Is there any camera on earth meeting 4 simple requirements (AA,CF,7x)

Big Bill wrote in message
...
Rod Speed wrote
Ken Burns wrote

- AA batteries (never again will I buy electronics with battery packs!)

That means that you will never again buy electronics.

Thats just plain wrong, some products are tending towards the use
of standard format rechargeable cells, most obviously cordless phones.

Yes, almost every cordless phone (as opposed to cell phones)
I've owned have had battery packs that consist of bundled
rechargable AAA batteries; size isn't a paramount consideration.

But with other devices (cell phones and cameras, as examples),
small size *is* important. That's one of the major reasons their
batteries are the way they are; AAs and AAAs don't allow the
small sizes the consumers obviously want.

Thats what I said in another post. I was just commenting on Ken's
'electronics' claim. That should have been obvious from my 'some products'.

Dave Martindale wrote:
Big Bill writes:


When I had an Oly 3030, I used a small 6v gell cell battery as a
battery pack. I got a nylon camera case that fit it, and carried it on
my belt. A home-made cable connected to the power jack, and it would
power the camera all day easily, even in museums where flash use was
the norm.
Definitely better than a pocket full of AAs.


I'd take the pocket full of AAs. For the same amount of energy
capacity, NiMH cells are a lot lighter than the lead acid gel cell. So
I'd be carrying around less weight for the same amount of shooting.

Of course, I'd have to stop to change batteries occasionally, and have
some system for separating fresh from used cells. But with the gell
cell, I'd have a cord connecting the battery to the camera all the time,
which is also an inconvenience. I think these two roughly cancel each
other, so weight remains the main difference.

Dave

the only 6v gels im familiar with are those 5lb ones used in kids riding
toys. id hate to have one of those hanging off my belt.

Keith Jewell wrote:
A quick eBay search for EN-EL1 turned up hundreds for around $9 with
shipping. They go bad on the shelf, though my experience has been it
takes about two years for that to happen

Wow. You've embarrasssed me.
I'm paying five times what you pay for each of my proprietary battery
packs!

I'm also wary of EBay (well known as the largest fence on the planet).
In fact, I've never bought on the Internet, let alone at a fence
auction.
Although, wait a minute ... yes ... come to think of it, maybe I can
pawn my near-dead proprietary batteries as brand new to make money for
my new camera purchase.

I'd guess I am slowly realizing my unstated reluctance for hugely
expensive proprietary battery packs (as you can probably guess) is that
my use model clearly involves physical buying from a local store when &
where I need the battery. No store I've ever plucked a battery off the
shelf of sells batteries for the prices you mentioned. (It's my fault
for this use model, not yours.)

For example, at my local Fryes electronics store (where I buy almost
everything electronic), my Nikon 7.4 volt 650mah ENEL1 battery clearly
costs me $38 dollars out the door ( $35 plus $3 tax).
http://shop2.outpost.com/product/400...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG ).

Am I such an unusual thing in the world that I buy from a local store?

Maybe that's the real reason I'm so sour on the good-for-nothing
battery packs.

Realization hurts,
Susan H.

Susan (Graphic Artist) wrote:
Keith Jewell wrote:
A quick eBay search for EN-EL1 turned up hundreds for around $9
In fact, I've never bought on the Internet, let alone at a fence
auction.
Although, wait a minute ... yes ... come to think of it, maybe I can
pawn my near-dead proprietary batteries as brand new to make money for
my new camera purchase.

Not every battery on Ebay is stolen or otherwise tainted goods.

A very large percentage of the items on Ebay - perhaps as much as to
80% of Ebay sales - is actually legitimate business. To help make it
safer for you do do business with Ebay, currently law enforcement is
spending millions to combat the growing use of Ebay for fraudulent
activities. If we don't, the theieves will outnumber the honest
citizens within just a few years.

Ebay management is actually frustrating these efforts - so - if you
have the opportunity to vote for legistation to regulate online
auctions - please consider what is really out there.

Please support high-tech crime enforcement legislation.

Bob Ward wrote:

wrote:

Bob Ward wrote:

wrote:

You can use an ordinary CF card in a microdrive hole, but you can't stuff a
microdrive into an ordinary CF hole.

What is this "microdrive hole" you talk about?

OK, how about "slot"? You know, the place in the camera that you put the CF
card or microdrive.

The microdrive fits in a Compact Flash slot. There is only one size
of those, as my cite below spells out.

