I am seriously considering buying a digital camera in the near future. I have always liked the Sony Mavicas because of their cheap floppy disc media. I’ve also heard that the Mavicas have a lousy compression algorithim and do not store the frames in a JPEG or MPEG format. It seems that Sony has succumbed to the Betamax syndrome and gone with their own unique storage format. Please check in with any refutation or confirmation of these points.
All of this steers me away from the Mavicas. I dislike the expense of the memory stick media and I especially dislike the need to use cables to import your photos into a computer. I feel that you should be able to download your images into any computer with a minimum of hassle.
The Clik! disk seems to be an alternative that makes a lot of sense. I have only been able to fine an Agfa digital camera that uses these discs and it appears to be very feature-poor. Are there any other digital cameras that use the Clik! disc technology? Are there any other digital cameras that have an easy method of downloading pictures into a computer like the disc based Mavicas?
I’d prefer to spend around $500.[sup]00[/sup] on the camera but will go higher if there are such features as interchangable lenses or high resolution. The camera must be over one megapixel and have good zoom numbers (i.e., over 3-5 X zoom). What do the teeming millions have to say about this?
I would go with something that uses CompactFlash II or SmartMedia. I personally went with the CompactFlash. It is the most widespread. I have never heard of Clik! Disk and checking [url=“http://www.dpreview.com/”]here[/ulr] show only the Agfa uses it. The link is to Digital Photography Review. If you click on the Buyer’s Guide link, you can pick out everything you want to compare, including price. Not a bad place to get information.
You are probably going to have to go over $500 for the higher zoom, but prices are always coming down so look around.
I have a mavica 95 and I very happy with it. Yes its kinda annoying that you can only fit 4 pictures on a floppy disk at the highest resolution, but it has damn near every feature you could possibly want on a camera (including a 10x optical zoom) The mavica does have a memory stick adapter that goes straight into your system’s floppy disk drive for easy reading of the memory sticks.
The newer model of the mavica 95 actually burns straight to a CD – would have loved to have gotten that one.
so I would serously look at the mavica 95, I have absolutely no regrets on buying it (save the whole CD thing)
For what it’s worth, Sony has lowered the prices on all sizes of memory sticks, by about 40%. This now puts their price close to being on par with Compactflash or Smartmedia (although not QUITE as inexpensive).
Furthermore, Zenster, the Mavica’s may be convenient (woohoo! Cheap film storage!), but those things are absolutely MASSIVE. So if you don’t feel like lugging around something that feels like a laptop but isn’t as cool, find something smaller (Digital Elph? Ooh, sexy…).
So don’t discount the possibility of a Cybershot. You can get the DSC-P50 (2.1 megapixel, 3x optical/6x digital zoom)for $400, and then a 64-megabyte memory stick for $80… thus keeping you at under $500. Psst… a 64-megabyte stick will hold well over a hundred images at 1280X960… just under a hundred at 1600X1200. In order to get that with a Mavica, you’d have to be lugging around fifty floppy disks or so.
In general, the Sony cameras don’t earn the best reviews for a few reasons. They don’t have as good electronics or optics as the leaders (Olympus and Nikon), and apparently you can tell in the resulting images. The storage options (floppy and CD-R) impose many restrictions on the cameras, including size, compression, and speed. Memory sticks are more expensive and have fewer options than Compact Flash or SmartMedia.
The general consumer cameras now are 2 and 3 megapixel, and run from $400 to $1000. This will not get you changable lenses, for that you must go up to the $2000+ range. But you can get several excellent cameras with 10x zoom lenses for around $1000.
Since you can get 64 meg SmartMedia cards for $27 and CF for less, I don’t think storage is really an issue. The Clik storage stuff has outlived its usefullness. You can get CFII 1 gig disks for around $500, although I’m not sure they have proven themselves worth it yet.
Apparently they work well. But most photographers prefer smaller, multiple media for saving pictures. You don’t risk losing as many pictures if something goes wrong with one of them. And the Compact Flash cards save faster than the disks, at least for right now.
Actually, there are documented reliability problems with the microdisks. And they aren’t recommended above 12,000’ or so, which is a problem for hikers like me.
I think that a handful of cards will be the norm for a while yet. There are a few CD Wallet-like storage tools, but they are pricy as well.
Thanks for all of this excellent input. Now, speaking of input, what other ways exist to import the photo files into the computer other than a cable? What I’m hoping for is a floppy drive insert that cables to the camera or something that would make it so I didn’t have to connect to the back of the computer. I would assume all IR optical links need to enter through a serial port or the like. I want front loading of the images into any computer. How to do this? I’ve decided I can live with smart cards if I have to.
astro, I don’t see how a USB card reader will let me input to other computers without having to access their back panel to install the cable. I specifically want some sort of port that inserts into the floppy drive like the Clik! disc and cables out to the camera. That way I can download to any computer without having to cable up. Does such a thing exist?
