Subject: [os2genau_digest] No. 1376
From: Digest <deadmail>
To: "OS/2GenAu Digest"<deadmail>
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 00:01:09 EST-10EDT,10,-1,0,7200,3,-1,0,7200,3600

**************************************************
Thursday 19 October 2006
 Number  1376
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Subjects for today
 
1   Digital cameras : Alan Duval <amoht at westnet dot com dot au>
2  Re:  Digital cameras : Kev <kdownes at tpg dot com dot au>
3  Re:  Digital cameras : Kris Steenhaut <kris.steenhaut at kolibrieweg.eu>
4  Re:  Digital cameras : Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
5  Re:  Digital cameras : Ian Manners" <deadmail>
6   Bigpond cable changes : Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
7  Re:  Digital cameras : Dennis Nolan <djn at aanet dot com dot au>
8   Digital cameras : Alan Duval <amoht at westnet dot com dot au>
9  Re:  Digital cameras : Kris Steenhaut <kris.steenhaut at kolibrieweg.eu>
10  Re:  Digital cameras : Kris Steenhaut <kris.steenhaut at kolibrieweg.eu>

**= Email   1 ==========================**

Date:  Thu, 19 Oct 2006 19:48:57 +1000
From:  Alan Duval <amoht at westnet dot com dot au>
Subject:   Digital cameras

Hi,

I'm thinking about buying a digital camera. I don't take many pictures 
but it would be handy for recording some events. I have noticed that 
some stores are selling Kodak 4MP  cameras  for $119 and today our local 
Aldi store has a Traveler DSC 5 for $99. Has anyone had experience with 
either of these cameras?  I can't see Kodak listed at all in the OS/2 
Hardware camera section. Traveler is listed, but it is an earlier model.
 
I suppose if I can't  download the photos to eCS, I could download them 
to WIN XP and then copy them to a USB memory stick and then to eCS.

Regards,

Alan Duval
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**= Email   2 ==========================**

Date:  Thu, 19 Oct 2006 18:05:46 +0800
From:  Kev <kdownes at tpg dot com dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Digital cameras

Hi Alan

Alan Duval wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm thinking about buying a digital camera. I don't take many pictures 
> but it would be handy for recording some events. I have noticed that 
> some stores are selling Kodak 4MP  cameras  for $119 and today our local 
> Aldi store has a Traveler DSC 5 for $99. Has anyone had experience with 
> either of these cameras?  I can't see Kodak listed at all in the OS/2 
> Hardware camera section. Traveler is listed, but it is an earlier model.

Most digital cameras now-a-days can be switched between PTP and USB mass 
storage modes.  Check if it can be set as a USB mass storage device, and 
if so then Bob's your uncle! :-)  All of the digital cameras in my house 
(2 different model Canons and an old HP something or other) work fine in 
eCS as USB mass storage devices.

Cheers
Kev

-- 
=========================
Kev Downes
kdownes at tpg dot com dot au  ph 0404 7 0808 2
We use and recommend Xandros 4.0.0
=========================
There are 10 types of people ...
    ... those who understand binary, and those who don't!
=========================
"Jesus Christ is the centre of everything and the object of everything;
He who does not know him, knows nothing of the order of the world
and nothing of himself."             Blaise Pascal
=========================
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**= Email   3 ==========================**

Date:  Thu, 19 Oct 2006 12:25:51 +0200
From:  Kris Steenhaut <kris.steenhaut at kolibrieweg.eu>
Subject:  Re:  Digital cameras

Alan Duval ha scritto:
> Hi,
>
> I'm thinking about buying a digital camera. I don't take many pictures 
> but it would be handy for recording some events. I have noticed that 
> some stores are selling Kodak 4MP  cameras  for $119 and today our 
> local Aldi store has a Traveler DSC 5 for $99. 
You have  (imho) to whether the camera is ptp (or sony ptp) compatible. 
ptp (still imho) is superior to the classic hard disk  virtualisation 
system, because you completely get around the file format issues: Even 
when the media is 4 gig in size, you can download your pictures just 
like that.

Rich Walsh program "Camaraderie"  is the app to handle it.

-- 
Groeten uit Gent,

   Kris

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**= Email   4 ==========================**

Date:  Thu, 19 Oct 2006 20:45:47 +1000
From:  Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Digital cameras

Alan Duval wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm thinking about buying a digital camera. I don't take many pictures 
> but it would be handy for recording some events. I have noticed that 
> some stores are selling Kodak 4MP  cameras  for $119 and today our local 
> Aldi store has a Traveler DSC 5 for $99. Has anyone had experience with 
> either of these cameras?  I can't see Kodak listed at all in the OS/2 
> Hardware camera section. Traveler is listed, but it is an earlier model.
> 
> I suppose if I can't  download the photos to eCS, I could download them 
> to WIN XP and then copy them to a USB memory stick and then to eCS.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Alan Duval
 
> 
> 

> 
If you are unlucky and get a camera that wont attach as a USB MSD 
device, they all have memory cards in them. You can get a USB attached 
memory card reader and read the files into OS/2 that way.

I have a Fuji Film A500 which connects without problems as a USB MSD 
device to allow me to copy the picture files off it. I have a cheap and 
cheerful EMPREX DSC 2200V 2.1MP before that, and that worked OK as well.

If Kodak specifically isn't listed under the digital cameras section at 
http://www.os2warp.be/index2.php?name=usbcameras I'd probably steer 
clear of it.

In general, it's worth paying a little more for a camera with a better 
telephoto lens rather than a fixed lens and you will always need to plan 
on having to buy a memory card as the internal memory of the camera can 
sometimes only allow you to take 4 or 5 pictures at highest resolution 
before it's full. This capacity obviously varies from make to make.

If you're also interested in using the 'video mode" for quick low 
quality videos, make sure it also records sound - my cheap and cheerful 
EMPREX recorded video and sound, my Fiju only records video without sound !

Cheers/2

Ed.
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**= Email   5 ==========================**

Date:  Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:00:47 +1000 (EST)
From:  "Ian Manners" <deadmail>
Subject:  Re:  Digital cameras

On the Digital Camera bit and PTP, I now have no problems
at all with my Wifes small Canon Point and shoot.

http://www.os2site dot com/sw/apps/digitalcamera/index.html
Get ptpro110.zip (command line) and camera10.zip (GUI).

I prefer using ptpro from the command line but gave Camera10
a go and that also works fine, just make sure you CHECK what
you really have ticked before pressing 'delete', it almost got me.

Also an idea to ensure you have the latest USB drivers.

Cheers
Ian Manners
http://www.os2site dot com/

One could not be a successful scientist without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of scientists, a goodly number of scientists are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid."  -- J. D. Watson, THE DOUBLE HELIX
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**= Email   6 ==========================**

Date:  Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:05:11 +1000
From:  Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
Subject:   Bigpond cable changes

Hi,

  Here's a warning for those using Telstra's Bigpond cable broadband 
connection:

  Bigpond are back changing their cable network again !!

  This time about midday yesterday, they decided to change a large 
portion of their North Shore, Sydney customers over onto a different 
subnet. Initially it failed (so what's new). They claimed to have the 
service back up 4 hours later, however my system still could not 
connect. I restarted modem and router, which usually fixes this problem, 
to no avail !

  Out of desperation this morning I cabled a link direct from the cable 
modem through to my wifes PC (she needs the internet for her work), 
enabled the bigpond windows login client on her PC and it worked.

  When I came home this evening, I tried switching back to the Linksys 
WRT54G router - still no joy. Back to the Windoze PC of my wife and 
searched the web for ideas - and found the solution.

  Although the heartbeat signal is no longer needed, without running the 
client, you can't log in (so you get errors but it works). The normal 
configuration on the WRT54G is NOT to enter the address of the heartbeat 
server and let it be given the correct one by Telstras DHCP server. 
Guess what ... on this new sub-net, the DHCP server no longer gives out 
this address !  I added in the correct address for NSW heartbeat server 
and away it went. Everything working as before. I think the code in the 
Linksys router has to have the address of the heartbeat server before it 
will try to connect. You may find the other makes (netcomm, D-Link etc.) 
are the same.

