Cameras

[Mumster]

Lucky to have lost our digital :camera: - hoping hubby will sign off for a new one.

Would like high resolution, sturdy, with a great zoom and able to take high speed snaps. +/- wide angles. Ah yes, not to cost a ton of $.

Ideas?

[BladeGirl]

I am also in the market for one, and would add to the criteria: Would like it to be as small and light as possible and easy to use. What do folks have and how happy are you with it?

-BG

[M@]

We got a cannon power shot S45, and like it a lot. Pocket sized, not super small but small enough. We got a deal through work and got it around cost which I think was $400 something. This was a while ago, and you can probably get it for around that now without a connection.

Powershot home page (http://powershot.com/powershot2/home.html)

I think it's pretty rugged, survived a year of us using it, which no other digital camera has (curses to Kodak)

Sony has some WICKED tiny cameras now, but when you get too small you suffer battery space issues and battery life goes down.

M@

[DMC]

Word on the Canons...
I got a Canon Powershot s10... About 3 years old...

It's pretty much bombproof...

Took a fall while mountain biking yesterday and the camera was in my pack... Fell right on it during an endo...

It's fine...

[SkiStooge]

Instamatics must me a thing of the past it sounds like. And what about the old black and white Polaroid Land camera? Barely even needed batteries for them! lol Have fun, be safe. Al :skistooge:

[skicdave]

Powershot Pro90IS here. Love it but it is not baby size. Important issues for me was good zoom (2-3x sucks), this one is 10X optical, good for zooming in on Naked Guy or those crazy guys up above the Headwall. Forget digital zooms - useless. Zoom may or may not be important to you... depends on the type of photos you typically take.

Battery issue is important, make sure its a rechargeable.

Don't forget if you buy one of the new cameras with 4-6 megapixels, they soak up memory so you need $$$'s for extra memory cards. I carry an extra battery and 2-256M cards, 1-128M card and the useless 16M card that comes with the camera. Have a decent size card so your not trying to economize on the number of shots you have.
My camera is 2.6 Megapixels (decent for 8x10's). A 256M card will store 165 photos at that resolution.

Friend has one of those HP's with plug and play photo printer.. ugh (stick with computers HP).
I tried that camera and give it 5 thumbs down. Canons are pretty nice... I'm probably biased.

Enjoy your new :camera: !

[Mumster]

The mumsterlets race, so I need a strong zoom that captures high speeds. But, I also want it indestructible so I can ski around with it snapping photos of whatever.

DMC:
What's an endo?

[RR]

Hi all, we back...

Before we left Mrs. RR and I finally got a serious look at digital cameras. Wonder of wonders, we both like the same camera. Our trip cost a bit more than we figured...big surprise...but maybe this fall we will buy our Olympus C-5050.

Don't let the list price stop you, I've seen it under $600 twice now. Details: Super fine lens, scads of lens accessories, great low-light capability, 5 mega pixels, AA batteries, three kinds of storage media and micro-drives, metering options, real user control beyond the usual preset modes and really good manual control.

We forgot to check if the camera can emulate true Black and White photograpy...I hope it does.

[DMC]

Mumster:
DMC:
What's an endo? from http://world.std.com/~jimf/biking/slang.html

endo n. the maneuver of flying unexpectedly over the handlebars, thus being forcibly ejected from the bike. Short for "end over end". "I hit that rock and went endo like nobody's business." See "superman". In BMX riding, "endo" used to be a synonym for front wheelie

[skicdave]

RR:
Don't let the list price stop you, I've seen it under $600 twice now. Details: Super fine lens, scads of lens accessories, great low-light capability, 5 mega pixels, AA batteries, three kinds of storage media and micro-drives, metering options, real user control beyond the usual preset modes and really good manual control.

I'd stay away from anything that prefers to eat up AA's. Those with lithium rechargeables will save you a lot of trips to Cosco for those megapacks of batteries as well as $$$'s.

[Mumster]

DMC:
endo n. the maneuver of flying unexpectedly over the handlebars, thus being forcibly ejected from the bike. Short for "end over end".DMC: Ouch. You got bucked off. Hope you had your :helmet:

RR: Where did you and Mrs. RR go? Any :skicool: , :skifemcool: ?

[RR]

Dave: The AA's can be the NiCads, NMH's, or any other rechargable. Lithium cells and Alkalines are also OK. Oh, and there's an accessory AC unit for indoor use.

Honest, if the C-5050 didn't have serious flexibility (power options and media options!), all that pixel power wouldn't be worth much.

