[PLUG-TALK] Digital camera features

[Keith Lofstrom]

On Sun, May 28, 2006 at 09:21:27PM -0700, Jason R. Martin wrote:
> 
> The LCD, BTW, can be turned off and the viewfinder used in similar
> fashion to 35mm point-and-shoots.  The battery life typically gets
> multiplied by somewhere between 2x to 4x, depending on the model.
> Except my old Fujifilm Finepix, which thought it was a good idea to
> have an LCD, and a viewfinder that was another LCD.  Rediculous.  But
> there were a lot of things wrong with that camera.

Yes, that is loony.  However, I am of below average height, and 
wear glasses.  LCD viewfinders are a godsend - not only do they
display a picture that is more glasses-compatable (the optics are
not-quite-right for small aperture viewfinders and glasses), but
they also permit "camera above my head" shots.  I can hold the
camera up higher than my eyes and see the viewfinder (obliquely)
and sorta-kinda aim a shot.  That works when the tall folks in
front of me otherwise are blocking the shot.   Another feature I
would love to see would be a remote headmount viewfinder.  Now
THAT would be a great use for a USB/Firewire port, perhaps even
with a wifi link, and another thing that firmware hackers will
someday provide.

Yes, the camera battery lasts longer with the LCD viewfinder
turned off.  But the #$&!@% camera *still* turns itself off
after 5 minutes, whether the LCD is on or off.  Flicking the
LCD on and off restarts the timer, at least.

BTW, there is a nice use for digital cameras and viewfinders
for tourists in Tokyo.  The only decent maps of neighborhoods
are in the subway stations.  Take a few pictures of the map
in the station, then use the viewfinder pan and zoom to look
at the map in the camera and find your way around.  Given the
extreme non-cartesian numbering systems used in Tokyo (few
street names, just blocks numbered in construction-cronological
sequence, with house numbers assigned similarly), local maps
with numbering are the only way to find a particular block
number.  You are still faced with walking once around the 
block and reading each house number, though.  BTW, the blocks
got an extra renumbering as a result of American bombing in
WWII, so this is their revenge on American tourists.  

The viewfinder trick doesn't work so well near Shinjuku station,
which I am firmly convinced has extensions into a fourth spatial
dimension.

One last thing, for those thinking about buying a camera - many
have specialty battery packs.  Our Canon uses 4 AA batteries.
Much better.  We normally use NiMH rechargables, but when we
neglect to recharge the disposables come in handy.  In Tokyo,
there were 7-11s every 200 meters or so;  we never had to go
far for AA batteries.  If you plan to go touristing with your
(standard battery) digital camera, be sure to buy a charger
that will work with 110 to 240 volts.

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs