Digital Camera Help!!

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

We have bought our first digital camera and we havent a clue about them, hehe, but it's a Sony DSC-p52 and it's 3.2mega pixels, it came with a 16mb memory stick, how many pictures does this hold? and we are looking to buy a larger stick for when we go to america, what would you recommend?

Thanx for any help, I know it's a silly question, but I know nothing about Digital Camera's what so ever.

 

[Statto]

Hi there
Once you're into digital photography you won't look back - so easy!

Typically most digital cams come with a low capacity memory card. Your 16mb is better than some, but you can get memory cards all the way up to 226mb or even higher in some cases.

The number of pictures you can store will vary on a) the size of the memory card (obviously), b) the quality of the picture you want to take (see your manual) and c) the compression factor your camera can use (again see manual). Most manuals will give an indication of capacity under different settings (on my Nikon with a 256mb card I can get between 400 and 1200 snaps!!!

I suggest you get another card with at least a 64mb capcity, but if you can afford it go to 128 or 256 (the cost differential isn't that great.

Amazon.co.uk are pretty good for cards (cheaper than your local PC World at least.

Have fun

 

[Statto]

PS...

When you're back you can use the excellent photobox website to upload your picture for all and sundry (or just those you want to see them) to see. It's free (but you have to register - you get 30mb web space for your photos, and if you order anything from the site it increases to 100mb!

I've not connection with the site other than being a VERY satisfied customer - their response to orders is excellent. You can find them at
www.photobox.co.uk

 

[Goofyish]

The number of picture you can get on your 16Mb card depends on the resolution and quality level you select when taking you pictures.

On the Sony you have a choice of 4 resolutions from 640x480 upto a maximum of 2048x1536 and two quality settings - standard and fine.

The resolution determines final size you are able to print at to get a good image. The higher the resolution the more memory you will need per photo.
The picture quality setting determines the compression settings for the jpeg file format that you photos are stored as. The fine setting uses less compression and so you get a larger file size.

If you set you camera to the highest resolution and 'fine', it should give you the number of photos that you can take on your camera display. Adjusting the resolution setting and quality settings will cange the number of photos available on the display.

I would always have it in 'fine' mode.

A 128Mb Memory Stick is around £22
See this site for details:

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=777_4_401_40104

If you haven't already invested in some, I would also get a couple of sets of spare NiMh rechargeable batteries and a charger that is compatible with the US mains voltage

 

[Stash]

You don't have to wait until you get back to the UK to develop your digi pics. I used the Photoshop on Highway 192 who developed 6x4 prints for 23c each completed within the hour. There should be something similar in the area you'll be staying, and they will leave the pic left on you memory card for you to delete.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Originally posted by Goofyish
I would always have it in 'fine' mode.

I agree with Tim, and would go further and say always have the reslution set to 'large', even if it meant having to buy an extra Memory Stick or two. I've had a digital camera for a number of years and at first used to squeeze lots of photos onto each card because I didn't want to buy additional memory. Now that I want to print out photos I realise that this was false economy as a number of the pictures I took on the low resolution setting don't look good when printed out at sizes larger than 5"x3". I now have 3.5 and a 6.5 megapixel cameras and use both at their highest quality setting to ensure that in the future I have large enough image files to display in a high quality fashion, no matter whether this is printed output or high definition monitors.

Regards

Rob

 

[GO2209]

Dixons are closing a lot of their 'smaller' town stores. If you have a local store it may be worth dropping in as there are a few bargains. I think the SD/XD cards were15/20% cheaper than normal.

 

[SidB]

Originally posted by GO2209
Dixons are closing a lot of their 'smaller' town stores. If you have a local store it may be worth dropping in as there are a few bargains. I think the SD/XD cards were15/20% cheaper than normal.

NO NO NO.

Dixons are really expensive, even with a discount. Shop on line. I used a 512mb CF card on our last trip and easily filled it. Take it to Walmart and get it downloaded to CD. Dirt cheap. If you get them all printed it can work out quite expensive. When you get back look out for offers at Boots. I think they regularly do a 50 prints for £5 offer.

Sorry to say, but you bought a camera with probably the most expensive sort of memory.

 

[matty624]

Originally posted by SidB

Sorry to say, but you bought a camera with probably the most expensive sort of memory.

Although that's true and we've been very disappointed with our P92 (5 megapixel) camera, never mind, you've still got a much better camera than using a traditional one (IMHO).
We found places like Target and Walmart were excellent places to buy memory sticks. e.g. 128 meg $68 at Walmart.
Or Target http://www.target.com/gp/browse.htm...-9218389-1271368?_encoding=UTF8&node=10219401
256 meg at $85, although I think in store it'll be 5% more and will have 6% tax on top, still much cheaper than the UK!
Have fun taking lots and lots of pictures...
Ian

 

[Olaf]

Just a suggestion. Figure out a system for organizing your pictures on your computer now. Or you'll end up like me, with thousands of them just thrown into a few files--basically a big mess.