Mumster: We went to the Dolomites of northern Italy....Alastair (that's the youngster) and I got in some boot glissades on steep snow, played on some "via Feratti", and moaned when we heard that La Marmolada would open its lifts for skiers on July 5th.

We were all scheduled to be in Padua on the 5th, looking at Giotto frescoes at the Scrovegni Chapel
(I seem to do a fair ammount of skiing, but masterworks of that order....well, I'm sure y'all can see it was a better than fair trade). Christine (Mrs. RR) and I really had a great time in the Museum, and spent most of the day in Padua.

The pix worth looking at* are on CD but I don't have a home page as yet....soon.

* just 175 made the cut, 380 total images and only one lens cap!

[Mumster]

RR
We await your pics. Meanwhile you are still on the possible suspect list for :nakedguy: (see the logo topic).
BTW, does Mrs. RR ski? We are always looking for :skifemcool: .

[RR]

Nope, not me. I'm a long-haired freaky people kind of guy.

Yup, Mrs. RR does indeed ski...if she ever decides to ski Tucks I'll be carrying the skis and boots. I'll also have to bring a stove and the makings because Hot Chocolate is very high on Mrs. RR's list of reasons to ski.

[Mumster]

RR:
Nope, not me. I'm a long-haired freaky people kind of guy.Somehow admiration of Giotto frescoes at the Scrovegni Chapel doesn't mesh that easily with :nakedguy: . Plus, having a longstanding marriage.... unless someone objects, we will remove you from the suspect list.

Wow! Willing to carry your spouses :skiboots: , :skis: up :mtwashington: ! :packdonkey: Unless you are encephalopathic from jet lag, that is the ultimate sign of devotion.

[elwood]

Although I haven't used it, the Panasonic DMC-FZ1 sounds pretty cool. the resolution may not be as high as you want (it's on;y a 2.0 megapixel), but I use a 2.1 and I think it takes great pictures. The remarkable thing about that camera is the 12x optical zoom. I only wish my zoom were half that. That is one hell of a zoom, and is the gimmick that they are selling the camera on. However, it has gotten some fairly good reviews overall...

[RR]

I'm with Elwood: it's about the lenses.

Optical zoom rules over digital zoom, really good lenses are as important as mega-pixels...

The real secret of great hot chocolate is not scalding the milk while grating the semisweet into it. Excellent hot chocolate is when there's just a bit of scnapps in great hot chocolate.

[skicdave]

Yup I choose big optical zoom, big lens, substitute the hot choco for :pizza:

[Mumster]

RR:
The real secret of great hot chocolate is not scalding the milk while grating the semisweet into it. Excellent hot chocolate is when there's just a bit of scnapps in great hot chocolate. You guys are making me hungry.

[BladeGirl]

This is a good site for comparing digital camera features.
http://www.dpreview.com
I'm still looking myself, but after looking through several lenses, I believe a 5X optical zoom is a minimum.

-BG

[elwood]

Bladegirl,

If you go with a 5x optical zoom, I guarantee you it will not be enough. I have a 4x, and it is nowhere near enough. I would say if you are going to be taking pics at Tux, you would want a minimum of 10x optical. Dave would probably agree, as I see that is what his camera is capable of. Zoom is key...

[NHski]

anybody have any experience with the Olympus c-750 Ultra zoom?

[RR]

Most of the good digital cameras have threads for mounting filters and other accessories. One of the more popular accessories is a 2x telephoto adapter. Basically if camera is sold as 4x or 5x optical zoom, the 2x adapter takes it to 8x or 10x. For Tux, I'd be thinking 2x adapter with a polarizing filter(Big bucks), but a nice nuetralizing haze filter would work pretty well too. On a really bight day, a brown filter would yeild eye-popping color for reds, purples and greens as well as reduce haze on long shots.

Some companies offer a starter kit with filters and telephoto adapters. the kits go from $150 to over $500, depending on the make, the number of components and the quality.

BTW: a filter is cheap insurance. A standard UV filter is under $20, replacing a scratched lens is a lot more expensive.

Olympus c-750 was one of the contenders for us. Limited media options was the first drawback (my biggest gripe). The lens has great zoom (10x), but only so-so clarity and brightness (that's Mrs. RR's gripe). For my 10x needs, the 2x extender will yield the same or better clarity with the c-5050.

However, my "camera guy" says "you can't go wrong with Olympus digitals". So far, I think he's right.

