Downsizing

Bird · Oct 9, 2001

you have become, by now, truly expert; right

You're kiddin'! I've been tempted for format the hard drive and start over!

assume you have "PictureIt! 2000" or '99

2001

Is the collage for us?

Someone last week asked for pictures of the hydraulic top 'n tilt and the old thread I did a long time ago is there, but the pictures are not available, so I thought I'd try to put 3 small pictures together like some of the rest of you do. I haven't gotten there yet, but I haven't given up yet either./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

GlueGuy · Oct 9, 2001

Re: Digital Camera

Plower,

There are so many places to get a camera, I can't begin to make a suggestion. I've seen them at Walmart, and they have a fair selection. For the purposes of posting on this forum, or putting pix on a web site, you don't need anything fancy. However, I do recommend that you get at least a 1 Megapixel camera. With that, you will at least be able to print a decent snap shot (4"x6").

The GlueGuy

Bird · Oct 9, 2001

Rick, I finally managed to put 3 pictures on one page (600+kb in their format), then saved it in jpeg format (111kb) and now don't remember who or where the question was and don't know what the picture will look like, but I'm going to post it here and see what it looks like.

Bird

Harv · Oct 9, 2001

You da man, Bird! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

First a computer geek, and now a digital graphic artist. Don't want to use the term "old dog", but you certainly can learn new tricks! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

MikePA · Oct 9, 2001

I can vouch for IrfanView as well as ThumbsPlus 4 (http://www.cerious.com). It's not free, but it has more features for cleaning up pictures, resizing, etc.

I also concur with http://www.dpreview.com. It's a great place to learn about digital cameras. Some things to considered;

1 - What media is the picture recorded on? There are cameras that record on flppy disks, Compact Flash (CF) cards, SmartMedia (SM) cards, CD-RW, etc.

2 -How much zoom would you like? Look only at the optical zoom and not the digital zoom number. You can digitally zoom a picture in software after you take the picture. There are cameras from 3x to 10x optical zoom.

3 - Related to Item 1...you will soon tire of using the USB connection for downloading pictures to your PC. Good media readers are available that permit you to take the SM card, or any other card type, out of the camera, place it in the reader and it looks just like another hard drive.

4 - As others have pointed out, most, if not all cameras and readers are USB so you'll need Win98, Win2000, or WinMe.

5- Don't get trapped in the 'more megapixels is better' debate. More megapixels is better, particularly for printing, but for web posting, as you discovered, less is better. For printing, a 2 megapixel camera will produce a good 8 x 10 print.

6 - Some of the cameras use proprietary batteries. I prefer the ones that use AA rechargables.

Any questions, just ask.

Mike Dowling

TerryinMD · Oct 9, 2001

I just purchased a Kodak DX3600 and it works great!!

Now for some Windows XP plugging... I installed the RC1 beta on my computer and it is working great. I plug in my digital camera using my handy-dandy USB, double click on My Computer and the camera is my H: drive. Double click on the H: drive and all of the pictures are displayed. I can copy, save, and delete them. Dang, it is slick.

I have been using MS PhotoDraw and it works similar to Photoshop. Still playing around with it trying to understand all of the bells and whistles. Took some pictures this weekend at an antique tractor show and will try to post a couple within the next few days.

Terry

Gatorboy · Oct 9, 2001

Mike,

How exactly does plugging in my USB cable to my camera (which then acts like a new drive) become tiresome over having to pull out my SmartMedia card and insert it into a card reader, and then remove it from the card reader and insert it back into my camera?

To make life even more simple I use the Ulead Photo Explorer Pro's Digital Camera Wizard to -- with one click -- copy all of my files from my camera into My Pictures directory and then delete the files off of my SmartMedia card.

Regards,
Dave "Gatorboy" Hoffmann
Fallston, Maryland

MikePA · Oct 9, 2001

I found it tiresome to have to have the camera on via batteries and/or AC adaptor, find a place to sit the camera, etc. Plus, since I typically load the pictures onto my laptop when I travel, it was one less cable to carry/lose. I use a PCMCIA SM reader with my laptop and a USB reader that can handle CF, SM and PCMCIA cards on my desktop. I typically take more than one cards worth of pictures as well. No need to put each one back into the camera.

Mike

HR_Mutt · Oct 9, 2001

Bird
The question about your setup was in Kubota Owning..under (believe it or not/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif)Will ag tires destroy my lawn.
regards
Mutt

Bird · Oct 9, 2001

Believe it or not? Yep, I'd believe it, Mutt. Occasionally some of us do get a little off topic./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif However, that one was a question just about the valve and only required one picture. So I'm still not sure where the question I had in mind is./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Like Harv said, I can occasionally learn a new trick; trouble is, by the time I learn it, I've forgotten why I wanted to./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird

MarkV · Oct 9, 2001

"I can occasionally learn a new trick; trouble is, by the time I learn it, I've forgotten why I wanted to."

Bird, I know what you mean. Then when I remember why, I've forgotten what I learned./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

MarkV

jinman · Oct 9, 2001

Hey, Bird. You keep taking pictures like that and I'll be trying to talk you out of retirement to go to work for me taking pictures of airplanes. Nice job!

...and by the way. I took my camera to the state fair this last weekend and there were so many people I couldn't get any shots without someone getting in the way. Oh well, it was nice and cool and I enjoyed it.

JimI

huckflynn · Oct 9, 2001

Rick,

I've tried a bunch of them -- most recently (like 15 minutes ago) Ulead PhotoImpact 6. For the bulk of what I do with digital pictures (cropping and printing/emailing) I'll stick with MS PictureIt.

I'm not one to pump MS -- but they did a nice job with that product.

TonyC · Oct 9, 2001

Good job Bird! Your first photo collage and it's also of the pictures of top n tilt I asked for last week!

TonyC · Oct 9, 2001

Not knowing all of the facts, Plower, I guess we should mention that you make sure that the photo is in .jpg format. If it's in something like .bmp, it will be 10 times larger than it needs to be.

Robert_in_NY · Oct 9, 2001

Some cameras do and some don't, I have a couple Digital cameras. My Sony DSC-D770 did not come with any software but my Yashica Micro Elite 3300 did. Like what the others have said research the cameras before you buy, that is one of the reasons I have two. The sony takes great photos from up close to distant shots and it allows me to set the camera for each picture which takes some knowledge to understand all the features, either previous experience or study the manual close and practice as you read are the best methods to learn. The Micro Elite takes nice pic's also but it is quicker for snap shots and also for small movies. I use both cameras all the time and they are worth the investment as I have not used my old 35mm since I bought the Sony. Good luck with your purchase and make sure you get a camera with a good rechargable battery otherwise it will get expensive if you have to keep buying batteries. Later.

Robert Turk Jr.
Whitetail Splendor Deer Farms
Silver Creek, NY