Saturday, July 12, 2008

Re: [BLUG] recommendations on a good digi cam

Well, that kinda seals the deal for me then.  I was actually thinking about going the Canon route anyway.  Our current digital is a beat up 3.7 megapixel Canon Powershot.  The thing has really come through for us.  It never lets us down.

I second Mark's opinion about the "proprietary" batteries - would rather recharge a lithium to throwing a bunch of money away on AA's.  I guess it's just a matter of preference.  These even seem kinda cool:
http://www.usbcell.com/

I also tend to copy my photos the way Mark does:  stick the CF card into a CF card reader, jam the card reader into the USB port, then copy and paste.  

Great advice everyone and thanks!
Matt

Re: [BLUG] recommendations on a good digi cam

Well, I recommend a Canon Powershot too. That's three recommendations
of the Canon from Linux users. ;-) I had a Powershot 110 that lasted
me for 5 years or so and a now I have a Powershot SD700 IS. Both were
great cameras and I tested several before buying. Sonys may look cool,
but they don't make good still cameras IMHO. If you want a dedicated
video camera, buy a Sony, if you want a good still camera that also
takes videos, go with Canon.

One word of warning though. If you like to take low light pictures,
be careful and try to get samples of the output before buying any
digital camera. In the last couple years, I've noticed that many
cameras of various brands have started taking worse than ideal low light
pictures. They end up very grainy. I'm the kind of person that doesn't
like to use a flash because it gives the picture that plastic fake look
to it.

Also, it was a pleasant surprise to me that my 700 IS had the ability
to do macro shots, which usually requires a special lens on SLR cameras.
So if you want to ever take shots of something very small (like a penny
or something), then you might look for that feature. It can be fun.
Maybe all cameras have this nowadays (haven't looked recently), but it
is was not a typical feature when I bought my last one.

Also, if you like to show off your pictures, Canon cameras make nice
presentation devices as they come standard with a cable too output to
your TV. Also, I'd recommend getting a camera that has standard types
of Memory. Don't get Sony memory sticks. If you happen to have a
Nintendo Wii, it can take standard SD type memory and it has a really
awesome picture presenter channel on the Wii itself that is almost worth
the price of the Wii.

As for Linux compatibity, I've never had any problems really because I
don't attempt to hook the camera directly up to my computer, I usually
just copy the files off the memory card itself.

As for batteries. I never understand why people want to have AA
batteries instead of the lithium recargeable. Sure, if you lose one it
is expensive to replace, but just don't do that. I've never had one
fail on me, but I guess that can happen. AA rechargeable batteries
won't last as long as actual AA batteries. Especially the Energizer
rechargeable ones. Those suck.

Its really too bad that Robert's on Kirkwood went out of business.
They had excellent prices and service. I bought all my cameras there.
I don't know who to go to now that would actually know what they are
talking about and not some Best Buy lacky. Any recommendations on that?

Sorry this went so long. I guess you hit a chord in me.

Mark

On Sun, Jul 13, 2008 at 01:38:04AM GMT, Michael Schultheiss [schultmc@cinlug.org] said the following:
> Pawsitive Results wrote:
> > I've been *really* happy with my Canon Powershot--mine's an older
> > model, the A520. It was in the price range listed when I bought it, and
> > I couldn't possibly be happier with it. Several agility/border collie
> > friends have asked for my advice, and I've recommended the
> > PowerShot--everyone has been pleased. Better-than-typical macro
> > capability, decent at stopping action.
>
> I second the recommendation of Canon Powershots. They're powered by AA
> batteries, which you can get anywhere. My wife and I had a bad
> experience with a Sony camera with a proprietary battery pack so we've
> used AA powered cameras ever since. Our latest camera was an A650is.
> It was about $400 last year but a recent check shows it for $306.94.
> _______________________________________________
> BLUG mailing list
> BLUG@linuxfan.com
> http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug
>

--
Mark Krenz
Bloomington Linux Users Group
http://www.bloomingtonlinux.org/
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Re: [BLUG] recommendations on a good digi cam

I've never owned a Canon I wasn't pleased with.  Darn fine cameras.

If you want to go "on the cheap" I've also been quite pleased with my inexpensive Kodak (which also can use AA batteries, if you can't get to the charger).
Dave Cooley dcooley@kiva.net


Michael Schultheiss wrote:
Pawsitive Results wrote:   
   I've been *really* happy with my Canon Powershot--mine's an older    model, the A520. It was in the price range listed when I bought it, and    I couldn't possibly be happier with it. Several agility/border collie    friends have asked for my advice, and I've recommended the    PowerShot--everyone has been pleased. Better-than-typical macro    capability, decent at stopping action.     
 I second the recommendation of Canon Powershots.  They're powered by AA batteries, which you can get anywhere.  My wife and I had a bad experience with a Sony camera with a proprietary battery pack so we've used AA powered cameras ever since.  Our latest camera was an A650is. It was about $400 last year but a recent check shows it for $306.94. _______________________________________________ BLUG mailing list BLUG@linuxfan.com http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug   

Re: [BLUG] recommendations on a good digi cam

Pawsitive Results wrote:
> I've been *really* happy with my Canon Powershot--mine's an older
> model, the A520. It was in the price range listed when I bought it, and
> I couldn't possibly be happier with it. Several agility/border collie
> friends have asked for my advice, and I've recommended the
> PowerShot--everyone has been pleased. Better-than-typical macro
> capability, decent at stopping action.