[NHski]

I must admit that i am a little bit green when it comes to camera features, "limited media Options"?????

[RR]

The media is the card that holds the digital images. There are a half a dozen types. Some are on the way out, others are becoming popular. A camera that take only one type could spoil your trip...unless you get enough cards before you leave. Same with batteries btw!

The media (cards) shipping with new cameras these days are either 16 Meg or 32 Meg. 16 Meg (that's megabytes) is okay if you are just interested in small pictures with modest resolution. 32 meg is more of the same, but bigger files to yeild better looking prints. 24+ pictures will store at a high resolution on a 32 meg card.

Some cards are available at 128 meg and there is a very cool thing called a micro-drive that is a hard drive for your camera and has1000 meg (one gigabyte) capacity.

Basically, the more media options, the more likely you'll be able to replace lost or damaged cards when you are far from home...those little suckers are small!

[NHski]

So what are the media options for the c-750? Are they serverely limited? I have talked to a couple of photo shop guys, and they say that the olympus c-750 is a really good camera

[RR]

I agree it's a great camera. It uses the new memory card type "xD" and ships with a 16 MB xD Picture Card. I like the card, but being able to use sveral types of cards could "save the day" in a pinch.

It's an Olympus proprietary card, but represents a big leap in capacity per megabyte and speed. My suggestion would be to negotiate a good deal on a few 32 meg cards and a clear filter from your camera guys.

Btw, the Olympus software is also supposed to be great for downloading to your computer and fooling around with the images there.

[M@]

As far as cards and software goes:

I think the Compact Flash media is the cheapest per megabyte, so as far as saving the day, you end up getting a huge card and never had to be saved. More likley, if you use compact flash, you will be near someone with the ability to download or lend you a card. This 4th of july, I got a little movie happy at the parade and filled out 128M card. A friend had a laptop with a card reader and downloaded and eventually burned me the pix.

I encourage everyone to boycott propritary solutions like this xD card. They are PURE EVIL as they force you to buy that companies products across the board. There's nothing wrong with competing standards, but this is not what this is. There are plenty of card types already out there and it's time to settle on one (or at most two).

As for downloading: Get an card reader for your computer. Hooking a cable to the camera and downloading uses camera battery and puts the camera at risk while it's plugged in (dog tail hits that cable and your camera hits the hard wood floor). Most USB card readers are WICKED fast.

Once you downloaded, what picture editing software to use is purley a form of opinion. They all do the same things. Which ever one you already use is probably just fine. If you don't use one yet: Corel is the best. (ha ha ha)

Just my 2cents and expierence.

M@

[Mumster]

DMC:
DMC:
What's an endo? rom http://world.std.com/~jimf/biking/slang.html
DMC:
This is pretty good. Do you have a slang dictionary for snowboarding? I don't understand half the stuff you guys are talking about. I'll print it out and take it on the plane with me ...along with the mountaineering book (recommended by RR) and your bike slang list.
By the time I return, I'll be totally informed....... :D

I wish we could take all of you with us.

Bye guys, have fun. And, don't be too good.

[BladeGirl]

I just got one! I got the Pentax Optio 550, which may not be a popular choice on this board, but my reasoning went like this:

I had originally been inclined toward the Cannon Powershot S-400 (the digital version of their "elf", because it is really small, light and
relatively durable (I've discovered that generally all digital cameras are more fragile than their film counterparts), so easy to carry in a pocket. But only a 3X zoom lens.

Then I demoed the Olympus C-750, which has a gorgeously clear 10X lens. It was breathtaking, but about three times the size (dimensions) of the
Cannon, and 1/3 again as heavy. Per RR's advice, I also looked at 3X, 4X & 5X cameras that were threaded and could use a 2X telephoto adaptor,
doubling the zoom capability. But the 2X adaptor added so much bulk to the camera (plus it was a fixed lens with limited capabilities) that it
did not seem worth it.

In the end, it came down to smallness/lightness versus zoom ability. Although I liked the Olympus, I realized that I would grow to resent its size & weight (I've really pared down what I'm willing to lug anywhere, hence: Bladegirl).

The Pentax Option 550 is a very small light camera with a 5X optical zoom and 5 megapixels. By going with a high MP camera, I effectively
have a 10X zoom at 4MP. That is, if I use 2X of digital zoom on top of 5X optical zoom I get 10X total zoom. Because the digital zoom degrades
picture quality, its like going from a 5MP quality to 4 MP, which is still pretty good. Anyway, that was my logic, now I need to take some
photos and see if it actually works that way.

