What's a reasonable digital camera for Linux?

[harryhaller]

I realise I need a camera to make a meaningful contribution to this forum. I also need one for helping me learn plants.

I use Linux (Slackware), so I wondered if any of you Linux users could recommend me one to buy and what software it uses for transferring the pictures onto the PC (I have USB2.0).

I would prefer not to use KDE or Gnome stuff - but if it is inevitable - it's inevitable.

 

[sirex]

most cameras use normal storage cards for their photos, so you should find that they appear as a standard usb disk when connected to the pc. In terms of linux apps for the job, gthumb, thunar, gimp, etc will all come in handy. Also imagemagik will give you an app called "mogrify" which is very handy for resizing a set of images (mogrift -resize 640x480 *.jpg) for example (make sure to do it in a copied dir as itll overwrite originals otherwise)

ive used a olympus and canon camera on linux, - the canon 350D is a good camera and with the higher models coming out (which have features over and above most people's needs) you can get it pretty cheap. I dont know for certain that camera works on linux, but i suspect a bit of googling will find out.

 

[myotis]

I can't offer any specific ideas, but this blog and the links from it make interesting reading

http://jcornuz.wordpress.com/links/

Graham

 

[harryhaller]

Thanks - After looking around I'm actually more confused than before.

There are so many questions, so I'll try to make it simple.

Are all the cameras on the market up to a sufficient standard to take photos in a wood, where it is dark, and of plants where I will need to get close and have sufficient detail? Looking at the links in Graham's link, they are talking of pixels - what is the minimum of pixels I would need for such work?

What sort of storage types can I use with Linux so that I can see it just like a standard USB disk - compact flash, SD, memory stick, xD or internal?

I should explain that I only use my USB ports for external disks - so I have never used any other devices such as sticks etc. - so please be patient with me - what may be obvious to you is not obvious to me

Is it better to have compressed format such as tiff? What is "raw" format? I know the formats such as jpg, bmp, tiff, png and how to decode attachments in emails etc.

I suppose I'm really looking for a recommendation for a camera - about 200-400 quid - Is that a reasonable price?

Thanks.

 

[harryhaller]

That's idiot me - posting links on another thread in the off-topic foums about Linux - but didn't think to use them myself.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/index.php/cat/200

 

[myotis]

Generally pixels now a days are pretty irrelevant as anything more than about 5mp is going to give excellent quality for uploading and medium sized prints. Its just one of those pointless marketing exercises to force you to upgrade your camera.

You will need a usb card reader which should mount just the same as any other device in Linux (I am guessing a bit here, but my CF card reader just worked with Linux). Not sure about connecting the camera directly to the PC, but I have never done that as I have always used a card reader.

Raw format is the pure digital format that stores the image as recorded by the camera. These raw images are then processed either in camera, or by you in the computer to produce an image (JPEG etc) that you can actually see.

The advantage of using RAW image files is that you can then fully control the quality.

With cameras that produce JPEGS directly, the processing is automatically done by the camera and may not always produce the highest quality. If you are a keen photographer then you would use RAW, but it adds an extra stage and until you get experience, and the automatic in-camera processing normally produces perfectly adequate images.

For the price you are looking at, you could look at a choice of compact cameras (easy to carry) or so called bridge cameras that will have longer telephoto lenses for more distant wildlife and better for close ups, but considerably bulkier to carry.

There are also some waterproof/shockproof compact models available in this price range, but only as compacts.

www.dpreview.com will give you some reviews. And recently they did some group reviews, under the the reviews/previews menu.

If you are happy with the extra bulk I would go for something like this:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q109superzoomgroup/page7.asp

But everyone will have different views.

Graham

 

[sirex]

regarding connecting the camera directly. - our olympus does that, its really not a problem, you just plug one end of the wire into camera, other into pc and bingo, new drive appears on pc that you can drag / drop files from.

regarding what memory card type - it dosent actually really matter, its how the card is formatted that'll affect linux compatibility, but bear in mind how the card is formatted is usually linked to the camera, so *that* is what you need to check. Usually, if its FAT32 formatted, you're good to go (fat32 is a windows format, but linux can read and write it a-ok, usually out-of-the-box, as that's also what many usb pen drives use).

If the camera does not directly connect, then yes, as stated in above post, you need a USB card reader. - Most do 8 or so types of cards and are very cheap.

regarding megapixels. a megapixel is one million pixels. How many pixels in an image ? well... that depends how tightly you pack 'em in ! - to give you some idea, most computer monitors use 1024x768 or 1280x1024 or so. Which is 760,000 and 1.3 megapixels, respectivly. Now, if you look really close at your screen, you can see those pixels.... but then its a bigger picture than a small photo in your hand. - Net result, the number of pixels needed depends on the quality of the image, *and* how big you intend to blow it up. But 5 megapixel will give you very respectable and usable photos.


hope that helps. If you have further Q's, pm me, ill see if my wife can help (she used to work in jessops and knows more on the topic than i do) were away for the next week though

 

[harryhaller]

Have a nice week!

I will take you up on that offer - I dread that nightmare scenario of ending up with a camera, raring to go, and then being told something like "oh you need their special software on your PC and it's only available for Windows or Mac".

