OT Digital Photo Question - Sort of urgent

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07-07-2003, 9:43 PM
Joe Pack

OT Digital Photo Question - Sort of urgent

First of all, my apologies for posting here instead of the OT forum; I don't have much time, and know that a lot more folks will see this here tonight instead of the other forum.

Procrastination being one of my more obvious traits, I am trying to get ready to leave for a Wyoming/Washington trip tomorrow a.m., and am now fussing with the settings on my camera.

Last year I shot a big bunch of pics to share with others electronically. Using a 128 mb card set to best resolution/superfine compression, I got about 125 pics per card. Each pic took a looong time to send, but the quality was excellent (pic, not photographer's ability). I did get a couple worth blowing up. The web site that did my blowups said I could expand that resolution/compression combo to 16x20, but I opted for 8x10, and the quality was great.

This year I want to get a few more pics per card, so I have set my camera still to best resolution (1600x1200), but lowered the compression to fine instead of superfine. The card now tells me I will get about 200 pics per 128mb card instead of the 125 with superfine compression.

Okay, now the question: How will the lowered compression affect my pics? Most of my pics will simply be transferred to a picture CD for the home album or put into a PowerPoint for my classroom, but some, if I'm lucky, may be used for blowups to 8x10, or maybe 11x14. Will this be possible with the lowered compression?

I appreciate any advice more experienced users can give. I hope you see this in time...I'm leaving at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday. I'll have time to quickly check for responses, but probably not to individually thank you, so pardon me if I do that now.

See you in 4 weeks.
07-07-2003, 9:56 PM
Dr. Zack Jennings
You should be Fine

Why not just take a few shots and see if your happy.
I take about 50 shots on a 128 at my top setting.
That's about 2.3MB per shot. I edit my photos for:
- Printing: I keep a large size
- For email and web applications 25-60KB
Experiment... Learn a good editing program.

Incidently: You can get photo quality printers at Wal-Mart for under $100. Epson Matt heavyweght paper is $18 for 50 sheets.
Just print your own...............

You can't become an expert overnight by reading a few paragraphs on this forum. I've been editing for 6 years and still learn new tricks.
07-07-2003, 10:05 PM
Jim Becker

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Pack

This year I want to get a few more pics per card, so I have set my camera still to best resolution (1600x1200), but lowered the compression to fine instead of superfine. The card now tells me I will get about 200 pics per 128mb card instead of the 125 with superfine compression.

Increasing the number of pictures stored at the same resolution indicates you have increased the compression, not lowered it. You may lose a little fine detail, but unless you are printing professionally in large sizes, I doubt you will notice the change at all!
07-07-2003, 11:16 PM
Joe Pack

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Becker

Increasing the number of pictures stored at the same resolution indicates you have increased the compression, not lowered it. You may lose a little fine detail, but unless you are printing professionally in large sizes, I doubt you will notice the change at all!

You know, Jim, that is exactly the way I looked at it! I don't know why both the manual and the camera menu refer to the fewer pictures as being in the superfine compression mode and the greater number of pictures as being in the fine and normal modes. Maybe there is something lost in the translation from Japanese to English. ??
07-07-2003, 11:19 PM
Joe Pack
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Zack Jennings

You should be Fine

Why not just take a few shots and see if your happy.
I take about 50 shots on a 128 at my top setting.
That's about 2.3MB per shot. I edit my photos for:

Printing: I keep a large size
For email and web applications 25-60KB

Experiment... Learn a good editing program.

Incidently: You can get photo quality printers at Wal-Mart for under $100. Epson Matt heavyweght paper is $18 for 50 sheets.
Just print your own...............

You can't become an expert overnight by reading a few paragraphs on this forum. I've been editing for 6 years and still learn new tricks.
Thanks, Zack. I do need to learn more - just haven't taken the time, I guess. I am just now finding out how to use it.
07-08-2003, 7:59 AM
Richard Allen

Hi Joe

There are products available that are designed to store pictures from your camera that you take with you. Small hard drives with a flash card reader. So you can reuse that 128Mb card without having to have a laptop. The devices are about 1 1/2' thick 5" long and 3" wide. Perfect for a storage for pictures on vacation. These portable hard drive/card readers cost $200+.

The price of flash cards is low. You can get a 64Mb Smart Media card for $10, A 256Mb compact flash card for less than $50. Even at a high price store like Circuit City or Best Buy the cost of an extra "roll of film" is only $60 for a 128Mb Smart Media card or $70 for a 256 compact Flash card.

If you were happy with the quality of the pictures you took in Superfine mode last time why would you want to risk that quality. Do your experiments with the different compressions when you can afford to lose the pictures.

Thanks

Richard