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

[Ben Jensz]

Craig Ringer wrote:

>
> Yeah.... but if you'll be using your images on a computer anyway then 
> you're quite likely going to get better quality off a digital. 

Only if you buy an excessively expensive digital camera.  Anything 
sub-$1k doesn't handle low-light very well, you get lots of lovely 
noise/grain.  I owned an A70, used an older Sony Mavica we had at work 
and a Canon PS G5 at work as well.  The G5 was only a slight improvement 
in image quality over the A70 I had (and it was over $1K), but it does 
have more features/enhanced features.

> Certainly you'll need an _apallingly_ expensive scanner otherwise - 
> minimum $5k or preferably a drum scanner.

You can get pretty decent film scanners now relatively cheaply in 
comparison to what they used to cost.  I've got a Minolta DiMAGE Elite 
5400 film scanner (5400dpi) on my wish list for this year (have to save 
a lot more pennies just yet for that).

>
> I'm yet to see any scanned photo that compares to the quality of our 
> Canon Eos 10D (6.5 megapixel SLR) at work - the colour and sharpness 
> is incredible. It's sharp down to the last pixel on at least 
> ~3000x2000 photos, and the colour is great even under difficult 
> lighting. If you'll be working on the images in digital form anyway...

Expensive though, with the cost of my SLR (with two lenses) and that 
Minolta film scanner I want, I'd still have change out of the cost of a 
10D :).

I know that people argue that you can snap away happily with a digital 
camera, but half the fun of photography is taking the time to get the 
shot you want in one or two exposures IMHO. :)

>
> Of course, for the price it should be.
>
> http://alpha02.c-wss.com/wsss/ApplServlet?SV=WWUCA900
>
> The POST has found excellent results with even our older digital, a 
> high-end Nikon, though that one was _really_ tempramental about 
> lighting. Every fluro shot came out awful, in particular. Very sharp, 
> though.


They've come leaps and bounds since a few years ago with DSLRs.  Canon 
has a sub-$2K DSLR now and Nikon has a new DSLR model to compete with 
that called the D70 coming out next year.


/ Ben