 |
Downloading images to your computer from your digital cameraBefore you can use the image files from a digital camera, you've got to get them into your computer. Every digital camera we sell is packaged with software and a transfer cable. One end of the transfer cable is plugged into the camera and the other end is plugged into a serial port on your computer. Serial ports are usually located on the back of the computer, where they'll be inconvenient to get to. With luck, you'll have a serial port that isn't being used for game joysticks! Some cameras come with a cable that goes into the USB Port instead. Transfers using a USB port work faster than transfers using a serial port. If your computer uses Windows 95 or Windows 3.*, it won't "support" USB port operations. The camera software determines the exact manner in which you transfer files, but usually it goes like this:
Many photographers buy an AC power supply (around $35) for the cameras just because downloading images takes so long and wears out batteries. Wouldn't it be nice if you could transfer pictures without using your camera at all - and maybe faster? You can do that. If your camera uses removable media (e-film) such as the SmartMedia Card or the CompactFlash Card or floppy disks, you can skip the cords. Camera which use floppy disks, such as the early Sony Mavica series, make it easy. Take the disk out of the camera and put it into the computer. You're done. Of course, floppies don't hold many pictures compared to memory cards. They also dictate how small a camera can be, and they write information slowly. I like the SmartMedia cards because they're so versatile. The SmartMedia card is so thin it can be inserted into something called a Flash Path Adapter. The Flash Path Adapter fits right into your 3.5" floppy disk drive, making it easy to transfer image files to your computer. We sell the Flash Path Adapter for $89.99 Memory card readers like the own shown here are even better. Most plug into a USB port. For older computers, card readers are available that plug into the same port used by your printer. (They have a pass-through so you can still use your printer.) With a memory card reader, you don't even need to hook the camera to the computer to transfer or access your picture files. You just slide your SmartMedia card or CompactFlash card into the reader and you can access picture files as quickly as if they were already on your hard drive! Memory card readers are made for either SmartMedia or CompactFlash, and a few can be used with either type. We sell card readers for $24.99-39.99.
|
