by Keith Underdahl
Digital cameras occupy one of the fastest growing segments of consumer electronics, and as they grow in popularity, prices are dropping rapidly. But although price is important, it is not the only thing you should consider. Before you buy, evaluate image quality, the methods used to store images in the camera, accessories, and compatibility with your computer.
This section discusses what you should look for as far as the type of PC interface the camera should have. This is important because PC compatibility is probably one of the main reasons you bought digital in the first place. Beyond that, you should also consider image quality. Higher quality cameras almost always cost more, so you will have to decide what suits both your needs and budget. If you plan to use the images in a Web site, or if you want to print them using a color printer, 640x480 pixels should be your bare minimum, with higher numbers equating to higher quality.
Also consider what extra items come with the camera and what accessories are available. For instance, does the camera include any free image editing software, such as Adobe PhotoDeluxe or PhotoShop? Is there an LCD preview screen built into the camera? Can you buy accessories, such as a printer or spare storage cards?
Another important thing to consider is how the images are stored. The least desirable method is for images to be stored in internal memory; images stored in memory are susceptible to loss if the camera battery dies. Also, you can only take as many pictures as the memory has room for. Ideally, the camera should use some type of removable storage medium such as a card or disk. This helps to ensure image integrity, and with spare storage media, the number of pictures you can take is unlimited.
Some digital cameras use 3.5-inch floppy disks to store images. This greatly simplifies the configuration process because you can simply put the "film" (in this case, a floppy disk) right into the floppy disk drive of your computer. However, this also makes the camera bulkier, and a single disk might store fewer than ten high-quality images.
Whatever you decide, some careful research and shopping beforehand will help you get the camera that is right for you. Reading through this chapter before you buy will help you be a more informed and knowledgeable consumer.
Your first step in configuring a digital camera should be to make sure that both your PC and the camera itself are ready to be connected to each other. A physical connection must exist if you hope to download all those great new photos you just took, so this first step is critical. Begin by carefully reading all the documentation that comes with your camera. Every device is different, so this material will no doubt contain invaluable instructions and tips to guide you through the process.
TIP: Your new camera probably contains instructions for installing the device on a PC running Windows 3.1 or Windows 95, or on a Macintosh but says nothing about Windows 98. Worry not! In general, you should be able to follow the instructions given for Windows 95, along with the steps in this chapter, without any problem. We have tested this with several cameras and met with success every time.
Begin by determining what kind of port will be needed to connect the camera to your computer. Most digital cameras currently on the market have provisions for connecting to an RS-232 (D-SUB 9) serial port, an RCA-style video jack, or a Macintosh serial port. Some cameras connect to a parallel port rather than a serial port, and a few of the latest cameras use a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port.
Most digital cameras use either the serial, parallel, or USB port. If your camera has an RCA jack for video output, it is probably meant primarily for use with a VCR or TV. However, you might be able to connect the RCA jack to a video capture board, so be sure to check all the documentation to see just what you can and cannot do. Considering the fact that you bought this book, you probably won't have much use for the Macintosh serial adapter. Be careful not to confuse the Macintosh serial adapter with a PS/2 port.
Which port you use depends largely on what type of interface cable comes with the camera. Again, the documentation should provide some help with this. Also, this all assumes that your computer has an available port of the same type supported by the camera. Your best bet is to check the back of your computer before buying a camera to ensure that you get one with the right interface.
After you've located an available port on the back of your computer, it's time to plug things in. Perform the following:
CAUTION: Most digital cameras do not support "hot connections," meaning that you must turn off the power on both the camera and the PC before connecting or disconnecting any wires. Plugging in the cords while the power is on could damage the camera and could also void your warranty.
It is entirely possible that when you look at the back of your computer for an open port you won't find one. Fortunately, you have some options:
After the hardware has been installed, you must install the software that accompanies the camera. Your camera should come with a CD-ROM or floppy disk with some utility and driver software. Depending on your camera, you will need to install one or more of the following:
FIG. 32.1 This utility software accompanies Olympus digital cameras, and allows you to control the camera from your PC.
Your first step should be to install the camera's device driver. If the software comes on a CD-ROM, a setup wizard might start automatically when you insert the disk into the CD-ROM drive. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the setup. Otherwise, follow the installation instructions that come with the CD-ROM or perform the following:
FIG. 32.2 Open the folder for your operating system. In this case, the Win95nt4 folder is the best choice.
After the driver has been installed, you may continue installing any other software in a similar manner. Again, keep in mind that your camera might not contain instructions specifically for Windows 98. If this is the case, instructions for Windows 95 should suffice.
One drawback of digital cameras is that most of them are not Plug and Play compatible. Plug and Play is a standard used by many hardware devices to simplify the installation process. Installation of Plug and Play devices is almost effortless because Windows and the device's software automate configuration, ensuring that resource conflicts do not exist. But as we said, most digital cameras are not Plug and Play, so you will probably have to do some manual configuration.
How you configure the camera depends in large part on how it is connected to your computer. See the "Hardware Setup" section earlier in this chapter.
TIP: One of the most common reasons for a nonresponding camera is simply that the power isn't on. Most digital cameras have a feature that automatically turns them off after two or three minutes of inactivity to preserve battery power. Checking this often saves time and frustration as you hunt down a problem.
Digital cameras using the USB interface are still rare, but they should grow in popularity in the near future. USB cameras present the fewest potential configuration problems, due to the nature of the bus. Also, USB devices allow "hot" plugging, which means you won't have to turn off the computer to connect or disconnect the camera.
Unlike cameras using other styles of interfaces, all USB cameras are Plug and Play compatible, so you should not encounter any configuration problems. Windows 98 fully supports USB technology, so if it's also supported by your computer and camera, installation should go smoothly. Simply install the camera's device driver, and you're ready to go!
Many current digital cameras utilize an RS-232 (D-SUB-9) serial port. Virtually all PCs have a serial port, so using one for the camera makes sense. Most PCs have two serial ports, and one of them is usually used by the mouse. You should be able to connect your camera to the open serial port and test it using the camera utility software. However, if the camera does not respond, there are several things you should check.
First, you'll need to check several things in the system CMOS/BIOS setup utility, which you must access by restarting the computer. As soon as the computer begins to turn on again, you should see it running through a memory test, and a message will appear on the screen that says something like, "Press DEL to run SETUP." Press the Delete key on your keyboard to run CMOS setup. You might need to browse through several submenus to check the following items:
ONBOARD SERIAL PORT 1 COM1/3F8
ONBOARD SERIAL PORT 2 COM2/2F8
IRQ3 (COM2): ENABLE
IRQ4 (COM1): ENABLE
If you made any changes (such as enabling a disabled IRQ), make sure that you save them to the system BIOS before exiting the setup utility. Test the camera to see whether that fixed the problem. If not, it's time to check system resources for other possible conflicts. Most PCs have four COM ports. Either COM 3 or COM 4 is usually used by a modem, and COM 1 and COM 2 should be assigned to the serial ports.
If your camera is connected to a serial port but won't work, you might want to make sure that another device is not conflicting with it. First, refer to the notes you took from the CMOS setup utility. In a perfect world, the COM settings assigned to the serial ports should not be assigned to anything else, but sometimes they are accidentally assigned to a modem. To check this, perform the following:
A final possibility for hardware conflicts involves IRQ settings. You can check the current settings from the Control Panel by opening the System icon and selecting the Device Manager tab. Highlight Computer at the top of the list and choose Properties. With the Interrupt Request (IRQ) radio button selected on the View Resources tab, the Computer Properties dialog box will display current IRQ settings (see Figure 32.4).
FIG. 32.3 This modem correctly uses COM3.
FIG. 32.4 Computer Properties displays the current IRQ settings.
Based on the information shown in Figures 32.3 and 32.4, we can begin to investigate the conflict. Here is what we know so far:
Given these facts, we can surmise that the serial port used by the mouse must be COM2. If the mouse used COM1, the modem would not function because it would also operate on the same interrupt. The mouse should not share an IRQ with any other device. However, COM2 must use IRQ3, and COM1 must use IRQ4. The logical solution would be to change the IRQ setting for COM3 or COM4, and if your system BIOS allows you to do that, you're in luck. Unfortunately, many motherboards are poorly designed, and you might not be able to make this change.
If you're stuck in this situation, you have several possible solutions. One, if your motherboard will support a PS/2 mouse, you could start using one of those to free up the serial port. Check the documentation that came with your PC to find out whether you can do this. Another solution might be to purchase a serial expansion board, available from many computer and consumer electronics stores for less than $40. These boards fit in a PCI or ISA expansion slot and usually contain extra serial and parallel ports.
CAUTION: Make sure that any serial expansion board you buy allows you to assign an IRQ other than three or four to the COM ports.
A third solution might be to create a second hardware profile specifically for the camera. You can call the second profile "Camera" or something similar, and in that profile you would disable to modem so that it does not conflict with the second serial port. Of course, this would require you to reboot every time you wanted to download images from the camera and then reboot again when you're done, but it is one possibility. See Chapter 5, "Installing and Configuring New Hardware and Software," for more on creating hardware profiles.
