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Here's an unexpected photo taken during a day ride a few months ago. While stopping for a little lunch from the backpack this came down from the trees...

*** Warning for those of timid nature -- ravenous black arachnid ***

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/4633/spideren5.jpg
(fixed link- thanx)

//monkey

Broken link.

What type of camera do you have? That's awesome!!!

Candy750 wrote:What type of camera do you have? That's awesome!!!

Glad you liked it. I have a few cameras, but this was taken with my pocket carry-everywhere cam -- in fact it's in my jean pocket right now

It's a few years old now, but still perfect for what I use it for... the "macro" or close-focus capability is one of the reasons I got it, plus the small size, fast operation, etc. It works well for it's intended purpose. Anyway, it's a Canon Digital Elph -- the current version of this camera is an SD600, but discontinued SD450 and SD400 are older models you might find for a deal. They are almost as good for 99% of what you'd want a camera like this for. The screens on the SD450 and SD600 are bigger and much better, another thing I like about these cameras is they have an optical viewfinder too. The newer cameras have a few fun creative options, like shooting in black&white but allowing you to select ONE color, i.e. Black and white and Red. very neat...

Good reviews are available here:

www.dcresource.com
www.steves-digicams.com
www.megapixel.net
www.dpreview.com

cheers,

//monkey

Shoulda guessed the Elf. My brother has one...

I bought a Pentax Optio with zoom. I could cite the numbers, but I'd be wrong. It has the big screen on back, is very small, has many features too. Takes movies with sound, too. It is very take along-able...

It's my first digital, and even tho I had years and years of "film" camera experience, digital throws me! I shuld have gotten the optical view finder - now that I don't have it, I know why I need it.

I have the Pentax Optio A10, and I love it. 8 megapixels, shake reduction, 3X optical zoom, and it fits in my shirt pocket...

I think mine is Optio S5 - 6 megapixel, 3x zoom, very very small.

What do you use to power your digital? I started with regular alkaline, and barely got 3 pics off before death. Bought "hybrid" rechargable batteries, and haven't really used it since. The manul says these will get about 250 pics, so if I got through 20 I'd be happy - before recharge.

The next level of batteries only adds a few more pics, but aren't rechargeable, looks like two batteries stuck together...

Candy750 wrote:I think mine is Optio S5 - 6 megapixel, 3x zoom, very very small.

What do you use to power your digital? I started with regular alkaline, and barely got 3 pics off before death. Bought "hybrid" rechargable batteries, and haven't really used it since. The manul says these will get about 250 pics, so if I got through 20 I'd be happy - before recharge.

The next level of batteries only adds a few more pics, but aren't rechargeable, looks like two batteries stuck together...

Most of the tiny cameras use rechargeable Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries (but in proprietary packaging) like cellphones and laptops. (I have cameras that use different types of batteries, the Canon Elph series use these.. they get about 150 shots per charge).

Getting less than 20 shots with alkalines is not very common with current cameras. If yours is more than 3 years old, than *maybe* its normal, as some older digicams consumed a lot of power, and although I know the Canon's are better than many cameras for low power consumption, i would still expect almost any brand-name camera to get at least 50 shots on two AA alkaline batteries, and likely 120 to 200 on 'hybrid' batteries. If your camera is pretty new and still within WARRANTY, I would check that owners manual again and read some reviews about it. Since it says "250" for the 'hybrid' it liekly says 75 or so for the Alkalines. If you got only a few shots either you have a problems with the camera or the batteries. I've seen faulty cameras that eat batteries, so check that out. I knew someone who used there digital camera for a couple YEARS getting only 20 shots per charge, and when they mentioned it to me I sent them to the manufacturer... they were so impressed by the quality of images and the overall camera in general and they never read the manaul which clearly stated they shou;dve been gettting something like 200 shots that they just kept using it... luckily even though it was out of warranty by a couple months it was fixed at no charge.

Other info: I think I know the 'hybrid' batteries you are talking about. For AA compatible batteries. The non-rechargeble ones you didn't get are for some people the best battery type: if you are using the camera intermittently (weeks and months passing between use). The "two-batteries stuck together" are often these non-rechargeable Li-Ion batteries, called CR-V or CR-V3 i think. They have about 3 or 4 times the capacity of AA alkalines and last a long time when not in used, like alkalines.

(although there are rechargeable AA lithiums (and CR-V style) available i dont know too much about them). The problem with most rechargeable technologies is that the batteries lose a lot of change over time compared with the rechargeable proprietary design Li-Ion that laptops, cellphones and other cameras use.

The 'hybrid' batteries that you probably bought work very well for most people: if they are marked "NiMH"... the thing is if you use your camera quite a bit every week then these Nickel-Metal Hydride AA type are great. They offer 3-4 times the capacity of alkaline AAs and can be recharged several hundred times. The drawbacks are cold temperatures (reduces capacity dramatically) and the problem with them discharing quite a bit when not in use. If you use the camera quite a bit and charge a spare set while you use one set, they work awesome.

//monkey

That's it - NiMH rechargables. THe pack came with 4 batteries, and the charger. I figured two in, two on the charger...

Dammm. I just remembered i forgot to bring it today, and I have to inspect a construction site...