Digital Camera advantages

English Hardware
1

Ok, now that our usual supplier of film for the camera no longer carries it we need to move to a digital camera.

We are looking at an SLR either from Canon or Nikon.

Our current camera is a Canon Rebel and we have one good telescoping lens for it, so a digital Canon has a +1 for it.

When we get a camera (any camera) we need to be able to plug it into Linux to import/manage the pictures. That’s where the questions come in:

  1. Is there an advantage of one over the other in compatibility?
    Prefer Out-of-the-box compatibility significantly because my wife is not technologically orientated and easily frustrated with it. 1. If we are shooting RAW (I think that’s the best picture mode), what application integrates well
    with a mangement system such as Picasa, F-Spot or digiKam? 1. Do I need specific RAW drivers
    (I think RAW is different per camera) and how available/good/open are they? 1. Any other items of note regarding any camera
    (good or bad) concerning integrating a camera with Ubuntu linux?

Since it may be a factor, I am looking at the Nikon D60 or Canon EOS D40 though I don’t know if the D40 will handle our lens.

I’d rather be armed before going into the camera shop we are going to look at. I seem to come across more people being outspoken for the Nikon than the Canon but that could just be running across more Nikon people than Canon.

Some of the features we’re looking at is:

  1. Quick picture taking (push-button-picture-taken)
  2. Picture quality (of course)
  3. Color accuracy
  4. Low-light handling

Things like doing video or fancy effects are not necessary. Want good, quality pictures and if we want to modify them then we can use the computer (any suggested apps? Gimp or CinePaint?).

Thank you so much for your input!

2

I only have an inexpensive Ixus, but those SLRs are very nice. Is there not a digital Rebel? Both Canon and Nikkon have great reputations.

I think you posted on the wrong forum, as this is an openSUSE forum, and I’m not certain how many of our users can answer as to what is available for Ubuntu.

3

Sorry about that. I edited the post.

I was hoping to get an openSUSE perspective and I originally looked at this from the Ubuntu perspective. Plus, usually what works in one works in the other but the audience reading these posts do differ and that’s what I’m hoping for; different perspectives.

I’ve found openSUSE usually better with hardware detection and peripherals which is why I toss up between the two distros (if it doesn’t work in one, does it work in the other?..)

I would still like to hear people’s opinions and experiences.

(drat… can’t go back and edit it, seems can only edit the last post made. If a moderator or somebody could change all references to openSUSE I would appreciate it.)

4

you are interested in digital SLRs;

the only digital camera that has stood out as being problematic on these forums, has been various variants of Panasonic compacts: labelled Lumix;

the solution there seems to be to take the card out of the camera; put it in a card-reader, and transfer the data that way into a computer; …

that will work surely for any digital camera; …

apart from the above, digital cameras all now seem to work effortlessly when plugged into linux; …

does that help you?

5

I don’t have an SLR, but I like gimp. Its powerful. Its released as free opensource software under the GPL.

I’ve read its possible to run various Photoshop versions under wine (not sure if all feature/versions run). Photoshop is EXPENSIVE. It will cost way more than your OS (it costs more than my Camera ! ) . You can also run Photoshop (if you have the money to purchase it) in a winXP Virtual Box session (assuming you can find a legal copy of winXP to install in a Virtual Session).

For stitching panoramic images, I use a MS-Window app, running under wine called autostitch: AutoStitch It runs so well under wine, the authors have noted they see no need to create a Linux version.

I use digiKam for Photo management of my images.

6

Currently I’m using Picasa but I also like digiKam with the editing tools as well. I think that makes it a very powerful application. The last time I tried F-Spot I was comparing it with digiKam and lost interest in F-Spot.

I do have a copy of Photoshop 6 (or 7 … pre-CS) and I do like it though I would prefer if I could get as comfortable with Gimp. I may fool around with Photoshop under CodeWeavers (got mine when they were giving them away for free! :smiley: ).

I mentioned CinePaint only because I’ve heard Gimp has a color bit depth of about 8 bits while CinePaint gets to 32. I’m not sure if I am getting that right so I will probably be looking into this as well as how good Krita is.

Can digiKam handle RAW formats or does it need a plug-in?

7

digiKam KDE-Apps.org

8

If you are going to make RAW-pictures, take a look at Ufraw .
It also has a plugin for exporting RAW picture to Gimp.

For creating panorama pictures take a look at Hugin.

And for creating HDR images you may use Qtpfsgui .

Can’t say anything about choice between Nikon/Canon,
because I use Pentax myself.

9

One thing to keep in mind is not to complicate matters if you are starting out, and ease of operation seems to be what you are looking for.

In regards to Gimp - it makes for a great photo editing app - about 90% of it is not necessary for photo use - Much like needing OpenOffice just to type out a memo. :slight_smile: It does a great job of editing, but really has no organizational skills - one has to do that themselves. I use it often to do scaling, cropping, rotating, color adjustments, even noise filtering. The biggest mistake that one can make is to compare it to Photoshop - it isn’t intended to be a clone, and never will be. The UI can turn some people off, but with a little practice, it becomes second nature like anything.

F-spot might be the ticket for starting out.

RAW - another sore subject. Unless you know you need it, and want to keep it simple, photographic technique is far more important and sticking to jpg is fine. However, this thread could easily get out of hand and turn into a photo-nerd contest. :slight_smile:

If any camera doesn’t seem to want to work or be automatically detected, one can usually just pull the card from the camera and use a card-reader.

One sight that might help out, or has helped me greatly in the past is:

KenRockwell.com

It doesn’t matter if you agree or not - it is still extremely useful, and over time, I found that he is right. Again, just my opinion, but it might expose you to subjects that you might want to explore in dedicated photo forums.

That said, for my own usage, my Pentax DSLR, and my Canon powershots do just fine with Gimp and Gthumb for organization.

10

Any digital camera that does PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) is supported by Linux digicam tools, whether or not the camera model is listed. PTP is better than USB storage because you can do more than just transfer pictures, you can read camera data and even control the camera remotely.

11

On Monday 22 December 2008 17:36, dragonbite wrote:

> - Is there an advantage of one over the other in compatibility?
> Prefer Out-of-the-box compatibility significantly because my wife is
> not technologically orientated and easily frustrated with it.

These days, any camera should present itself as a “USB mass storage”
device, to start with. More is possible, but hardly needed.
Distributions of the last years will mount an USB ‘drive’ without fuss,
enabling you to copy/move your pictures. If all else fails, get an USB
card reader for your camera’s memory card.

> - If we are shooting RAW (I think that’s the best picture mode),
> what application integrates well with a mangement system such as
> Picasa, F-Spot or digiKam?

There are few valid, objective arguments for ‘RAW’. JPG is plenty good
enough for most people. If your camera offers a high quality JPG mode,
these images might actually only have compression applied, without loss
of quality.

> - Do I need specific RAW drivers (I think RAW is different per
> camera) and how available/good/open are they?

The RAW format doesn’t exist. There is no standard. It’s a very generic
name for a collection of raw, uncompressed, pure data. Most resemble a
primitive kind of TIFF. A few years ago, such a format wouldn’t been
called RGB files.

> - Any other items of note regarding any camera (good or bad)
> concerning integrating a camera with Ubuntu linux?

Just get a good quality camera, able to take to leses you have, and with
functions and options you’re intressed in and confirtable with.

> Some of the features we’re looking at is:
> - Quick picture taking (push-button-picture-taken)
> - Picture quality (of course)
> - Color accuracy
> - Low-light handling

Those are indeed the important things to look into.

A detail perhaps: the battery format.
My first had a specific accu. Worked very well, but it was propretiary. If
it ran empty, I had nothing to replace it with. Or have a second one
handy.

My current uses AA batteries. Rechargeable ones, of course. But should I
drain them and be without a charger, I can allways buy a pack of non
rechargeable ones to get going.

–
There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying.
The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
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