A variation on the theme mentioned earlier involves using an external modem. The modem and camera could share a serial port via a switch box, or you could manually switch the cables. To do this, you would still need to create multiple hardware profiles.
These steps should solve your problem. As a last resort, you could shut down the computer and connect the serial cable for your camera where the mouse usually plugs in, and simply use keyboard commands to download the images. If you do this, create a second hardware profile in which the mouse driver is disabled. Obviously, this is not exactly a desirable choice, so try the other solutions first.
The parallel port is a popular place to plug in peripherals, and "daisy-chaining," or connecting several devices inline, is becoming increasingly common. The device most often connected to the parallel port is a printer, but it can also be used for external modems, scanners, and external storage devices. Now add to that list digital cameras.
Using the parallel port makes sense. For one thing, you probably won't have the resource conflict problems that accompany serial ports, although some parallel devices such as modems and disk drives might prevent other devices from sharing the port. Parallel port cameras usually come with a pass-through cord, as demonstrated earlier in this chapter.
The most important thing to remember about using the parallel port is that of all the devices connected to the port, only one can be used at a time. For instance, if you are printing a large document and you want to download images from the camera, you'll have to wait until the printer is done using the port.
You might need to make some adjustments to the camera itself using the camera's utility program. To do so, open the utility using the path specified in the documentation. The utility program will probably be installed in the Programs menu, and it should have a name indicative of the device's name or manufacturer.
After the program is open, look through the options in the menu bar and find a selection called Options or Preferences. Here you will see a variety of configuration settings for the camera, including port settings (see Figure 32.5). If the camera uses a serial port, make sure that the correct COM port setting is shown.
FIG. 32.5 Check the camera's configuration settings.
Another setting you might see is the port speed. Consult your camera's documentation for an appropriate speed. If no recommendation is given, choose 57600 bps. Click OK when you are done making adjustments.
Many digital cameras include image editing software, such as Adobe PhotoDeluxe or PhotoShop. These programs allow you to manipulate or retouch digital images in a variety of ways. However, if your camera did not include such software, Windows 98 includes a light-featured but handy applet that gives you some basic editing capabilities called Windows Imaging. You can launch Imaging by clicking the Start button and choosing Programs, Accessories, Imaging.
Your first step will be to set Imaging to read from the digital camera. On the Imaging menu bar choose File, Select Scanner to open the Select Scanner dialog box (see Figure 32.6). All digital imaging devices installed on your PC will be listed here. If the camera is not shown, then it has not been installed properly. Refer to the installation and configuration sections of this chapter.
TIP: If you just installed the camera and it is not shown in the Select Scanner list, restart the computer and try again.
FIG. 32.6 Select the device you want Imaging to read from.
Highlight the listing for the camera and click OK. Now you're ready to begin downloading information from the camera. On the Imaging menu bar choose File, Scan New. Imaging will automatically download thumbnails of images currently stored in the camera (see Figure 32.7). From here, you can select all images--or only a few--for download.
FIG. 32.7 Imaging is ready to control the camera.
To select a single image, click it to highlight its border. To select multiple images, hold down Ctrl as you click each image. Click Download when you have selected the ones you want. As you can see, many other options for controlling the camera are available here. You can erase images from the camera's memory, take pictures, or change configuration settings.
Windows Imaging is not without its drawbacks. The most important shortcoming is that it can only save files in bitmap (.BMP), TIFF (.TIF), or fax document (.AWD) format. These formats are not compatible with the Internet, so you won't be able to use them on a Web page. Fortunately, many cameras automatically save images in JPEG (.JPG) format, so you might still be able to use them in a Web page. However, you will not be able to edit them using Windows Imaging. On the other hand, if you only plan to make direct prints of the images with your color printer, or if you will use them in non-Web related documents, Imaging is sufficient.
You can begin editing a bitmap or TIFF image by clicking the Open icon on the Imaging toolbar and navigating to the desired file. If the picture is a different format--such as JPEG--you will need to save it as a bitmap or TIFF before you can begin editing. After the image is open, choose File, Save As from the menu bar. Type in a new name, select a format, and click Save. Now you're ready to edit the image (see Figure 32.8).
FIG. 32.8 Imaging is ready to edit the picture. Truth be told, the editing capabilities are limited. There are three things you might find useful:
FIG. 32.9 Cole has been cut from the picture.
FIG. 32.10 The picture has been cropped to a smaller area. Again, Imaging is not the most advanced image editor available, but it will give you some basic options if you have nothing else. l
© Copyright, Macmillan Computer Publishing. All rights reserved.