Digital Camera Guide

Digital Camera Guide

So, it's time for a digital camera huh? Well, buying one can be more than a little difficult. What types of features should you look for? Well, this guide will tell you that plus get you a little more familiar with what these cameras are capable of.

Megapixels

When it comes to megapixels, the more the better. I recommend a minimum of 2, but 3 or 4 is great. We did a test to see if a camera with 2.3 megapixels (actually 1.92 - 1600 x 1200) could produce a good quality 8x10.

Turns out it can, if you have the right paper and printer. We used HP Premium Plus photo paper with an HP 970 series printer and made a fantastic 8 x 10. Remember, I was a professional photographer before I got into computing, so I know a good print when I see it :-)

The resolution at 8x10 (we had to crop in to make the picture proportional to 8x10) was only 150 DPI. Most printers would not make a real good 8x10 at that resolution, but this one did. So, if you want to be sure you can get good 8 x 10s, you may want to go with a 3 megapixel camera or better (that gives you around 200 DPI at 8x10 size, still not quite the optimum 300 DPI, but it looks good with the right printer).

Optical vs Digital Zoom

You've probably noticed that most digital cameras have both a specification for digital and optical zoom. Pay the most attention to the optical zoom.

The optical zoom magnifies (zooms in) using glass. The digital zoom basically crops out the edge of the picture to make the subject appear closer, causing you to lose resolution or to get an interpolated resolution (i.e. the camera adds pixels). Neither of which help image quality.

Finally, make sure you get enough (optical) zoom. A 2x zoom isn't going to do much for you. A 3x is the average you'll find in most digital cameras will probably be good for most uses. More on lenses later.

Connection

How does the camera connect to your computer? If you have a USB port in your computer, you'll want a camera that can connect via USB as opposed to a slow serial connection.

On the other hand, if your computer doesn't have a USB port, is there a serial connector available for the camera you're looking at? If so, is it a special order and how long does it take to get it?

Storage

What does the camera use to store images with? If it uses a memory stick, make sure you consider buying additional sticks when you get your camera. A typical 8 meg memory stick that comes with a 2 megapixel camera only holds 5 or 6 images at the camera's best quality.

Some cameras use a 3.5 inch disk for storage. Be careful of these!

Although it may sound like a good idea, a 3 megapixel camera at high resolution produces a 1 meg file (compressed!). That's only 1 picture per disk.

Here's a few more things to look out for when trying to make your digital camera purchase.

Picture Formats

When you're trying to decide on which digital camera to get, check and see how many different picture formats it supports.

You want something that can produce both uncompressed (usually TIFF) and compressed (usually JPEG) images. I personally use the high quality JPEG setting on my camera for most of my shooting. TIFFs are just too big and the difference in quality is not ascertainable by mere mortals.

You also want to be able to shoot at a lower resolution than the camera's maximum. That way, If you're running short on memory, you can squeeze a few more shots on your memory stick.

Auxiliary Lens / Flash

This was a biggie for me. While a 3x zoom may work for the "average" user, I needed something that allowed me to do some wide angle work as well as have a good telephoto lens.

So, the camera I purchased a few months back was a Nikon Coolpix 990 (note that this isn't the only camera that can accept lenses). It has auxiliary lenses that screw into the filter ring on the front of the lens. I now have an ultra-wide fisheye lens plus a nice telephoto.

In addition to lenses, I wanted a good flash. The flash that is built into most of these cameras gives you a top range of 15-20 feet - at best. I wanted a camera that could take a powerful auxiliary flash (again, the Nikon isn't the only camera that fits this requirement, but I liked it better than the rest). If you need more reach than the small built in flash can deliver, then make sure you can attach an external flash to any camera you consider.

As an added bonus, if you get a camera that can take an external flash, you can place that flash on a bracket and eliminate red-eye.

Flash Distance

Speaking of flashes, make sure you check the distance the built in flash is good for. You don't want a camera with a wimpy flash that only travels a few feet (well, unless you can get an external flash for it as described above).

Battery Type

This may not sound important, but it is. Anyone who owns a digital camera can tell you they eat batteries the way a sumo wrestler eats at a buffet.

Make sure the camera can run on regular (or rechargeable) "AA" type batteries. You don't want a camera that eats through expensive lithium batteries every 10 shots or so.

One thing to remember about digital cameras, they do eat through batteries. I recommend getting some Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeable for it. I have some for mine and they have saved me a fortune.

Final Notes

Choosing a digital camera isn't easy. There's a huge selection out there and only you can determine which features you need.

For instance, if you shoot wildlife photos, a small 3x zoom probably isn't going to cut it (unless you can attach auxiliary lenses to it). If you shoot lots of close-ups, make sure the camera has some sort of macro capability. If you shoot big group photos indoors, an external flash may be necessary.

My advice is to make a list of things you want to be able to do with the camera then go to somewhere that can help you make a good purchase decision.

Finally, buy the BEST camera you can possibly afford. Or wait until the price drops on one with the type of features you want.

Delete An Undeletable File

Delete An "undeletable" File

Open a Command Prompt window and leave it open.

Close all open programs.

Click Start, Run and enter TASKMGR.EXE

Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe.

Leave Task Manager open.

Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory the AVI (or other undeletable file) is located in.

At the command prompt type DEL <filename> where <filename> is the file you wish to delete.

Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the GUI shell.

Close Task Manager.