Good luck, Mum, and let us know what you end up with.

-BG

ps: perhaps we can all compare cameras in person next April?

[elwood]

Bladegirl, using digital zoom not only decreases your resolution, but it affects picture quality in other ways as well. Using digital zoom causes your pictures to become "grainy" as if the gain was bumped up. It is very noticable, and doesn't just affect your resolution quality. You will notice it.

[BladeGirl]

I appreciate the warnings, Elwood, but its still much more soom than I have now (2x), and is still compact, which was key for me. I have come to understand that cameras with really good optical zoom lenses (or even add-on telephotos adaptors) have, of necessity, a size and weight that is more than will fit in a jacket pocket and is more than I want to carry. I do not offer my choice as being superior, only that it is right for me given the balance of what my concerns are. Good luck to all other camera hunters in finding the right match for you.

-BG

[elwood]

BladeGirl,

That's exactly what it is all about: Finding the right camera for your needs. I have the telephoto lens adapter for mine, and it doesn't add too much bulk/weight. As for an actual 10 or 12x lens, that is going to be bigger than what you want, it seems. Good luck finding your camera!!!

:D

[Mumster]

Working on the :camera: this weekend. A few more questions:
1. What is the relationship between camera megapix and resolution? Is it linear, exponential or random? How much more do high megapix offer v. the increase in cost? Does the the 4-5 mega camera really offer much better resolution?

2. Skicdave, why the 256 cards if you can get 24 hi resolution pix on a 32 card? Is it just because you are a photo fiend? (I would rarely take more than 20-30 pix at a time).

3. What is the optical zoom capacity for the powershot 30-45 cameras?

4. Is there a relationship between the camera # and resolution i.e., are the powershot 30's 3 megs, 40's 4 megapix, etc.? Or is it random?

5. Dave, how large is your camera? Would you ski down TR with it? How fragile?

6. Does anyone know the future of these cameras? The technology is improving rapidly - it anyone coming out with a high resolution, light/small camera soon?

As usual, thx.

[skicdave]

No worry Mumster... we get those pix up shortly.

2-256M and a 1-128M card are still not either Mumster. Actually I usually fill them up on each trip... but thats me. I'll take a few different shots to get the 'right' one. I took 285 shots this past weekend on a 4 day camping trip. At tucks I also take loads in order to capture the perfect moment. Will 35m film I was MUCH more careful. The beauty of digital is that you can take as many photos as you want without justifying each shot... so you too may find that you start taking more pix once you have a digital... food for thought.

The Canon Powershot S45 and S50 have a 3X optical zoom (ignore digital zooms). The G3 has a 4X zoom.

Unless you plan to print poster size photos (well 11x14" and larger), anything over 3M pixels is a waste. Mine is 2.6M pixels and it prints great 8x10's. I have a high end Epson Photo 2200 for printing... better than the qualtity of the online print services I found. So you will probably find most cameras will offer more M pixels than you even need.

For the best reviews and comparisions, including photo samples (just about every digital camera on the planet), go to dpreview.com (http://www.dpreview.com/) .

Mine isn't small by any means, but I have a few decent camera cases I use, so its easy and quick to pull the camera out for a shot (ok a bunch of shots). I take a video camera along also (double duty). It is a slight pain... but the photos/videos more than make up for it. You can see my camera here (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_pro90.asp)

About the future. I like to see image improvements... closer to richness of film. With 5+ megapixels, any more is a waste for 99% of the population. Smaller and lighter isn't on my hopefor list. Smaller optics means reduced image quality. If they can improve the optics maybe... but still. Optics get smaller yet pixels get larger... too backwards for me.

My cents worth...

Dave

[RR]

Mumster, I hope y'all had fun playing in the camera stores. Dave is letting you know that the shutter bug is about to nibble on you big time. More is better when it comes to photographs. Come to think of it, more is better for snapshots too!

The brightness/speed of the lens is #1. #2 is the change in that brightness/speed as you zoom-in. #3 is mega-pixies...(very short and rather phat winged artists that really love to show off large prints. Grins)...that's mega pixels. The more, the better, even for snaps. Our friend Dave reminds us that 3mP is fine.

For snaps, sure, 3mP is better than OK. For prints to show the kid's grandparents, 4mP is better...supporting their joy in the midst of eyesight that ain't what it used to be. For desk top prints to keep us sane at work, yup, 4-5mP is much better.

