new to Dimage 7Hi : batteries...

I am about to purchase a Minolta Diamge 7Hi and I wanted to also purchase an accompanying charger and battery set. Is the one that comes with the camera decent for charging (memory fade, time to charge, etc.) or should I buy another? What battery type / brand of battery or charger do you recommend or not recommend?

Also, I am looking at Viking flash cards 2 128MB's, do these work well with the camera?

Thank you in advance for your responses and help.

AS

one charger that is highly recommended by a few people is the Rayovac PS4 1 hour charger. it charges each battery individually so it doesn't over or under charge and it's as far as i know the only true 1 hour charger around. it costs around $30 and can be found at target, best buy, wal mart, k-mart, etc. it's more expensive then other chargers but worth it. the charger that comes with it is average. i'd also recommend picking up a few sets of 1800 mAh or higher rechargables. energizer has 1850 mAh rechargable AA's and can also be found at the same stores for about $12 a set of 4.

john

Andrew Solis said:

I am about to purchase a Minolta Diamge 7Hi and I wanted to also
purchase an accompanying charger and battery set. Is the one that
comes with the camera decent for charging (memory fade, time to
charge, etc.) or should I buy another? What battery type / brand of
battery or charger do you recommend or not recommend?

Also, I am looking at Viking flash cards 2 128MB's, do these work
well with the camera?

Thank you in advance for your responses and help.

AS

Click to expand...

Andrew Solis wrote:
Is the one that

Andrew Solis said:

comes with the camera decent for charging (memory fade, time to
charge, etc.) or should I buy another? >

Click to expand...

The supplied charger will suffice for now, just buy an extra set of 1850 NiMhs. Instead of an extra charger at this stage (and without fail if you don't already have a USB CF card reader) get a mains power adapter so you can familiarise yourself with the camera at home/office while batteries are charging and upload to the computer without worries.

Andrew Solis said:

Also, I am looking at Viking flash cards 2 128MB's, do these work
well with the camera?

Click to expand...

Not entirely sure... anyone out there care to put Andrew's mind at rest?
John.

?

john farrar said:

Not entirely sure... anyone out there care to put Andrew's mind at
rest?
John.

Click to expand...

see

http://webpages.charter.net/bbiggers/DCExperiments/html/dimage_flash_card_speeds.html

Beware - get either microdrive of fast cards. On the 7i which has no buffer (and they bought out the Hi just 2 months after I bought to 7i) RAW is practically unusable when it takes 30+ seconds to write to the card.

Keith

http://webpages.charter.net/bbiggers/DCExperiments/html/dimage_flash_card_speeds.html

keith said:

Beware - get either microdrive of fast cards. On the 7i which has
no buffer (and they bought out the Hi just 2 months after I bought
to 7i) RAW is practically unusable when it takes 30+ seconds to
write to the card.

Keith

Click to expand...

thanks everyone for the advice on memory and batteries, now a less technical issue, any book recommendations that are suited to this type of camera. i plan on this being a multiuse camera, to dabble in landscapes, macro's, people, indoor / outdoor, and pics for my soccer team. all eventually posted to a web-site. so i guess i am looking for a book to give help / hints / tips in these areas. i can't wait to get the camera so i can get out there and start using it...experience teaches us best right?

as

Andrew,

One of the best books for any type of photography is put out by the National Geographic Society in the US. I believe the name is National Georgraphic Field Photography Guide. The guide can be carried very easily in almost any camera bag or similar size case and it gives examples of just about every shooting situation you can come upon. National Geographic originally published it for use by their staff and based on the pictures in National Georgraphic publications, I think that speaks for itself.

Howard

p.s. Note that the guide does not deal specifically with digital photography. Having said that, the D7Hi is capable of much more than standard digital pictures and can be adjusted more than many 35mm SLRs.

Andrew Solis said:

http://webpages.charter.net/bbiggers/DCExperiments/html/dimage_flash_card_speeds.html

Andrew Solis said:

Beware - get either microdrive of fast cards. On the 7i which has
no buffer (and they bought out the Hi just 2 months after I bought
to 7i) RAW is practically unusable when it takes 30+ seconds to
write to the card.

Keith

Click to expand...

thanks everyone for the advice on memory and batteries, now a less
technical issue, any book recommendations that are suited to this
type of camera. i plan on this being a multiuse camera, to dabble
in landscapes, macro's, people, indoor / outdoor, and pics for my
soccer team. all eventually posted to a web-site. so i guess i am
looking for a book to give help / hints / tips in these areas. i
can't wait to get the camera so i can get out there and start using
it...experience teaches us best right?

as

Click to expand...