Or you can try this

Open Notepad.exe

Click File>Save As..>

locate the folder where ur undeletable file is

Choose 'All files' from the file type box

click once on the file u wanna delete so its name appears in the 'filename' box

put a " at the start and end of the filename

(the filename should have the extension of the undeletable file so it will overwrite it)

click save,

It should ask u to overwrite the existing file, choose yes and u can delete it as normal

Here's a manual way of doing it. I'll take this off once you put into your first post zain.

1. Start

2. Run

3. Type: command

4. To move into a directory type: cd c:\*** (The stars stand for your folder)

5. If you cannot access the folder because it has spaces for example Program Files or Kazaa Lite folder you have to do the following. instead of typing in the full folder name only take the first 6 letters then put a ~ and then 1 without spaces. Example: cd c:\progra~1\kazaal~1

6. Once your in the folder the non-deletable file it in type in dir - a list will come up with everything inside.

7. Now to delete the file type in del ***.bmp, txt, jpg, avi, etc... And if the file name has spaces you would use the special 1st 6 letters followed by a ~ and a 1 rule. Example: if your file name was bad file.bmp you would type once in the specific folder thorugh command, del badfil~1.bmp and your file should be gone. Make sure to type in the correct extension.

Copy XBOX Games

 BURNING X-BOX & GAMECUBE GAMES USEING CDRWIN

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1) Insert your original in your CD-ROM.

2) Open CDRWin (or any other image extractor) to make an iso image of the game

on your hard disc. Click on 'Extract Disc/Tracks/Sectors'

3) Here are the settings which work for me (!):

Disc Image/Cue sheet

File-Format: Automatic

Reading-Options:

RAW, CD+G, CD-TEXT and MCN/USRC all Unchecked

Error Recovery: Ignore

Jitter Correction: Auto

Subcode Analyses: Fixed

Data-Speed: MAX

Read Retry Count: 10

Audio Speed: MAX

Subcode Threshold: 900

There are a lot of reports, that Raw reading also works, but I had problems with it enabled.

4) Click on 'Start'

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RECORDING TO A DISC

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1) Install Fireburner

2) Double click on the Cue File For The Game

3) Right Click And select burn To CD

That?s all there is record DAO, and you can try to burn it fast at 2X

Using PNY Black Diamond CDR'

Converting Webpage to PDF

Convert Stubborn Webpage To .pdf

I have come across some websites that i wanted to save the page for later review. I found that i was having some problems with certain sites. I found a way around it.

what you need:adobe acrobat 6 pro or better

popupcop

there may be a simpler way to do this but i found that this works:

when at a webpage that you want to copy (YOU MUST BE USING IE AND HAVE BOTH POPUPCOP INSTALLED AND ADOBE ACROBAT 6 PRO OR HIGHER, ACROBAT ICON MUST BE IN IE TOOLBAR TO CONVERT TO .PDF), slide popupcops popup intensity bar to the far left, now click on adobe acrobat icon to convert webpage to .pdf document. I have yet to find a webpage where this trick does not work.

Removing banners from Free Host Websites

 Removing Banners From Free Webhosts

Today,there r number of wesites,which offer you webspace and areasonable good URL,for free.This service has become most popularas it is the easiest and fastest way of puting up ur site on net,getting an identity for ur self and becoming a part of huge web.

But The problem is they put Huge banners In that free sevice .

How To remove that?

its easy

follow the steps down

The banners Which r embedded r just about the only source of income for these websites,so if u r caught carrying out any of the below 'No Banner'

tricks,then u would possible lose ur account. So BEWARE!!!

For Geocities,,angel fire,freeservers,50 megs,fortune city,netscape

place the below code after the end HTML tag:

<noscript></noscript>

Anglefire/FreeServers/50Megs/FortuneCity/Netscape/tripod

Place the below code any where on the page:

<script language="javascript">

function open() { }

</script>

the above snippet will give an error and normally no other Java script code would be executed,so no banner would be displayed.however ,it doesn't work in all cases ,so there is yet another Hack for angelfire:Surround the BODY tag with the below code

<noscript></noscript>

If in case any thing doesn't work I am not responsible

if u want for any other free webhost i will give req here

----------------------------------------------------

Here are some more for you guys, good luck and have fun

Banner Kills

Tripod Insert between the <head> tag

<noscript><noscript><noscript><noscript> </noscript></noscript></noscript></noscript>

Angelfire Insert anywhere in the <head> tag (for pop-up option)

<script language="JavaScript">

<!--

function open () {return true;}

//-->

</script>

BizLand Insert anywhere in the <head> tag

<noscript>

<!--UsePopUpAdBanner-->

DigiWeb Insert anywhere

<script language="javascript">

var winname1="adw";

var winname2="indow";

var windowname=winname1+winname2;

popBusters = window.open("http://popbusters.cjb.net/sponsor/", windowname, "toolbar=no, location=no, directories=no, menubar=no, scrollbar=no, resizable=no, status=no, width=1, height=1")

popBusters.close()

</script>

DomainDLX Insert after the </html> tag

<noscript>

EasySpace Insert after the </html> tag

<noscript>

Geocities Add this after the </html>

<noscript>

<!-- <BODY> -->

</noscript>

Namezero Insert in the <head> tag

<script language="Javascript">

<!---

if (parent.frames.length)

parent.location.href= self.location;

// --->

</script>

Virtual AveInsert after the </html> tag

<script language="JavaScript">

<!-- -->

</noscript>

</script>

50Megs.com Insert below <head> an below <title>

<noscript>

<!-- <BODY> -->

</noscript>