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TECH - Any camera experts ??
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Subject: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 04 Nov 10 - 12:51 PM Hi I have a Panasonic TZ5 digital camera. Today when I tried to use it it gave me the following error message. " memory card error please chesck the card". This is an SD card. I have checked the card on my puter and can read it write to etc etc. I have checked the switch on the left of the card. I have tried taking the card out and re-inserting it. I copied all the pics and then I formatted the card on my puter. I tried other cards of mine and my wife .... None of these change the message. I can take pictures with the card out - it has a small fixed in-built memory. Has any one here by any chance experienced the same thing and if so how did you put it right.?? Cheers MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: Nick Date: 04 Nov 10 - 01:20 PM I think - though you might want to be careful - that you might want to reformat the card. Definitely get a second opinion before doing this |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: ChesfordKid Date: 04 Nov 10 - 01:23 PM Why not try a new card - they are so cheap these days. Then you will know if it is a camera fault or a card fault |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: Joe Offer Date: 04 Nov 10 - 01:26 PM Hi, Mike- As Nick says, you might want to reformat the card in the camera - it may well be that you're saying you can't get that far, but give it a try. Put the card in, turn the camera on, go to the camera's menu and select "format" (oh, and do a "low level" format). Formatting the card in the camera often works better than formatting it in the computer. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: beardedbruce Date: 04 Nov 10 - 01:29 PM SD or SDHC? The older cameras do not work with SDHC cards ( above 2 GB). If the camera will not foprmat it, try an older ( 2 GB or less) card. If THAT does not format, the camera needs repair. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 04 Nov 10 - 01:30 PM Transfer the images (if any) to pc. Then format the card. If error still persists, try a new card. The above from my Canon manual. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Nov 10 - 02:01 PM Like Joe says, you need to let the camera format the memory card, do do it with your computer. How old is the camera? What is the size image it takes, etc? Rather than fooling with repairing an old camera (more than 2 or 3 years) you probably ought to take a look at how many good affordable cameras are out there now. The larger the sensor the more expensive the camera, but the larger the sensor the better the images will be. SRS |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: ragdall Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:00 PM Try another card before doing anything else. The camera probably came with a card that holds one or two pictures? Try that. Then you'll know if it's a card error or the camera. If I remember correctly there were instructions with my camera to format a card on the camera before using it. I do this from time to time after I've downloaded and erased all images from the card. rags |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: Jack the Sailor Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:07 PM Yep format in the camera. Check the slot for the card in the camera for dirt. >>If THAT does not format, the camera needs repair. << I think that, if is not under warranty, if it needed repair, the probability of that repair being economically practical are close to nil. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: beardedbruce Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:22 PM agreed, JtS. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:25 PM hi Joe & Nick I have tried to format the card in the camera. The problem is that with this camera you can't use it to re-format the card. As soon as you put a card in it, the message appears and there is no way I can find to do anything with the camera until I take the card out. Regards MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:26 PM hi Chesford Kid I have tried new cards....I should have made this plain in my post....sorry. Thanks for your comment though. Cheers MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:29 PM Hi Bruce This is a new camera....well just over 12 months old......just out of warrantee !!! I have checked on Google and it seems that others have had the same problem....and no solution has been posted there. Thanks for the comment. Cheers MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:30 PM Hi Q That is exactly what I did. Doesn't work. Thanks for comment Cheers MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: JohnInKansas Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:31 PM If you format a camera SD card on your computer, it will likely not have the proper "volume header information" to be identified as a camera memory, even if the computer recognizes that it's in a camera when you plug it in to download. It probably also will lack the folders conventionally used for pictures, so even if the computer recognized camera and card it wouldn't know where to find the pictures. (Some cameras allow you to "browse to the pictures" when connected to the computer, if you can connect at all; but some leave it up to the computer to find them.) A camera flash card should always be formatted ONLY in and by the FORMAT utility built into the camera. For some cameras you may be able to download a "BIOS UPDATE" that you can use to repair or update the fixed (ROM) info in the camera, but that's generally only the case for "high end cameras" that most of us can't afford. John |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: Jack the Sailor Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:35 PM My Fuji ZD20 will take about 300 pictures at the lowest resolution, which is still pretty good, about 20 at the highest. I use it a lot. I never use memory cards. That would seem to be your only course other than buying a new camera. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: JohnInKansas Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:43 PM At TZ5 downloads you can download a user guide for your camera (7MB pdf). Page 27 says the camera can format your memory card. Although the instructions are "sparse," the Format utility should appear in "SETUP." John |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:43 PM Hi SRS It is just over two years old. It is 9.1 megapixel 10x zoom wide-angle lens.... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-DMCTZ5-Digital-Camera-Optical/dp/B0016CNOHM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288899144&sr=8-1 Sorry tried to do Clicky but couldn't get it to work !! I agree with you about the economics of repair v buying new. Thanks for your interest. Cheers M |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:44 PM Hi rags Yes I had done all that. Thanks MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:45 PM hi Jack As I said above I agree that if I can't fix it myself I will be better buyiung a new one. Many Thanks MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:52 PM hi JohninKansas I am sure that I have used the computer on previous cards without any problems. That is not the problem here. I have tried the camera with new cards and cards out of my wife's camera (another TZ Panasonic) along with other cards that have been used in ythis camera. But this raises another question. Can I re-format the card that I formatted in the computer in my wife's Panasonic TZ7 without messing damaging the card.......or the camera. Thanks as always john Cheers Mikel2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:57 PM Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: JohnInKansas - PM Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:43 PM < At TZ5 downloads you can download a user guide for your camera (7MB pdf). Page 27 says the camera can format your memory card. Although the instructions are "sparse," the Format utility should appear in "SETUP."> Hi John I had found that and yes it does give that advice BUT when you put a card ( any card) in the slot all you get is a blank screen superimposed with the error message. The Menu buttons and all other buttons just won't work. Cheers MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 04 Nov 10 - 04:01 PM hi Jack Using the camera on the internal memory is OK as a stop-gap but You can't get many shots on it. And it won't take video at all. In fact my grandson brought our two great-grandchildren round earlier and we took some pictures that way. They are OK. My wife " has misplaced her camera " !!!!!!! It will be somewhere in that suitcase she calls a handbag that she carries the Crown Jewels around in everywhere she goes....lol Cheers MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: kendall Date: 04 Nov 10 - 04:16 PM My Kodak Easy share cx7330 just died. All I get is a flashing red light and no action at all. It's a few years old so looks like the recycle box for it, eh? |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: beardedbruce Date: 04 Nov 10 - 04:19 PM Or bring it to the Getaway auction as a relic! |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: JohnB Date: 04 Nov 10 - 04:46 PM Have you tried finding a RESET for the camera? Sometimes it is a small pin hole reset sometimes a set of three controls at the same time. Worth a try anyhow, JohnB |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: Jack the Sailor Date: 04 Nov 10 - 05:31 PM I imagine that would have been covered when he looked on the user groups. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler Date: 04 Nov 10 - 05:59 PM Can you connect the camera to the PC? My Lumix connects by a USB lead and shows up on the PC with a drive number. If so it may be possible to reprogram the actual camera rather than the card it contains. What you reprogram it with leaves me out of my depth! |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 04 Nov 10 - 06:15 PM All this reminded me that my camera has been sitting unused for some time. Have to give it and card some attention. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Nov 10 - 07:48 PM Where did you buy the camera? This day and age, I still buy my cameras in a camera shop. There's an old-fashioned one near my university that carries film, old cameras, plus a huge array of cameras with all of the fancy bells and whistles, with old-fashioned service. Tons of lenses, bags, flashes, etc. are there, of course, and they are as busy printing photos as they ever were. If I were having trouble with a camera I bought from them, I would take it back and see if they can suggest a remedy, fix it, or offer me a discount on a new camera, literally using the old one as a trade in if they think it can be fixed or simply as a good way to keep a loyal customer. In this day and age of big box stores, there are still some very good reasons to go to specialty stores. SRS |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: kendall Date: 04 Nov 10 - 08:03 PM Jacqui gave it to me when she bought her new one. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: kendall Date: 05 Nov 10 - 04:44 AM Like everything else, they are made in China and therefore disposable. Remember when whatever you bought was made in America? You could count on its quality. Now, all we export is jobs. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 05 Nov 10 - 06:12 AM hi SRS For my sins,I bought this camera on the internet - I have other cameras that I bought in my home town where I know a couple of guys. I might get them to have a look at it. The trouble as you know is that by buying on the internet if you have problems it is far more difficult to get very good personal advice. It is all in forums etc etc. As I said previously unfortunately the camera is out of warranty and the place where bought it won't commit to anything ( obviously) without me packaging the camera and returning to them for investigation. I am loathe to do that because I know that it will cost me an arm and a leg and probably more than it would to buy a similar replacement. Many thanks for your interest. Cheers MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: JohnInKansas Date: 05 Nov 10 - 07:36 AM Since your computer can read the card (in a card reader?) and not when it's in the camera, it's probably reasonable to guess that the problem is with the camera. If you can run a camera format with the card removed, it should reformat the built-in memory. If that works, it's fairly likely that the ROM data in the camera is okay. This means that the problem is somewhere between the camera and the card - maybe. The only likely simple thing I can think of is that you may have a dirty, bent, or otherwise bad contact in the connector that the flash card plugs into. The contacts are probably pretty well protected, and will be hard to get to for examination and certainly for any cleaning; but a small "clod" of foreign material might have fallen down into the works, and you might be able to "clean" the connector with the "puff and shake" method, or you may be able to invent something that will let you GENTLY wipe around down in there to try to shine things up. Almost anything else that seems to be a plausible cause probably is related to an internal electronic component failure that you're unlikey to be able to fix economically. Of course there is that notorious "bad cable" goblin. Lots of people have only the cable that came with the camera, and if that's your case you might try getting another cable and see if that helps. The USB connector is seldom a problem, but the "camera end" is usually a mini-USB or micro-USB and those connectors can be a bit fragile. It's also possible for a broken wire in the cable to be at fault, since these are usually "delicate little things." Since your flash card won't format in the camera with the cable removed this is an unlikely suspect. It does sound like your best bet would be to just replace the camera. Ones like the one you have are a little cheaper now, and the ones in the original price range of yours are "a lot better" (i.e. they're new and shiny). John |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 05 Nov 10 - 07:53 AM hi John I have tried doing most of what you have advised. As you say it is not easy for a guy with old arthritic hands to get inside the card slot to attempt a proper clean-up. I did use the " puff & shake" method with no obvious fallout etc. I never connect the camera direct to the PC. I have three laptops that have built in readers and I use a card reader with my desktop. So It can't be a cable problem. I have almost accepted that I will need to replace it. As you say the price for an exact replacement has come down somewhat since I bought it so that is at least some good news. Whether I will buy the exact model I am not sure at the moment. I have been very impressed by the handling and performance of the TZ5 since I bought it, but this little episode is making me think about it. The other thing is that in just about 2years the technology has changed ( note I didn't say improved !!) and the newer cameras certainly have claimed improved video performance than this one. Trouble is that all of my video and photo editing programs will be made obsolete if I move up in technology. This is the price of "progress". Thanks again for your most helpful input. Cheers MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: JohnInKansas Date: 05 Nov 10 - 08:51 PM You may have a problem similar to mine. Vista (on two machines) thinks my wireless mouse is a camera and keeps trying (and failing) to install a camera driver for it every time I reboot. The mouse just keeps on working. USB is a marvelous improvement, usually, over the old serial port; but it's so "automatic" that when anything goes wrong there's very little you can do to fix it. There are no settings you can change to do much good if the machine misidentifies a device. (The card slots on your machines almost certainly are connected through a USB "port.") And I do have a camera that worked just fine for about two years with Vista, that Microsoft now tells me is "not compatible with Vista," with no "work around" available that I've been able to find other than using a card reader to unload the flash card when I feel the need. My camera doesn't know it's "not compatible" so all it's built-in functions still work perfectly. I don't think I'll tell it. John |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: GUEST,Grishka Date: 06 Nov 10 - 06:23 AM Mike, in case you have never succeded to use that SD card with that camera: there are many different types of SD cards, and not all devices will support all types (see beardedbruce's message). Your local dealer might be able to sell you one to fit your camera. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 06 Nov 10 - 06:50 AM hi Griska I have used all of ther cards that I have with this cameras. I make a point of doing so. This is so that if I am out somewhere and need to use a different card I know that it will work on my camera. Cheers MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: GUEST,Grishka Date: 06 Nov 10 - 07:56 AM Hi Mike, I understood that you tried some cards that failed. I did not get whether you have been successful ever before (but then, I'm a foreigner, I might not have got all your points). If not, consider the type problem; trying out arbitrary cards may not be the best way to find out. Cheers, Grishka |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 06 Nov 10 - 09:38 AM Hi Griska Yes I have tried all types of cards. I have had several different cameras and camcorders over the years and have built up a fair sized stock of different cards used by the different appliances. They range in age too from almost when cards were first used right up to the present day. So I don't think it is the type of card that is a problem. Many thanks for your interest. Regards MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: GUEST,hg Date: 06 Nov 10 - 02:28 PM When I get an error message on my old Nikon, I just give it a sharp slap and whatever is hung up seems to unhang! |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 06 Nov 10 - 08:13 PM Simulus Money
Built in obsolescence
Keep consuming - and you better consume faster - the White House master has a ghetto blaster...one more year before exhuming the European price of gas.
Family photos over 150 years old....are commen to most.... legacies told.
