I am looking for a camera for work and could really use some help. I work in a test lab and we are looking for a new digital camera to take photos of our test setups and associated hardware. All photos would be indoors under fluorescent lights. A lot of the time, we will need to take close up pictures of small metal pieces.
The problem is getting the photos from the camera onto the computer since this camera will be used by upwards of 20 people and 20 different computers. We currently have an old Sony Mavica that takes the 3.5” floppies. That works pretty well since most everyone’s computer still has a floppy drive. If we switch to a new camera, that takes some other form of media, how can we download the pictures onto all the different computers? Does anyone make a camera that takes a USB Memory Stick? That would be perfect, but I can’t find any.
What exactly is a USB memory stick? Do you mean the USB flash drive/jump drive/whatevernametheyfancycallingit?
Most popular digital cameras now either use SD, xD or MS cards, and uploading the images to the computer has never been easier and faster. It's just a matter of plugging a cable from the camera to USB port; WinXP is recommended.
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What exactly is a USB memory stick? Do you mean the USB flash drive/jump drive/whatevernametheyfancycallingit?
Most popular digital cameras now either use SD, xD or MS cards, and uploading the images to the computer has never been easier and faster. It's just a matter of plugging a cable from the camera to USB port; WinXP is recommended.
Yes, a USB flash drive is what I was referring to.
I realize the ease of downloading the images to a single computer. However, this camera will be shared between 20 people using 20 different computers. I was hoping to avoid buying 20 USB cables. We all carry the USB flash drives and it would be really easy if a user could just plug in his flash drive, take the photos, put the camera away and download the photos to his computer later. I suppose we could just keep the cable with the camera. Kind of a pain to carry the cable around with the camera though.
USB drives come in all shapes and sizes - the only thing common about them is the interface. Maybe for this reason, there is no camera in the market that use USB drive; as you already realised.
A cable is included as a package when you buy the camera, and I haven't seen many cameras that shared the same cable yet [so you can't lose it between those 20 people].
If you and your co-workers are happy with 3.5" floppy, you will be more than happy with a smaller size SD cards (128MB); they are not expensive. Then buy a portable card reader for each computer, they are not expensive either.
Not exactly what you were looking for, but it is pretty close. Any camera that uses SD memory can use a "USB Drive". Sandisk has a new product that is a combination SD card /USB Drive. See the links below
Okay, I'm sold on the SD/Flashdrive Card. Now, which camera?
Budget -
Under $1,000
Size -
Does not matter.
How many megapixels will suffice for you? -
Probably at least 4.
What optical zoom will you need? -
Standard = 3x-4x
How important is “image quality” to you? -
8
Do you care for manual controls? -
The fewer the better.
General Usage -
Camera will only be used indoors under fluorescent lights for taking pictures of large stationary structural assemblies and small metal parts. Photos will not be blown up any bigger than 8 x 10. It also must use the SD card.
Camera that uses USB Memory Stick?
Linear Mode