At 5mP with a lens rated 2.6f-3.5f with 28-110mm zoom rating (as compared to film camera lenses) you will be able to rival the serious emulsion hobbyist. Your best results will be truly awesome and your snaps will be very crisp, mostly because the "shutter" will be really quick (in daylight anyway) and movement on your part will be less of a factor.

3-4mP with the same sort of lens will be just as good with only one caveat: smaller prints. But don't dispair, set your "ISO" to 100 or lower and use a steady hand or tripod*, and you can still get really nice 8x10 prints.

*I often use a compact mini tripod (8-10oz) that I can velcro strap to almost anything...like a ski jammed into the spring corn, for instance. I have been known to shoot while leaning against my skis and also using crossed trekking poles as two legs of a tripod...that one is great in the woods where the light might not be as bright as on-piste.

[Mumster]

RR:
I appreciate your continued input. According to the Olympus website, the C-5050 only has a 3X optical zoom - the C-750 seems more appealing with 10x optical. 4.2 megapix is probably fine for me - most of my friends are happy with 3 (tho I like to manipulate images in photoshop so extra resolution never hurts)...I don't want to spend so much money that I can't relax and have fun with it.

I'm trying to find the equivalent camera from Canon for comparison. If I can match features - I'll go for price. The size, weights, etc seem roughly similar. Does anyone know if there are objective reports comparing brands? Consumer reports, etc?

It took 40 posts to organize my first trip to :tucks: . Hope I can organize this :camera: purchase in less.... :(

[RR]

Mumster, my pal Dan has a Cannon and thinks it's the cat's meow. The more he uses it the better the shots. Here's a link to one of his shots taken with his trusty G3: Trad climbing above Boulder, CO (http://mtncommunity.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=read_count&om=1336&forum=DCForumID1)

The newer camera you are mentioning has most of the same innards as the G3, but that 10x optical zoom will bring the top of Left Gully right up close from the dogleg.

[Mumster]

Fantastic shot, RR.

My biggest regret with previous cameras has ALWAYS been a lack of zoom - I really want the 10x optical :D Printed the specs for the hubby, hoping he will sign off on it. Skicdave's link (above) includes places with competitive prices.

[BladeGirl]

Mumster:
Fantastic shot, RR.

My biggest regret with previous cameras has ALWAYS been a lack of zoom - I really want the 10x optical :D Printed the specs for the hubby, hoping he will sign off on it. Skicdave's link (above) includes places with competitive prices. I thought the Olympus C-750 had a stunning zoom and it was a tough choice for me not to get it,
but I've just returned from vacation and took
scads of shots with my new 5X zoom Pentax and have
been very happy with it. Wish I could post a shot or two, but have not yet figured out how to do that (project for this weekend). So what did you end up getting?

-BG

[Mumster]

BG - I still like the C750 best, on paper. But I want to test it out before buying - When we were in Greece, it would have been nice to have a decent :camera: . At this point, not much is happening until winter, so it will wait until my leg improves.

I was impressed with the camera you bought as combining small size with good optics. If zoom wasn't so important to me, I'd go with that one.

I love zoom :lips:

[NtrentT]

I worked at Circuit City for 4 years selling computers and digital cameras

in my opinion there are four brands worth buying
in order of suporiority 1 being top
1.Olympus
2.Nikon
3.Cannon
4.Sony
5.Minolta
6.Fuji (not a bad deal for the cheep price)


I own a 3.2mega pixel 3020Zoom its awsome !
I would recomend this to some one who wishes to learn a little about photography with this camera.

The picture quality is perfect, I dont ever require a higher pixel. Great for 8x10s too

Im not sure how durrable it is. Ive taken it to All the Mtns in VT and skied with it in had it in a backpack while i skiied bumps all day so i guess it is.


Definatly worth owning .. and its about 2years old now so you could get a real good price for it

check it out


~your not your job~ (So take the days off and enjoy life and do ski tucks!) :rolleyes:

[Mumster]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their :camera: input. Finally opted for the C-750 -> good prices on e-bay.

Gotta love that 10X optical zoom. :lips:

[NHski]

Mumster, Let me know how you like it. That is the one I have my eye on.

[BladeGirl]

Mumster:
Just wanted to thank everyone for their :camera: input. Finally opted for the C-750 -> good prices on e-bay.

Gotta love that 10X optical zoom. :lips: Congrats on the new :camera: Mumster! Maybe you can use it to take the official TFT group photo when we all go out next April?

