[plug] Digital cameras with gphoto/linux...

[Mike Holland]

On Fri, 26 Dec 2003, Ben Jensz wrote:

> >Dont rush in. It has no zoom, so maybe not a bargain. I've seen 2MP, with
> >3x zoom online for less than $300.
> >
> That'd be digital zoom on a sub-$300 camera.  Irk....

"Digitial zoom" aint zoom. Its cropping :-)
And you _can_ get real zoom for $250. e.g. Kodak CX6230
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/3fec0d880b05ea52273fc0a87f9c06e2/Product/View/XG0135
on sale at DSE. Might be good for David.

> >Would you want more than 2MP anyway? Even 1MP can look very good on a 6x4
> >or 5x7.
> >
> If you're printing at 72dpi, its not photo quality.

But 2MP is 300dpi on a normal sized print. Any more is wasted.
Even 1MP on 5x7 is 160dpi, which isnt too bad. I was impressed when I saw
the results.

> >But if it had 8MP, then a digital zoom might be useful :-)

Meaning it would still be 2MP with a 2x digital zoom.
If you have enough pixels, digital zoom becomes practical. And more
reliable with less moving parts. But on current consumer cameras,
its nothing but a marketing gimmick, IMHO.