I second the recommendation of Canon Powershots. They're powered by AA
batteries, which you can get anywhere. My wife and I had a bad
experience with a Sony camera with a proprietary battery pack so we've
used AA powered cameras ever since. Our latest camera was an A650is.
It was about $400 last year but a recent check shows it for $306.94.
_______________________________________________
BLUG mailing list
BLUG@linuxfan.com
http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug

Re: [BLUG] recommendations on a good digi cam

I've been *really* happy with my Canon Powershot--mine's an older model, the A520. It was in the price range listed when I bought it, and I couldn't possibly be happier with it. Several agility/border collie friends have asked for my advice, and I've recommended the PowerShot--everyone has been pleased. Better-than-typical macro capability, decent at stopping action.

(Xen finished her AKC Novice Standard title this morning at an agility trial up in Carmel.)

Ana Greavu



On Sat, Jul 12, 2008 at 3:16 PM, matthewzin@gmail.com <matthewzin@gmail.com> wrote:
I'd be interested in this info as well, particularly if there is one camera that is a little more Ubuntu friendlier than others.  (Though I suspect this won't be much of an issue.)
Thanks,
Matt

Ben Shewmaker wrote:
Hey everybody,

I'm in the market for a new digital camera.  I'm looking to spend between $200 and maybe as high as $300 depending on the camera and the deal.  I'm looking for a decent point and shoot, but I don't need anything really advanced or fancy, just want a good quality camera with a good lens that takes great pictures.  I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations?

Thanks!

Ben Shewmaker

_______________________________________________ BLUG mailing list BLUG@linuxfan.com http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug


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Re: [BLUG] scp -p preserving ownership through root user

On Thu, 3 Jul 2008, Steven Black wrote:

> You put root's home directory in /home? Just FYI, that's not a
> safe thing to do. It means if you're trying to recover a system
> and /home isn't available you have no configuration files for
> root, and additionally, any files created by root in the home
> directory will land in /. There's nothing like being in a tough
> spot and trying to recover a system and having none of your
> carefully configured system behave as expected. This is what
> will happen if you have root's home directory in /home.
>
> The way the file-system should be structured is that you can
> perform all recovery operations with *only* the / partition
> mounted.
>
> Back in the day the root user didn't have a home directory. It
> was called "root", in part, because the home directory was in
> the root of the file-system. People decided this was a bad idea
> years and years ago, though.
>
> I highly recommend you spend some time playing around with some
> of the command-line options. It is a bad habit to
> over-complicate your command-lines. You can inadvertently find
> yourself having problems that other people just don't
> understand, as they're side-effects of command-line option
> interaction.
>
> Additionally, when you use a lot of command-line options,
> you're opening yourself up to more bugs and hard to reproduce
> behavior. While a lot of the programs you use are probably
> reliable and well-tested, in many environments the rare/obscure
> combinations command-line arguments are the exact places where
> the rare/obscure bugs lie. Option A may work well and be
> well-tested. Option B may work well and be well-tested. Option
> A+Option B may interact in ways that are non-obvious, flat-out
> buggy, and potentially unreproducible.
>
>> But the relevant point to what I was answering is only
>> that tar does not follow symlinks by default; if you want it
>> to track them down and include them, you have to tell it to.
>> Otherwise, using it for the purpose I did, you gradually
>> accumulate obscure but irritating failures of exactly the kind
>> of things I was trying to preserve.
>
> I had to scratch my head on this one.
>
> Why would you want tar to follow symlinks when copying home
> directories?
>
> Tar normally stores and restores symlinks as symlinks. If
> you're symlinking to things which change locations across
> machines in your network, then it is expected that things fall
> apart.
>
> For instance, at home with my personal user account, I keep all
> my data stored one level deep with a dash of source control,
> and a makefile here or there to establish symlinks. It allows
> me to easily backup the data I want to keep and ignore the crap
> that doesn't interest me. All of the symlinks I use in my home
> directory relate directly to other directories in my home
> directory. (And they should all be relative links, so they can
> be moved safely. This also allows me to have multiple copies of
> that data tree and retain internal consistency.)
>
> This also means that if symlinks were followed, I would get
> massive data duplication, some of the source control would be
> violated, and I'd no longer be able to as easily create backups
> of the stuff that is important to me. As an example of some of
> the massive data duplication: Some things have created both a
> 'Music' and a 'music' folder in my home directory in the past,
> both of these, for me, are symlinks to Media/Music, but Media
> itself is a symlink in to the directory I backup regularly. If
> you follow those symlinks, then all my music would be
> duplicated 3 more times.

Wow! What a haul! I'm going to have to go on chewing on
all that for quite a while yet to absorb it as t deserves; but I
thank you immensely for such a trove of clues. Like many
autodidacts, I'm probably stuffed to the ears with things I think
I know that just ain't so -- alas!

--
Beartooth Implacable, Neo-Redneck Linux Enthusiast
Freedom is my issue : I'm pro-choice, pro-right-to-die,
pro-gun, and pro-term-limits. Without defiance, no liberty.
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Re: [BLUG] recommendations on a good digi cam

I'd be interested in this info as well, particularly if there is one camera that is a little more Ubuntu friendlier than others.  (Though I suspect this won't be much of an issue.)
Thanks,
Matt

Ben Shewmaker wrote:
Hey everybody,

I'm in the market for a new digital camera.  I'm looking to spend between $200 and maybe as high as $300 depending on the camera and the deal.  I'm looking for a decent point and shoot, but I don't need anything really advanced or fancy, just want a good quality camera with a good lens that takes great pictures.  I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations?

Thanks!

Ben Shewmaker
 
_______________________________________________ BLUG mailing list BLUG@linuxfan.com http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug

[BLUG] recommendations on a good digi cam

Hey everybody,

I'm in the market for a new digital camera.  I'm looking to spend between $200 and maybe as high as $300 depending on the camera and the deal.  I'm looking for a decent point and shoot, but I don't need anything really advanced or fancy, just want a good quality camera with a good lens that takes great pictures.  I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations?

Thanks!

Ben Shewmaker