No it doesn't, actually. CF Type I is the ordinary CF card which is 3.3mm
thick. Microdrives are CF Type II and are 5mm thick. There is no way I could
stuff a card 1.7mm thicker into the slot on my Nikon CP800 camera.

From
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glos...ge_Card_01.htm :

================================
CompactFlash
CompactFlash is a proven and reliable format compatible with many devices and
generally ahead of other formats in terms of storage capacity. Capacities
above 2.2 GB require that your camera supports "FAT32". CompactFlash comes in
Type I and II which only differ in thickness (3.3mm and 5.0mm) with Type I
being the most popular for flash memory, while Type II is used by microdrives.

Microdrives
Pioneered by IBM, microdrives are minute hard disks that come in CompactFlash
Type II format and typically offer larger storage capacities at a cheaper cost
per megabyte. However, CompactFlash has been catching up with higher capacity
cards. Microdrives use more battery power, create more heat (which can result
in more noise) and have a higher risk of failure because they contain moving
parts.
==================================


http://www.compactflash.org/info/cfinfo.htm
CompactFlash® is a very small removable mass storage device. First
introduced in 1994 by SanDisk Corporation, CF? cards weigh a half
ounce and are the size of a matchbook. They provide complete
PCMCIA-ATA functionality and compatibility plus TrueIDE functionality
compatible with ATA/ATAPI-4. At 43mm (1.7") x 36mm (1.4") x 3.3mm
(0.13"), the device's thickness is less than one-half of a current
PCMCIA Type II card. It is actually one-fourth the volume of a PCMCIA
card. Compared to a 68-pin PCMCIA card, a CF card has 50 pins but
still conforms to PCMCIA ATA specs. It can be easily slipped into a
passive 68-pin Type II adapter card that fully meets PCMCIA electrical
and mechanical interface specifications.

CompactFlash cards are designed with flash technology, a non-volatile
storage solution that does not require a battery to retain data
indefinitely. CompactFlash storage products are solid state, meaning
they contain no moving parts, and provide users with much greater
protection of their data than conventional magnetic disk drives. They
are five to ten times more rugged and reliable than disk drives
including those found in PC Card Type III products. CF cards consume
only five percent of the power required by small disk drives.

CF cards are also available for data storage using the Microdrive. CF
I/O cards are available as modems, Ethernet, serial, digital phone
cards, laser scanners, BlueTooth wireless, 802.11b WiFi LAN, etc.

--
Cheers,
Bev
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Tell him that the
government will give him lots of fish and he will vote for you forever.
When he doesn't get any fish, blame the other guys." --A Taxpayer

"Susan (Graphic Artist)" wrote in message
oups.com...
Keith Jewell wrote:
A quick eBay search for EN-EL1 turned up hundreds for around $9 with
shipping. They go bad on the shelf, though my experience has been it
takes about two years for that to happen

Wow. You've embarrasssed me.
I'm paying five times what you pay for each of my proprietary battery
packs!

I'm also wary of EBay (well known as the largest fence on the planet).
In fact, I've never bought on the Internet, let alone at a fence
auction.
Although, wait a minute ... yes ... come to think of it, maybe I can
pawn my near-dead proprietary batteries as brand new to make money for
my new camera purchase.

I'd guess I am slowly realizing my unstated reluctance for hugely
expensive proprietary battery packs (as you can probably guess) is that
my use model clearly involves physical buying from a local store when &
where I need the battery. No store I've ever plucked a battery off the
shelf of sells batteries for the prices you mentioned. (It's my fault
for this use model, not yours.)

For example, at my local Fryes electronics store (where I buy almost
everything electronic), my Nikon 7.4 volt 650mah ENEL1 battery clearly
costs me $38 dollars out the door ( $35 plus $3 tax).
http://shop2.outpost.com/product/400...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG ).

Am I such an unusual thing in the world that I buy from a local store?

Nope, plenty havent noticed how the world has moved on on that.

Maybe that's the real reason I'm so sour on the good-for-nothing
battery packs.

Realization hurts,

In article .com,
"Susan (Graphic Artist)" wrote:

MY QUESTION:
Can there not be a camera on earth that meets these 4 simple goals?
- AA batteries
- Good photo quality
- 7x to 10x optical zoom
- CF media

I ask for your help in that I've only found ONE camera which comes
close to meeting these 4 simple (and, I'd bet, pretty univerally held)
requirements:
- AA batteries (never again will I buy electronics with battery packs!)
- Excellent picture quality (I trust in Consumer Reports measurements)
- 7x - 10x optical zoom (equivalent to about 200 mm or more)
- Compact Flash media (I already have many CF cards & PCMCIA readers)

Searching endlessly, I can only find one camera coming close:
- Canon Powershot S1 IS (3.2 MP)
But I'd like a 5 megapixel or larger (for enlargements if needed).

