digital camera SD card, USB charged

robonz

i'm looking for a compact digital camera that uses SD cards and can be charged via a USB port. can anyone recommend one?

robonz

perhaps there is no such thing?

ManAtHome

Can't recommend anything, but as a starter you can get USB to 5v 'phone type' plug cables, so any camera which needs a 5v external supply should work. Don't think you'd get much (other than 'novelty' cams) which charge through the mini-USB data port on the camera.

I know that most Fuji's using lithium batteries (rather than AAs) use 5v in, but they use xD not SD cards. Must be some of the smaller Canon, Nikon etc using Lithium?

One potential drawback - I'm guessing that you may wish to charge up from a laptop USB port. This could take a looooooooong time as lappy ports don't usually provide much power.

Is there any pressing reason for USB charging? I can understand the convenience factor, but modern chargers are pretty small.

robonz

so when i'm overseas i dont have to carry a charger but could recharge it when emailing at an internet cafe, the same way as i plan to charge my mobile phone and my mp3 player

ManAtHome

I prefer using AA rechargeables in the camera so I can carry spare sets, but can see where you're coming from (as I carry 3 chargers...). However, I find cameras with Li-Ion batteries don't charge anywhere near as quickly as the Sony MP3 (phone is somewhere in between).

The Sony charger output is a USB socket so I can charge from either the charger or a USB port using the same lead (but I still take the charger!).

Just a thought - have you considered AAs and a solar charger?

robonz

yeah i have solar charger but that takes an age to charge and there is no always sun and sunny location to put it in and its yet another item to pack

thinking of buying a motorola L7 phone as that can be charged via USB with standard mini USB to USB lead

robonz

i see there is an Motorola L7e now which is better

ahenry

I would like a camera that charges its batteries from a USB port, preferably with a standard Mini B USB lead, and that uses either SD or mini SD memory cards.

The Samsung NV3, NV7 and NV10 http://www.samsungcamera.co.uk/product/pro_view.asp?prol_uid=1675&cat_uid=75 can be charged from a USB socket, but use a proprietary socket so I'd to carry another cable around with me.

The Samsung NV10 is £170.12 at a Dixons duty free shop but the picture quality doesn't sound great in the review at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/samsungnv10/

Pixmania has the Samsung VP-MS15 for £141 which charges from the mini B USB lead and is compact and light. It uses mini SD cards.

The downside is that the only review I can find is http://www.epinions.com/content_231008931460 and I think I want more control over the automated settings. The flash isn't up to much for low light.

The manual at http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/200601/20060103113930640_00934F_SC-MS10_USA-TAI.PDF
says the flash range is 7 feet (2.1m). I don't know that I need something else to play MP3s as well as a smartphone and a laptop.

The Canon A series, like the £180 A710 IS sound like the best bet for me at the moment. It seems like a good all rounder. It takes a mini B USB lead and I could get a USB battery charger. However, I don't really need a 6x zoom and face detection sounds like it would be nice to have.

The Fuji F30 and F31fd perform really well in poor light without using the flash. However, they have proprietary batteries and take xD memory cards. The F40fd is a replacement for the F20 and is due out in a couple of months. It doesn't have as many manual controls as the F30/F31fd. However, it will take both xD and SD memory cards. Presumably there will also be a replacement for the F31fd sometime later in the year which takes SD cards as well. The battery on a F31fd lasts quite a long time (500+ photos), which might mean that I could get away without a charging lead for most of the time.

BTW, good a forum for information of digital cameras is http://www.dcresource.com/forums/index.php

http://www.dcresource.com , http://www.steves-digicams.com/ and http://www.dpreview.com/ have reviews. You can also browse pictures based on the model of camera at http://www.flickr.com/cameras/

robonz

why cant these companies use less proprietary sockets and batteries etc and use industry standards instead? I guess its so they can sell you more extras that you cant share with other devices. extra costs and probably bad for the environment too!

If we as consumers demanded more standards to be used it might happen but I think most consumers dont worry about these points. They just look at: do they like the look of it and does it have all the bells and whistles, lots of mega pixels etc

sniperpenguin

It sounds to me like you want "everything" (no offense intended!)

Personally, I would go for a camera that takes rechargable AA's (Samsung, casio and kodak spring to mind) so if you find yourself caught out you can just whack in a couple of cheapo batteries to tide you over.

As for the phone MP3 player / phone chargers.... unless you are in Ipod Video / Zen territory (IE 8Gb plus) then the I can recommend the sony ericsson (sp?) walkman range hand on heart as an excellent phone with great playback and loads of memory available for it.

In fact, if you go for one of the higher end ericssons, such as the K850i, youll have a 3MP camera, MP3 player and decent phone all in one with a single charger (just a thought)!