I have a Fuji Finepix 1400 which uses smartmedia. I have a 64 MB card which stores more pictures than I will ever take in one session before I upload to the computer. the camera connects directly with a USB cable to the computer and I find it most convenient. I do not know why you would have a problem with that. I plug in and in a few seconds all the pictures are in the hard disk. The idea of floppies is crazy as you would need dozens for the same capacity. I cannot think of anything I would like better than the USB cable.
As a caveat I would think the floppy interface IO limitations would potentially put a low ceiling on how fast you could transfer the images. As a side note most new PCs have at least one USB port in the front exactly for things like digital cameras that are connected and disconnected as needed.
That’s perfect, astro. You’ve hit the nail on the head. Although I may be able to plug into some modern computers, I want to be sure that I can simply use any computer as it stands. You’ve solved the issue, I appreciate it.
Now, back to a mid-range, smart card style camera. I like to do scenic photography so a add-on wide angle and a teleconverter would be nice. Which camera provides this in the $500.[sup]00[/sup] range? A large viewscreen and feature-rich functions like on-the-spot editing are important. Now that the media is out of the way, let’s consider 2+ megapixels too.
I have the Sony MASC-USB reader. It’s a kickass little device, since it makes transferring digital images easy (it’s faster than a floppy drive), but it also helps with transferring other files from one computer to another (easier and more reliable than using a CD-RW drive). Depending on what camera you get (and I would further try to dissuade you from getting a floppy disk camera), make sure you get the appropriate reader.
If you REALLY must get a camera that puts files on a disk to stick directly into your computer, splurge a couple hundred dollars extra and get a CD-RW camera. Individual disks are far cheaper and lighter, ultimately, than floppies. The only drawback is the higher initial cost of the camera. However, Sony’s recently released models are far cheaper than its original, $1200 model (however, the zoom capabilities are significantly reduced… 3X vs. 10X).
Spoofe, I’m with the program. Now that I have a default direct input device the disc or CD-RW media is no longer an issue. I also realize that a floppy interface will have a significantly lower frame transfer rate. I just wanted to make sure that there was some sort of compact and backpanel free way of interfacing. The camera specified below looked interesting except that it is a SLR format body. I may have to accept that if I want the desired 10X zoom optical lens. As an outdoor photographer I want big zoom numbers, that may make a large body camera a gimme. Olympus C-2100 Ultra Zoom
Your fit: 97%
Image Capacity (at hi-res): 16
Resolution: 1600 x 1200 Pixels
Brand: Olympus
Price: $560
Optical Zoom: 10X
Flash Type:
Flash Sync, Hot Shoe, Red-Eye Reduction, Off/On/Auto
Ease of Download:
Via Serial Cable, Via USB Cable, Via Removable Memory
Rapid-Fire Shots: 5
Delay Between Shots: 2 sec.
Camera Size: SLR Size
Manual Features:
Manual Exposure Compensation, Manual Aperture, Manual Focus, Manual Shutter, Manual White Balance
Special Features:
Audio Recording, DPOF, Interchangeable Lens, Macro, Mini-Movie, Remote Control
Plays MP3’s: No
Now, how desirable is it to have a camera that plays MP.3’s? It’s not like I want to hear music through my camera. Is reviewing other visual files so critical? And if so, what are the criteria for MP.3 compatible devices. I do like multifunction devices so this might be an important feature for me. Also, does this mean that the camera does not take or store its images in JPEG or MPEG modes? Wise me up here, it’s a Monday after work and I don’t feel like studying.
Kinoons, one of the reasons that I mention the Mavica so much is because that is the one I have used the most. Their ultimate practicality and extreme usability is an undeniable feature for them. It’s still hard to change gears from film but years of lugging around my Nikons and 5-10 pounds of lenses have taken their toll. Plus, I’m a cheapskate b@stard and saving money on the film would be schweet. <insert curmudgeonly smilie here> It is also for that exact reason that I’m willing to shift off of the disc media. I want a more compact size and less weight to carry.
The only problems I have seen reported were using the microdrives in the Nikon D1, which they are not approved for. And since that is well out of his price range anyway, I didn’t think Zenster would be worried about it.
Zenster,
I don’t know about the MP3 capability. I can take 40 seconds of Quicktime movies with mine (Nikon Coolpix 990), and that is really neat for some things.
Zenster, that Olympus looks mighty fine indeed. What recording medium does it use, incidently? Whichever, be sure to get at least a 64-mb card, preferably a 128-mb.
Not at all. Every camera/mp3 player that I’ve seen does both so horribly. I’d avoid those types of combos entirely.