-BG

[Mumster]

Good idea BG - hopefully by April there will be SO many T4T members joining the :skiplow: , I'll be able to justify purchase of a wide angle lens for it.

[NHski]

I finally ponied up and bought the Olympus C-750. Cant wait to take pics of tucks with it.

[Mumster]

NHski:
I couldn't resist getting the wide angle lens too, and am ITCHING to try the camera out somewhere exciting. I was in the middle of nowhere, all set to let it rip this past weekend, and the power wouldn't come on. Turns out hubby stole the batteries -
There's nothing more freakin' annoying than traveling to a nice :camera: spot, then finding out your batteries were ripped off... :envy:

BTW, what setting are you planning to use - HQ, or the super HQ's - I raised an eyebrow at how much extra space the ultra high resolution pix take. Does anyone know how much difference HQ v. SHQ, v maximalQ makes?

[skicdave]

Congrats Mumsterphotobug!

Now get out there and start ZOOMING.

Don't forget to save up for a few extra battery packs and LOTS of memory cards :eek:

We'll be expecting some impressive shots of your and skidude up in the snowfields this spring.

:camera: + :mumster: = :cooldog:
Cheers

Dave

[NHski]

Mumster:

BTW, what setting are you planning to use - HQ, or the super HQ's - I raised an eyebrow at how much extra space the ultra high resolution pix take. Does anyone know how much difference HQ v. SHQ, v maximalQ makes? I am still trying figure all this stuff out. Boy these camera's are complicated.

[Mumster]

NHSki -
Agreed - you can "idiot out" and "auto" everything, but with a little study it does much more. I need to de-cobweb my past photography knowledge and apply it. It seems the camera is easy once you invest the time to understand the manual.

Skicdavester :skicdave: - I was hoping to go to :mtwashington: this fall to practice :camera: , but I'm :atwork: , :atwork: , :atwork: (plus I'm still hobbling). So :tucks: will probably have to wait until spring.

[NHski]

Mumster, So i understand it right, TIFF takes the best quality shot? Whats up with the hole 3/2 thing? What memory capicity did you get. I have a 128 and a 64, think that is enough?

[BladeGirl]

NHski:
Mumster, So i understand it right, TIFF takes the best quality shot? Whats up with the hole 3/2 thing? What memory capicity did you get. I have a 128 and a 64, think that is enough? my $0.02:
I found that if you want to take TIFF (uncompressed) photos, you will be able to take maybe 6 of them at the best quality level with at 128 memory card. But you don't really need or want to take TIFF photos.

-BG

[Mumster]

BG - That's my sense too, but I'm unsure. I just got the 64 and 16, but may get a megacard for serial shots, etc. But first, I'm curious if our camera experts have an opinion regarding how much TIFF adds above SHQ or HQ.

I think you get 4 TIFF images with a 128 card. But many more SHQ images, and all you need of HQ images. I may not need a megacard if the TIFFs are superfluous.

[DMC]

My .02

Take all you pictures at the medium resolution....

Anything above that won't matter after you resize the PIX...

Take them as JPEG - so when you put them on your PC you wont have to convert them to JPEG which is the standard for PIX on the web.

Get the biggest card you can afford..
A friend of mine has an IBM Microdrive... It holds a 1GB - I think...

My camera holds around 40 shots with the 128MB card... I sliped the mocrodrive into my camera and it read something like 400 pix available...
It's sick...

[M@]

We use highest rez JPG or one notch down, L1 I think it is. Based on how far we get from a computer to download them to.

Big fat memory cards are worth their weight in gold. They make 1G cards that aren't microdrive, but I think they're kinda pricey.

My advice is get quick at bumping the rez up to max for those "oh my god, this is gonna be an amazing picture" but shoot most stuff at lower rez. If you're doing portraits at home, use the highest rez of course. If you're out on a weekend trip, keep an eye on the numbers (most cameras saw how many pix left) and make sure you're rationing your memory, and save a picture for the parking lot beer shot, that's always a good one.

[RR]

Not sure if a micro-drive fits your new camera...but if it does, yahoo, that's a lot of medium res. pict...'cuse me, photographs.

If you are shooting snaps at medium res they will be really so much better than "basic point and shoot/basic color print" images. Plus, you get to delete the clinkers.

Over the years I have found myself greatful if just one shot in 36 is worth keeping...hence my great appreciation for advanced digital photography, Using excellent cameras such as Mumster and others have. Add to that a 1 gig mD, that's a lot of great shots!