120 Brownie is still sold...the development formulae is a bromide well told.
Sincerely, Like every person...every camera has a purpose....a wise person keeps three to five .... ready to serve a single given need. Think paralax....think Max. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 07 Nov 10 - 09:35 AM Hi everyone MIRACLE>>>>OR WHAT ??? Guess what? after days of trying to sort out the problems I described here I put my camera away on Friday night convinced that I would have to forget about trying to fix it. Also I had decided to replace it with another camera but had not quite decided which one. Today I dug it out to take it with me to the camera shop in town with the purpose of trying to use it as part-exchange on a new one. Naturally I tried it " just one more time" and lo and behold it worked OK !!! So I tested it out eg taking shots - playing them back - looking at the card on my puters etc etc and everything was OK. It certainly was not working ( and had not done so for 3 days ) regardless of what I tried to do to fix it. But work it did and we have been out this morning walking and I have taken several shots and vids and the thing is perfect. I have no idea what I did or why it is working but it does. !!! So many thanks to you all for trying to be helpful....and who knows it may well be YOUR !!! advice that cured it. A mystery but all's well that ends well Thanks MikeL2
(You didn't put in the backslash / to turn off bold --- Mudelf] |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 07 Nov 10 - 09:38 AM ps to the above I tried to use HTML for the first time. Seems I managed to get the bold text but didn't get it to switch off at the points I wanted to.....sorry cheers Mikel2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: Nick Date: 07 Nov 10 - 12:01 PM They are remarkably resilient though. I have a Fuji S5000 which I dropped twice onto a stone pub floor in Whitby last year and the front fell off. Still works fine. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 07 Nov 10 - 01:44 PM hi nick Yes you are right they can be very resilient but at the same time they can be very frail. They don't like even one grain of sand around the lens housing. cheers MikeL2 |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: Edthefolkie Date: 07 Nov 10 - 01:48 PM It's all very well intoning "built in obsolescence" but if you've paid £800 or more for a DSLR it's not exactly painless to throw it in the nearest bin. I would expect any digital camera to carry on for 5 years and a DSLR for 10! OK, they'd be totally obsolete by then but still.... I did attend a fairly alcoholic meal some time ago where a colleague took his malfunctioning digital compact and battered it against the bar table until it fell apart. It was VERY funny but I still winced. |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: JohnInKansas Date: 08 Nov 10 - 01:48 AM I'd expect most digital cameras to have a useful life about on a par with computers - and not like old radios; but I know of a couple of guys who still like the smell of all the noxious chemicals and are still taking excellent pictures with 50 year old, or older, mechanical film/plate cameras. A few do it "just because you can," but in the case of at least one backdoor relative it's because there still are no "large format" digital cameras that an individual human can afford - or carry. I have a 40 year old Canon AT-1 that's basically a mechanical camera with a battery for the exposure meter, and a Canon A1 about 35 years old that was "top of the line" when new, and I fully expect either of them to perform exactly like they did when new on any of the rare occasions when I pull one out. The biggest problem with using film more often is the roughly $1.50 per "first print," difficulty in finding the film I like, and the tendency for the prints to fade after about 20 years regardless of how carefully they're stored. (It also appears that the negatives actually lose color quality a little faster than the prints, based on both my own and "inherited" family photos I've recently reworked to digital.) A very great "advantage" to the digital cameras is that everybody in the family can have one. Of a little over 2,000 prints I've scanned to digital and a few hundred taken since I started that project, I think there are fewer than 20 of me because I was always the "photographer" any time I was around. Of the 20, all but 7 (that I can think of) are since "she" got a digital. It only matters because a few of the old ones show that I haven't always been this ugly, and I might want to prove it sometime - although I can't think why. John |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: GUEST,Ebor_Fiddler Date: 08 Nov 10 - 06:38 AM What I like best about digital cameras is that I can finally get the quality which my grandpa obtained 100 years ago with his glass plate negs! |
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Subject: RE: TECH - Any camera experts ?? From: MikeL2 Date: 08 Nov 10 - 09:11 AM hi I know that some people consider that digital photography is still behind "real" photography in quality and interest value. For me however it has been an economic boon. My wife is an inveterate "snapper". She takes pictures of anything and everything. Until the advent of digital photography it used to cost "an arm & a leg" for processing costs at the Chemists. Mind you it took me several years before she would consider using a digital camera and only the breakdown of her analogue cameras and my refusal to buy another persuaded her to go digital. Three clear benefits have happened : 1. The saving of the cost of processing the pictures. 2. The resultant saving of space as all the images are now held on computer files and on CD's and DVD's. 3. We now have indexes so that we can find digital images so much faster. So for me anyway digital is good. Cheers MikeL2 |
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