[P1] USB Digicam problem

[George Slusher]

>I am a repair technician for Nikon, Fuji, and Sony Digital Cameras.  My 
>advise is to get yourself a card reader for your media.  There is less 
>wear on the tiny USB port on the camera, and you do not have to worry 
>about your batteries dying mid-download.  PNY, makes a very small 
>inexpensive card reader that I use for my SONY U-10 which uses Memory 
>Sticks.  I also have an Olympus UZ-2100 which uses SmartMedia, and a 
>Nikon 880 that uses Compact Flash.  Each one of the PNY readers works 
>great with each type of card.  You can get them for $19.95 from 
>BestBuy.  Require no driver for OS X Jaguar, and automatically open in 
>iPhoto. Just a suggestion.

Excellent suggestion! There's another bonus--less chance of yanking the 
camera off your desk/table onto the floor. Having done that with my cel 
phone,  The phone was undamaged (Thank you, Nokia!), but I'm not sure 
that my $700 Canon G2 would do as well. The DISadvantage, in my mind, is 
that the Canon software is actually quite good. It has an excellent 
preview function and I can get the information on exposure, white 
balance, flash, etc, that can help in learning to make better pictures.

There are also readers that handle multiple media formats and card 
readers without cords that are more convenient for travel. 

If you do use the camera, see if you can plug in the charger while you 
download, assuming that the camera has rechargeable batteries. Some 
cameras cannot charge the batteries in the camera--the Nikon Coolpix 
2500, for example. (There are also nice third-party chargers that can 
handle a variety of batteries: I have one that can do the batteries for 
the Canon G2 and my Sony Digital 8 camcorder. That's one less power 
supply to tote around.

George Slusher/Eugene, OR
gslusher at rio.com