Ok.. In the end I got the Nikon CoolPix 990
This is definitely a kick ass camera..
First.. the linuxy stuff.. It comes with a USB cable.. (That doesn't seem
to work with linux.... yet).. But you can get a serial adapter for
it.. that would probably work with gphoto.. but unsure.
Not that it matters that much.. as I bought the CompactFlash PCMCIA
adapter. (Nikon's use the CompactFlash). This PCMCIA adapter goes into my
laptop.. and just works. You mount it as an MSDOS filesystem. If you don't
have a laptop, I have in the past gotten PC based PCMCIA adapters to work
fine.
This camera does both stills and up to 40 seconds of video (AT PAL or NTSC
resolution). The movie files end up in MPEG QuickTime.. which Xanim
doesn't seem to like.. <shrug> Anyone have any ideas on this?
Anyway.. It's a 3.3gigapixel camera, with all the mod cons you would
expect.. However the REALLY interesting parts are that you can actually
make it save as an uncompressed TIF at the highest resolution.. (About 16
meg files though!!).. Otherwise, the images are stored as Jpegs..
It has lots of semi-professional features.. like Shutter control,
sensitivity (Even equivs to ISO 100,200,300 ASA etc.. so you can still use
your light meter!). Manual or Auto aperture control.. for fiddling doing
cool closeups, or background shots.. Macro mode right down to about 3cm.
Having shutter times right up to even like 30 seconds.. means (with a very
steady hand or a tripod) you can do some incredible low-light shots.. which
is what impresses me.. Usually CCD's are light vampires.. and you have to
use the flash for just about everything.. which gives all your shots that
kinda flash tinny sort of "blue" look (Which I hate)... Using natural
light and a slow shutter, gives a much "warmer" look to the shot.. I've
even gotten great shots in almost dark conditions!
The camera has 3x optical zoom, and another 4x digital zoom. You CAN turn
the display off.. (Which is the biggest battery sucking fiend).. About 1.5
hours on 4 AA cells with everything turned on.
Theres also a BSS mode.. (Best Shot System).. Where it takes 5-10 frames
(without flash).. and picks the sharpest one.. Pretty neat for product
shots (Which is what I do most of).
Anyway.. if your after a semi-professional digital, this is the one to go
for.
--
Anthony Rumble - Managing Director
EverythingLinux.com.au - The Alternative Operating System Store
LinuxHelp.com.au - Support,Training,Development,Consulting
Phone: 0500 500 368 Direct 02-9712-1799 Fax 02-9712-3977
--
SLUG - Sydney Linux User Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/
More Info: http://slug.org.au/lists/listinfo/slug