Also this digital camera doesn't have a macro capability.
(Ad copy says it can focus at 4 inches so that seems like a built-in
macro non-macro to me ... what do you think)?

Is there any AA,CF,7x, camera with good photo quality on earth?

Why do you insist on AAA batteries? I am an avid photographer and AAA
batteries, even the best rechargeable batteries suck for digital
photography. They are too bulky and need too frequent recharges. If you
drop that requirement, you might find some of the Panasonic cameras to
your liking, although I am not sure which digital memory cards they use.

On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 23:32:53 -0400, Shawn Hearn
wrote:

In article .com,
"Susan (Graphic Artist)" wrote:

MY QUESTION:
Can there not be a camera on earth that meets these 4 simple goals?
- AA batteries
- Good photo quality
- 7x to 10x optical zoom
- CF media

I ask for your help in that I've only found ONE camera which comes
close to meeting these 4 simple (and, I'd bet, pretty univerally held)
requirements:
- AA batteries (never again will I buy electronics with battery packs!)
- Excellent picture quality (I trust in Consumer Reports measurements)
- 7x - 10x optical zoom (equivalent to about 200 mm or more)
- Compact Flash media (I already have many CF cards & PCMCIA readers)

Searching endlessly, I can only find one camera coming close:
- Canon Powershot S1 IS (3.2 MP)
But I'd like a 5 megapixel or larger (for enlargements if needed).

Also this digital camera doesn't have a macro capability.
(Ad copy says it can focus at 4 inches so that seems like a built-in
macro non-macro to me ... what do you think)?

Is there any AA,CF,7x, camera with good photo quality on earth?

Why do you insist on AAA batteries? I am an avid photographer and AAA
batteries, even the best rechargeable batteries suck for digital
photography. They are too bulky and need too frequent recharges. If you
drop that requirement, you might find some of the Panasonic cameras to
your liking, although I am not sure which digital memory cards they use.


I use an Olympus 8080WZ, shooting 200-300 pictures per day, and I've
never run out of power rotating two of the special-purpose batteries.

Bob Ward wrote:
Can there not be a camera on earth that meets these 4 simple goals?
- AA batteries

I use an Olympus 8080WZ, shooting 200-300 pictures per day, and I've
never run out of power rotating two of the special-purpose batteries.

You get 150 shots per battery! Amazing!
I get about 50 on my camera (almost all if not all with flash indoors
as I work for a floral arrangement shop).

I tried to look up on dpreview how many shots per battery on the
Olympus 8080 a test user gets but I can not find this information (even
in the battery life section). Does dpreview actually test the shots per
battery?

Going to consumer reports I paid the subscription fee just now and
found accidentally a good article on battery chargers while I was
looking up how many shots the Olympus 8080 gets typically. They got 120
high resolution shots with a brand new fully charged battery with the
LCD display turned off and the flash used for only 60 of those 120
shots. This jives with you although you must be using a very fresh set
of batteries because I don't get nearly that from my camera.

Did I miss the spot on dpreview where they do a nice tabular summary of
the camera test results including the number of shots per battery?

Shawn Hearn wrote:
Why do you insist on AAA batteries? I am an avid photographer and AAA
batteries, even the best rechargeable batteries suck for digital
photography. They are too bulky and need too frequent recharges.

I don't think ANYONE here is suggesting AAA batteries.
Maybe I'm wrong but AAA batteries are about half the power of AA at the
same cost as AA.

I also don't think any argument is for a specific size per se, just
that it be single cell and standard size and readily available at no
worse than two or three dollars per battery. That could be D for
example but it most likely is AA. (Or is there an A size battery on the
market?)

The clear reason for AA is summed up nicely by my new subscription to
consumer reports shown below as economy & convenience & that one last
shot at the sunset of the day when your proprietary battery is deader
than a doornail yet your robust handful of AAs is still going strong.

"In our tests, neither type of battery had a clear performance
advantage. The best-performing cameras offer upward of 300 shots on a
charge, while the worst manage only about 50. We think it's more
convenient to own a camera that accepts AA batteries. You can buy
economical, rechargeable cells (plus a charger) and drop in a set of
disposable lithium or alkaline batteries if the rechargeables run down
in the middle of the day's shooting."