, and I'll be all set.

Test picture.


I guess it ain't bad for a little 1-banger.
A tad better than my old Polaroid, but my Nikon is much better. This will do fine for putting flashlight pics and whatnot (pictures of insulators, pictures of toilets & urinals, pictures of boats, etc.) up for the time being.

The software is cool too. If you open Explorer and then plug the USB cable in, you'll see a new drive letter magically appear. Then you just copy & paste (or drag) the contents anywhere you choose, and the camera does the rest. No muss, no fuss, no special viewing or catalogueing software to mess with, it's straightforward & simple. And it doesn't blue-screen on me either. :O

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by The LED Museum:
The special "CR-V3" lithium battery is primary, not recharageable as had been thought. I think Radio Shack sells them for around $15 a pop. So I had to spring an extra $30 and change for the switching power supply, or else I'd end up going bankrupt buying batteries for the thing<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Craig,

Not sure if you know, but my Olympus C700 came uses 2 CR-V3 batteries also - but one of these is actually equivalent to 2 AA cells. So in yours you should be able to use 2 x AA alkaline cells (or rechargeable AAs..)

In any case, you might be interested to know that the CR-V3 lasts a pretty long time - the 2 which came with my camera lasted the better part of a year, with weekly use of the camera(although I didn't use the flash, and rarely use the LCD screen)
Tip for making your digital cameras batteries last - use the viewfinder for taking photos rather than the LCD panel, only use the LCD panel when you really need it. Using the LCD really eats batteries..

Graham

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Graham:
Craig,

Not sure if you know, but my Olympus C700 came uses 2 CR-V3 batteries also - but one of these is actually equivalent to 2 AA cells. So in yours you should be able to use 2 x AA alkaline cells (or rechargeable AAs..)

In any case, you might be interested to know that the CR-V3 lasts a pretty long time - the 2 which came with my camera lasted the better part of a year, with weekly use of the camera<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The manual for my camera says that AA cells don't output enough current and would have a very short usable lifetime - they're only to be used for emergencies. It came with a single CR-V3.

The way I use cameras, that battery would be dead inside a day. Figure I take about 1,000 photos a month, and because many of them are macro, I have to use the LCD because the parallax error introduced by the optical viewfinder is excessive for this type of photography. That's why I sprung for an AC adapter. The expensive lithium battery rests comfortably in the camera box, to be used only when I need to take the camera outside for some unusual photo op or an event I wish to cover. The rest of the time, it will run from the AC adapter.

Craig

If you have NiMh AA's, that's all you'll need. Standard alkaline have way too much internal resistance; it's not about voltage, or ma capacity of the battery; it is mostly a function of "the battery's ability to deliver the currrent" when needed.

Odd as it may seem, even a 1200ma NiMh will out perform the best Coppertop or Energizer alkaline hands down