And it ain't beer money that's at stake. It doesn't allow for much "experimenting".

This is torture - look what Canon wrote about their 100mm lens:

Here is a warning for anyone contemplating the purchase of the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens: You will find yourself looking for little things to use for subjects - which are everywhere. No bug is safe. You will find you neck hurting from looking down all the time. You will discover a world you never knew existed. Macro photography is great fun. And men - You now have another reason to buy your wife flowers (they make great subjects).

There should be a law against writing things like that - there are some very vulnerable people like me around!:yikes:

What Olympus do you use Sirex? I'm attracted by the compact/bridge cameras that have been mentioned - panasonic lumix and canon SX10 IS, but I once had an Olympus om-10 - and if your Olympus is ok for Linux - then I'm back into a comfort zone, if you know what I mean.

Thanks for those links, Graham, I'm v-e-r-y slowly beginning to understand what's on offer.

 

[jimford]

Wait until the Olympus E620 hits the shelves, it's currently getting rave preliminary reviews. I believe it's out sometime in April.

If you use Linux your photo editing will be done in the excellent 'Gimp', or if you prefer a Photoshop 'look and feel', 'Gimpshop'. Both are free.

When you get more experienced and start shooting 'raw' images, you can develop them with 'Rawtherapee'.

Jim

 

[sirex]

olympus 765 and an olympus MJU300.

Have a nice week!

I will take you up on that offer - I dread that nightmare scenario of ending up with a camera, raring to go, and then being told something like "oh you need their special software on your PC and it's only available for Windows or Mac".

And it ain't beer money that's at stake. It doesn't allow for much "experimenting".

This is torture - look what Canon wrote about their 100mm lens:



There should be a law against writing things like that - there are some very vulnerable people like me around!:yikes:

What Olympus do you use Sirex? I'm attracted by the compact/bridge cameras that have been mentioned - panasonic lumix and canon SX10 IS, but I once had an Olympus om-10 - and if your Olympus is ok for Linux - then I'm back into a comfort zone, if you know what I mean.

Thanks for those links, Graham, I'm v-e-r-y slowly beginning to understand what's on offer.

 

[harryhaller]

Well I've got a Canon A590 li - playing around with it now, but it looks like I'll need a card reader - USB sees it but doesn't create a device.

 

[jimford]

it looks like I'll need a card reader - USB sees it but doesn't create a device.

It won't break the bank:

http://tinyurl.com/5v94f6

Jim

 

[harryhaller]

Thanks Jim - do they work with linux?

 

[harryhaller]

Got myself a reader (2 in fact) - works brilliantly - now embarrassed about all the questions I kept on asking - will be posting fotos soon! btw - great little camera for 117 euros.

 

[screeching owl]

I thought KDE was the default desktop for Slackware ? I'm only familiar with KDE and Gnome. Iv found it easy to read SD cards and USB sticks on linux. And Digikam + Showphoto (KDE) is the Swiss army knife for Photos. Each Distro has varying support for multimedia. I don't want to go distro bashing but if your new to linux you might find Ubuntu easier with the more stable Gnome desktop. I would not recommend KDE 4 at the moment as I found it to be too much hassle. Iv connected cameras direct but found it easier to plug the SD cards in. I agree with all that sirex has said.

 

[harryhaller]

No, I'm not new to linux, but I am new to digital cameras. It does seem as if the Canon Powershot A590 IS can't be connected. If there is a problem at my end, then it will be the particular configuration of my kernel - 2.6.24.5-smp. But I don't want to fiddle about with that again until I've upgraded to to Slackware 12.2 (i'm on 12.1).

In fact, the card reader is the best solution, otherwise one is just using up the camera batteries while it is connected to the PC.

I don't use KDE - I use Ratpoison It's the best! I want a window manager not a wannabe OS posing as a WM - which is certainly what Gnome is, and by all accounts, is what KDE is becoming.

Frankly I think Ubuntu is the worst thing to happen to Linux.

For my purposes I find Gimp fine - I also use XV. But now that i've got a camera perhaps I will get more sophisticated and demanding

 

[bushtuckerman]

It's not the most up to date but I'll bet they're very similar cameras:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/compacts/a570.htm

This guy is actually very knowledgeable if you're prepared to look past his opinionated, egotistical writing style. He writes loads too, on account of his unending thirst to tell people his views, but this only pays off for the readers, who he genuinely helps a lot.

Apart from raw (pun intended) experience, most of what I know about photography comes from this guy.

One interesting view of his is that shooting RAW is a waste of time. Anyway, his site should give you a lot to chew on and answers to many questions. He really does seem to have done it all...(of course, you very quickly get swept away with this feeling when you begin reading.)

I didn't really imagine that a Slackware user could be a 'noob', myself

HTH

Ian

 

[harryhaller]

That's a good link, Ian, It was very helpful. Most especially, he links to the CHDK site which has developed extra software for Canon cameras, extending their functions

 

[bushtuckerman]

good stuff. he has written about camera makers frequently downgrading their own products via firmware so that their product line stays nicely incremented in price, this must be why you can make them so much better!