Cheers/2

Ed.
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**= Email   7 ==========================**

Date:  Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:29:25 +1000
From:  Dennis Nolan <djn at aanet dot com dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Digital cameras

Alan

As long as the camera has a USB 2.0 connection it will happily look like 
a MSD to OS/2

However if it only has PictBridge, I dunno, probably no way to download 
it unless you can remove the memory card and plug it into a reader.

The trouble with cheap cameras is that you never know how well it will 
perform until you try it.

But cameras are like HDDs and computers, two weeks after buying it the 
price drops.

Buying points:

Sensor size is more important for quality than the number of pixels.
Test the zoom range and check the quality of the pictures with the lens 
at it's extremes. Full zoom out and in.
Also if possible test the quality with the largest aperture, that is 
with the lens wide open.
Maximum aperture and zoom extremes is where lenses perform worst. 
Therefore evaluate them there.

If you are getting a compact camera (most likely for your price range) 
check it out first

Especially the macro ability. See how macro it is. That is what is the 
smallest item that will fill the field of view.
Al the tests in normal mode should also be done in macro mode

Take some test shots and see how good they are.

Finally have the salesman demonstrate all the main functions. If he 
can't or cannot get somebody which can, well, how are you going to be 
able to make a rational decision.
Also have them demonstrate how easy or hard it is to change settings.

Regards
Dennis.

Alan Duval wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm thinking about buying a digital camera. I don't take many pictures 
> but it would be handy for recording some events. I have noticed that 
> some stores are selling Kodak 4MP  cameras  for $119 and today our 
> local Aldi store has a Traveler DSC 5 for $99. Has anyone had 
> experience with either of these cameras?  I can't see Kodak listed at 
> all in the OS/2 Hardware camera section. Traveler is listed, but it is 
> an earlier model.
>
> I suppose if I can't  download the photos to eCS, I could download 
> them to WIN XP and then copy them to a USB memory stick and then to eCS.
>
> Regards,
>
> Alan Duval
 
>
> 

>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**= Email   8 ==========================**

Date:  Thu, 19 Oct 2006 22:35:16 +1000
From:  Alan Duval <amoht at westnet dot com dot au>
Subject:   Digital cameras

Hi,

Thanks to all who replied to my questions re digital cameras. You've 
given me good information.

Regards,

Alan Duval
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**= Email   9 ==========================**

Date:  Thu, 19 Oct 2006 15:31:18 +0200
From:  Kris Steenhaut <kris.steenhaut at kolibrieweg.eu>
Subject:  Re:  Digital cameras

Ed Durrant ha scritto:
>>
> If you are unlucky and get a camera that wont attach as a USB MSD device,
Not anymore.
> they all have memory cards in them.

The ptp protocol doesn't have the snags bound to the MSD device system. 
No matter the size, format, status of the card, ptp enables you to 
download your images just like that.
>
> If Kodak specifically isn't listed under the digital cameras section 
> at http://www.os2warp.be/index2.php?name=usbcameras I'd probably steer 
> clear of it.
>
Fellows, be aware that information there is out of date.
> In general, it's worth paying a little more for a camera with a better 
> telephoto lens rather than a fixed lens and you will always need to 
> plan on having to buy a memory card as the internal memory of the 
> camera can sometimes only allow you to take 4 or 5 pictures at highest 
> resolution before it's full. This capacity obviously varies from make 
> to make.
>
That has changed too. 2 Gig cards are common, and even 4 gig cards are 
already not to expensive anymore. I have a sony Cybershot  DSC-W100  at 
8.1 megapixels.  Leaves  more ore less 500 8.1 pictures to make with a 
8.1 megapixel size.  Looks like the sky is the limit.

-- 
Groeten uit Gent,

   Kris

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**= Email   10 ==========================**

Date:  Thu, 19 Oct 2006 15:32:13 +0200
From:  Kris Steenhaut <kris.steenhaut at kolibrieweg.eu>
Subject:  Re:  Digital cameras

Ian Manners ha scritto:
> On the Digital Camera bit and PTP, I now have no problems
> at all with my Wifes small Canon Point and shoot.
>
> http://www.os2site dot com/sw/apps/digitalcamera/index.html
> Get ptpro110.zip (command line) and camera10.zip (GUI).
>
>   
Why not be lenient and just use "Camaraderie"'

-- 
Groeten uit Gent,

   Kris

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