Dear lazyweb
I have been looking for a small nice digital camera, one that of course takes nice pictures, but besides that have the following technical features:
- connected with a “generic” usb cable
- a usb mass storage device for the computer
- battery charged over the usb cable
- uses a generic memory card type (eg. sd)
I want it to be using a generic cable for charging and transfering pictures because I am not that good at not loosing cables and chargers and such so a replacement cable should be very easy to get. And I want it to be a usb mass storage because I want it working with any computer.
It kind of seems hard to figure out what devices to look at. Most “technical specifications” doesn’t contain information on wether it is a USB A => USB mini B cable or some vendor specific cable, nor do they contain information on wether it is a usb mass storage device or a device requiring mtp/ptp.
Canon looks like it is doing mtp/ptp over a generic cable – and with a external charger.
Samsung tells deep inside their manuals that it uses the usb mass storage driver. Samsung uses a vendor specific cable, but is also charged thru this cable.
Kodak seems to be using a generic cable, a external charger and undefined how the communication with the computer is.
Olympus seems to be using a vendor specific cable and a external charger. But it is a bit unclear. Seems to be able to do both mtp and usb mass storage
HP seems to use a generic cable, standard AA batteries and no charger bundled, seems to be configured to use usb mass storage.
Sony uses memory sticks which are just too expensive.
Casio seems to use a generic cable, a external charger and is a bit unclear about communication. Could be usb mass storage though.
Nikon seems to use generic cable, mtp protocol and a external charger
Argf. What have I missed?
Olympus use xD cards. You don’t want that. USB Mass Storage.
Canon use either external charger for removable battery (not a cable) or AA batteries depending on the model. Standard micro-USB cable so fare.
Kodak is PTP.
Nikon is Mass Storage or PTP.
The Canons built at least in the last 3 years or so are seen as massive storage. Don’t know if they can be recharged over USB though.
You’ve missed the most important thing: lens/image quality. Canon’s lens and image quality are very good and Sony uses Carl Zeiss lens in almost every camera they sell nowadays I think. Also – aperture size matters, lots of MP+small opening = Fail.
Good luck in your search.
As an above poster mentions, Olympus use xD cards, and the picture quality also isn’t amazing (although they make some very tough models that can be used underwater and in the snow, which is good for me, but sounds useless for you). You probably want either a Canon or a Panasonic for reasonable picture quality, and most but not all of features you mention.
@Anonymous: Canon do NOT use Mass Storage. Just standard PTP.
About PTP vs USB this search should provide you information about many models.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RecentChanges?action=fullsearch&context=180&value=digitalcameras&titlesearch=Titles
When i bought Sony DSC W50 about 1 year back it came with Memory Stick storage and proprietary connectors. But I have heard Sony now manufactures cameras with SD card storage and standard usb connectors.
On a side note Sony cameras work in PTP as well as USB storage mode.
Canon entry level cameras are usually bulky if they use AA batteries, because number of batteries are 4.
Nikon ones are more slick and lightweight with good picture quality. But no idea about other aspects.
I have a Kodak EasyShare camera, and love it. It meets all of your criteria except for appearing as a USB mass storage device; however, gphoto2 supports it perfectly, and you can always stick the SD card in a USB SD reader. It has also proven exceptionally easy to use; most notably, no matter what menu you go into or mode you switch into, if you press the shutter button the camera will go into picture mode and take a picture.
Casio (at least the Exilim model i have, a compact 10 Mpixels) uses SD card (with a firmware update up to 4 GB), usb mass storage but needs a “cradle” to recharge and transfer pictures. The camera body is in sturdy metal tho, seems quite solid, pictures quality is on par.
Take a look at the panasonic lumix camera series.
They use sd, default usb-cable and are usb_storage devices.
The charging however is done by separate charger.
When I went to buy a new camera I asked a friend who is a pro photographer and he reckoned that canon and nikon compacts have the best optics and image quality. So if you can get one of those with the other features you need you’ll be onto a winner. The canon I have doesn’t do mass storage which is a bit of a pain.
Take a look at the SANYOs
Maybe this can help you:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp
I own a recent Canon Powershot. It uses PTP over a standard USB-to-USB-mini cable, and stores images on a standard SD card. AFAIK, it does not recharge the battery over USB, but it comes with a separate recharger that plugs into the wall. PTP transfer works fine in gThumb (and presumably everything else). If I need mass storage, I pop out the SD card and put it in a card reader.
My Kodak camera meets all but USB charging. It uses a fairly standard USB A to ultra mini USB cable. The card is SD, and shows up just as photos on a card. I know at least that the SD card works fine. The camera too, I believe. I don’t usually use the cord…
Pretty good camera too.
if you are going to use third party USB cables, makes sure that they have the RU or UL mark for best performance.’,”
i own several Canon L Lenses and they have the best quality. even better than Nikon.-;~