“Everything you will ever want to know about digital photography on one page”

[Bill Siegrist]

Greetings Oly folks,

Normally, I lurk around the Oly forum seeking to learn insights about the E-1, which I purchased December 31, 2003, great camera . . . onward!

For Christmas, my wife & I bought our daughters their 1st digital camera's (Olympus D-535's). Today, I put together a page (rough draft) of suggestions for them. It occurred to me, maybe I should plum the depths of the Oly forum for more wisdom . . . so here's your chance to make a contribution!

“Everything you will ever want to know about digital photography on one page”

1. Read the Olympus camera manual from cover to cover.

2. Buy lots of AA batteries. Every time you do to the grocery store, drug store, Target, etc. buy more batteries ... you will need them ... or proceed to number three ...

3. Go online to: http://www.ripvan100.com NiMh rechargeable batteries give excellent life! Buy the following: Combo Pack - 4 (6 would be better) JETCELL 2400mAh NiMh AA Cells & 1 Lightning Pack 4000N Recharger w/ 1 FREE Battery Carrier - $29.95

4. Next, go back to number one above and re-read the manual.

5. Storage type (memory cards) = Olympus xD cards. Go to: http://www.bhphotovideo.com

Buy the two of the following: Olympus 128MB xD-Picture Card - Mfr # 200843 • B&H # OLXD128MB - Price: $36.95 each

The 12 Mb internal storage, which comes with the camera, will only hold 5 or 6 shots at best quality. A 128 Mb card will stretch this out to around 60.

6. Do not think ... oh boy ... a digital camera … I can take 300+ photos. Yes, you can do that, but the color quality and resolution size of the images will be so small, their only use will be to be placed on a web site and the color will be washed out and the image will be fuzzy. For a 4 x 6" print, the image resolution should be 640 x 480 pixels minimum. Think BIGGER resolution, which will mean fewer photos per card and ultimately using up lots of storage space on a computer hard drive (next item).

7. You will need to store / achieve your images for future use. Think BIG USE OF HARD DRIVE SPACE. The good news, keep the good images, delete the bad ones.

8. Next, I have never had a photo come directly out of the camera that did not need to be edited. REMEMBER, you never edit your original image. I can see this is going to take more than a page ... I will show you how to do the editing and storage. You will need to purchase an editing program, again got to B&H Photo – Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 for Windows Mfr # 29230115 • B&H # ADPE3W Our price: $99.95. And you thought digital photography was going to be cheap!

9. Digital photography ? Film Photography, learn from others. Become a member of the Olympus digital camera forum on http://www.dpreview.com Good news, it’s free!

10. Read the manual again. Finally, go out and takes some photos … have fun, be creative, think long term, digital photography is the wave of the future, your investment now will pay off for years to come! (Yes, that’s what they said about film photography in the 1960’s)

11. BONUS: Go to http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/manual/#d

There you can download the complete Olympus D-535 manual for your camera and have it available to you in PDF format on your personal computer to re-read anytime! Yes, it’s free!!

Kind regards,

Bill Siegrist
http://public.fotki.com/SiegristPhoto/

 

[dmpbyrdwatcher]

Bill,

I don't know how old your daughters are and certainly don't know anything about their personalities --- but my own kids pursue digital photography much much differently than I do....my daughter (20) had no use for the nice camera I bought her 2 years ago --- too complicated (by her standards) for what she wanted so she never used it -- finally she bought herself a tiny tiny no viewfinder type that she now uses all the time --- she wanted a camera to take to parties and events (she is a college student) - snaps away at all her friends, goes back to the dorm and uploads the decent photos - no editing - onto her website for her friends to enjoy....she also prints 4 x 6 exclusively (which I couldn't even imagine doing but suits her fine for her scrapbook and to give to her friends).....if she had to do any postprocessing or even read the manual -- she'd never want a camera, at least not at this time in her life....she has no interest in landscape or "serious" photography - the output of a camera phone would probably be ok for her - and she's really happy with her quick and easy snapshots.

my son (23) is about to graduate with a degree in digital art/motion graphics/special effects -- so you can imagine how he uses his digital camera and printer...'enuff said.

me? I want to learn everything I can and do everything "right"....so I'm a manual reader, tututorial watcher, diligent book studier, etc. etc. --- which drives both my kids nuts....

my point is that you need to make sure your tips suit your kids' ages, styles and levels of interest -- or you might scare them off. If they are new enough that you need to provide tips on memory cards and batteries, then perhaps they are not ready yet for digital editing programs and post processing! Besides, there are lots and lots of people who never progress beyond the software that comes with the camera - why make it sound so hard right away?

beyond that, skip the part about regular batteries and just go for the rechargeables!

doreen

 

[Bill Siegrist]

Greetings Doreen,

My children have children! They are a bit older than your children. We have three grandchildren.

Each time they come for a visit, I have to check their cars before they leave to make sure my E-1 didn't happen to sprout legs and jump in for a trip.

Thanks for your insights.

Kind regards,

Bill Siegrist
http://public.fotki.com/SiegristPhoto/

 

[Doehns]

Forget the batteries- they only work for 10 shots or so.
NiMH is the way to go.

 

[Bill Siegrist]

Forget the batteries- they only work for 10 shots or so.

NiMH is the way to go.

--
Greetings Doehns,

Hopefully, they will catch my encouragement and go directly to number three on my list.

Any other insights would be appreciated!

Thanks . . .

Kind regards,

Bill Siegrist
http://public.fotki.com/SiegristPhoto/

 

[E1derful]

NiMH is the way to go.

If they decide to buy disposable batteries...they should buy in bulk! Do not buy a pack here and there as you had suggested. Buy 30-50 batteries at a time if you can. They can be less than half price when you do it that way.

 

[Bill Siegrist]

If they decide to buy disposable batteries...they should buy in

bulk! Do not buy a pack here and there as you had suggested. Buy
30-50 batteries at a time if you can. They can be less than half
price when you do it that way.

--
Greetings E1derful,

You are right on target.

My hope is that they will make a $30+ investment in some quality rechargeable batteries.

Kind regards,

Bill Siegrist
http://public.fotki.com/SiegristPhoto/