Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 1883

I'm in the market for a digital camera.

What should I do, buy a standalone camera or a springboard one (right now only the eyemodule is avialable)

The advantages of a springboard camera are:
-coolness factor
-no need to carry around an extra gadget
-price

The advantages of a standalone camera are:
-doesn't use the Visors memory
-doesn't use the Visors batteries
-MORE memory
-better quality pictures
-color LCD

I am thinking of getting the Fuji_MX1200 because it's small (relativly) cheap and uses smartmedia (I also have the Diamond Rio and have some Smartmedia chips...

please advise...

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Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Texan in Calgary for a while
Posts: 1361

As much as the eyemodule has that "cool factor," it is not ready for prime-time. Buy a digital camera with any kind of removable media (my Kodak 215 uses CF) and get a reader for your desktop so you can transfer files in a few seconds. You won't be dissapointed.

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James Hromadka
Old Friend

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

Certainly, for your first digital camera, I would suggest a standalone. You can get some fairly decent digital's for not much more than the EyeModule. As James said, get one with removeable media... just makes it so much more convenient.

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God bless America, my home sweet home...

Registered: Jun 2000
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 52

Last week, while waiting -- desperately, patiently, endlessly -- for my Minijam, I broke down and bought an Eyemodule. It was an impulse buy. I guess I just had to put something -- anything -- into that springboard slot. And yes, I love my Eyemodule. It's a lot of fun. It has many uses. It's incredibly cool. And once you learn how to manage the light and keep the camera still, you can take some decent shots.

But last year, my husband bought a Toshiba PDR-M5 2.1 megapixel digital camera, so I know what a real digital camera should be. Although I love my Eyemodule, I'm the first to admit that it's more of a toy than a real camera. But if you've got a lot of light, and you hold it real still, it can come close!

--dianeholly

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: bright side of the moon.
Posts: 996

quote:

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Originally posted by ToolkiT
-no need to carry around an extra gadget

---

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Stealth-Mod.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

It all depends on what you want to use the camera for.

It's sort of like comparing a polaroid camera to a 35mm camera. Both have their uses...it all depends on what you want to use it for.

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Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 1883

thanx for your input, I'll go for the standalone digital camera...

anybody know any good models that aren't too expensive (less than US$350) that use smartmedia?

Also input on online stores that ship internationally is appreciated...

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 241

Remember the news on an earlier post here this year that Kodak is making a SB digital camera? If you don't need one right away, I'd say hold off a bit and see if Kodak releases one by x-mas. Now the rumor may be wrong, but I'm not sure. I forget who posted the news, but if you search the forums, I'm sure you'll find it.
Good luck!

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 434

Since we don't know your requirements, it is kind of hard to make specific recommendations. However, since you want to spend less than US$350, you are probably going to have to settle for a 1 megapixel camera (at best). The good news is that there should be alot of reviews from the last year or two. The bad news is that you won't be able to rely on pricing from the reviews, and you'll have to look that up separately. Unless the cameras firmware is updated, some of the cameras in this class might no know what to make of a SM card that exceeds 16MB. Also, support for USB will be alittle less common with these older models than it is on newer models. Let me know if you need some URLs, and I'll retrieve them from work tomorrow if you need them.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 1883

quote:

---

Originally posted by yucca
Since we don't know your requirements, it is kind of hard to make specific recommendations. However, since you want to spend less than US$350, you are probably going to have to settle for a 1 megapixel camera (at best). The good news is that there should be alot of reviews from the last year or two. The bad news is that you won't be able to rely on pricing from the reviews, and you'll have to look that up separately. Unless the cameras firmware is updated, some of the cameras in this class might no know what to make of a SM card that exceeds 16MB. Also, support for USB will be alittle less common with these older models than it is on newer models. Let me know if you need some URLs, and I'll retrieve them from work tomorrow if you need them.

---

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 434

OK. Here are the links I promised to give you:

http://www.photopoint.com/dcm/buyers/index.html

http://www.dpreview.com/

http://www.imaging-resource.com/

http://www.megapixel.net/html/issueindex.html

http://www.pcphotoforum.com/

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

http://www.dcresource.com/

http://www.zdnet.com/special/filters/sc/camera/

FWIW, I really like the Olympus cameras (holdover from SLR days); but Olympus has been very slow adopting USB.

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 22

Reccommendation.

I have an Olympus D360L (The new one with ISO selectability) and it's out performed my friend's $600 camera. It's about $290 and you should get a USB smartmedia reader, the usb on board directly from the camera is pretty useless because it uses prescious batteries. Grab an extra smartmedia card too. The eyemodule is more of a novelty cam than anything you would write home about. I wouldn't trade my eyemodule for the world though lol, it's fun to play with and sneak pics with. My girlfriend max's out my memory daily. Have fun!

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 8

How does the Eyemodule compare to the Aiptek Pencam?
I just read some reviews on this camera that fits in your shirt pocket for under $99.
http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/stories/...00.html