Post by thread:Digital Cameras

> The SONY camera I know of is based upon the MiniDisk. What's the capacity of the "MiniDisk"? Earlier postings on this camera stated 3.5" floppy. > I under stand these are the features > :stores up to 2000 photos on one MiniDisk Assuming the 3.5" floppy capacity is in the ballpark, then the camera has to store 2000 images in 1.4MB. Hmmm... Assuming each image has a resolution of 100 x 150 (15,000 pixels) x 2 octets/pixel (15 bit color), then each image needs 30KB of storage. 2000 images would take 600MB of disk storage. Or it requires a compression ratio of 41:1. Seems unlikely. Lee Jones

Lee Jones <spam_OUTleeTakeThisOuTFRUMBLE.CLAREMONT.EDU> wrote: >> The SONY camera I know of is based upon the MiniDisk. > What's the capacity of the "MiniDisk"? Earlier postings > on this camera stated 3.5" floppy. >> I under stand these are the features stores up to 2000 photos >> on one MiniDisk > Assuming the 3.5" floppy capacity is in the ballpark, > then the camera has to store 2000 images in 1.4MB. > Hmmm... I think you are confused about what a MiniDisk really is. If we are talking about the same MiniDisks that Sony use in their MiniDisk players for audio, then the storage capacity is very close to that of normal CD's, namely 650 Mb. At least, one MiniDisk can store the same length of near CD quality sound that you can fit on an ordinary CD. > Assuming each image has a resolution of 100 x 150 > (15,000 pixels) x 2 octets/pixel (15 bit color), then > each image needs 30KB of storage. 2000 images would > take 600MB of disk storage. All of which sounds about right, and the MiniDisk should be able to handle that. Rgds Werner -- Werner Terreblanche users.iafrica.com/w/we/wernerte/index.htm .....wterrebKILLspam@spam@plessey.co.za (work) OR wernerteKILLspamiafrica.com (home) Plessey SA, PO Box 30451,Tokai 7966, Cape Town, South Africa or at home : Suite 251, PostNet X5061, Stellenbosch, 7599 Tel +27 21 7102251 Fax +27 21 7102886 Home +27 21 8872196 ------------------------------------------------------------

I've been reading this thread for a while now, and since it's starting to get really mixed up, it's time for me to comment. The camera in question is a "Mavica", which is a name used by Sony for it's digital cameras for at least 15 or 20 years (the first ones were very impractical and VERY expensive, with poor quality). The new Mavica's claim to fame is that it stores images on a regular 1.44Mb floppy disk. I have seen several ads for the Mavica recently, as well as a writeup in a couple of electronics magazines. I forget the exact capacity of a floppy, but it is in the order of 20-50 images per disk, not 2000, with double the capacity if image compression is used. Obviously the beauty of this new camera is that, like a film camera, the number of pictures you can take at a time is limited only by the number of floppies you have in your pocket (or rolls of film), and switching floppies is a lot quicker than swapping rolls of film. Most of the digital cameras out there right now store images on expensive flash cards or mini hard disks. Hope this clears up the confusion. Martin R. Green .....mrgreenKILLspam.....bigfoot.com ---------- From: Werner Terreblanche[SMTP:EraseMEwterrebspam_OUTTakeThisOuTplessey.co.za] Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 1997 5:36 AM To: PICLISTspam_OUTMITVMA.MIT.EDU Subject: Re: Digital Cameras Lee Jones <@spam@leeKILLspamFRUMBLE.CLAREMONT.EDU> wrote: >> The SONY camera I know of is based upon the MiniDisk. > What's the capacity of the "MiniDisk"? Earlier postings > on this camera stated 3.5" floppy. >> I under stand these are the features stores up to 2000 photos >> on one MiniDisk > Assuming the 3.5" floppy capacity is in the ballpark, > then the camera has to store 2000 images in 1.4MB. > Hmmm... I think you are confused about what a MiniDisk really is. If we are talking about the same MiniDisks that Sony use in their MiniDisk players for audio, then the storage capacity is very close to that of normal CD's, namely 650 Mb. At least, one MiniDisk can store the same length of near CD quality sound that you can fit on an ordinary CD. > Assuming each image has a resolution of 100 x 150 > (15,000 pixels) x 2 octets/pixel (15 bit color), then > each image needs 30KB of storage. 2000 images would > take 600MB of disk storage. All of which sounds about right, and the MiniDisk should be able to handle that. Rgds Werner -- Werner Terreblanche users.iafrica.com/w/we/wernerte/index.htm KILLspamwterrebKILLspamplessey.co.za (work) OR RemoveMEwernerteTakeThisOuTiafrica.com (home) Plessey SA, PO Box 30451,Tokai 7966, Cape Town, South Africa or at home : Suite 251, PostNet X5061, Stellenbosch, 7599 Tel +27 21 7102251 Fax +27 21 7102886 Home +27 21 8872196 ------------------------------------------------------------

"Martin R. Green" <spamBeGonemrgreenspamBeGoneBIGFOOT.COM> wrote: > The camera in question is a "Mavica", which is a name used by Sony for > it's digital cameras for at least 15 or 20 years (the first ones were > very impractical and VERY expensive, with poor quality). The new Most (if not all) of the earlier Mavica cameras were not digital. They used analog recording. They predated both the JPEG compression and the feasibility of putting the computing power necessary for JPEG (or other image coding algorithms) into a portable device. I don't think I'd be satisfied with the new Mavica because you can't fit very many high-quality 640x480 JPEG images onto a 1.44M floppy. I don't want to have to carry several boxes of floppies around in order to use my camera. Personally, I prefer the Sony DSC-F1 camera, which stores JPEG images into an internal 4 megabyte flash memory, and can download them over IRDA (wireless) or EIA-232 serial connections. It's too bad it doesn't use removable flash memory. The standard compression setting uses about 60KB per photo, so the flash holds about 60 photos. It doesn't have a zoom lens, although it does have macro. I'm considering upgrading to a Sony DKC-ID1, which has a higher resolution CCD, a zoom lens, uses PCMCIA ATA flash cards, and has a SCSI interface. It has a camcorder-style color viewfinder instead of the big LCD though, and it costs much more. I haven't figured out any ways to get PICs involved in my digital photography efforts, although I do use the camera to take photos of my PIC projects. Cheers, Eric

Eric Smith wrote: > > "Martin R. Green" <TakeThisOuTmrgreenEraseMEspam_OUTBIGFOOT.COM> wrote: > > The camera in question is a "Mavica", which is a name used by Sony for > > it's digital cameras for at least 15 or 20 years (the first ones were > > very impractical and VERY expensive, with poor quality). The new Does anybody have an idea what the USD price of the two MAVICA models are? -- Friendly Regards Tjaart van der Walt RemoveMEtjaartTakeThisOuTwasp.co.za ________________________________________________________ | WASP International http://wasp.co.za | | R&D Engineer : GSM peripheral services development | |Vehicle tracking | Telemetry systems | GSM data transfer| |Voice : +27-(0)11-622-8686 | Fax : +27-(0)11-622-8973 | | WGS-84 : 26010.52'S 28006.19'E | |________________________________________________________|