Jim Doty - Photo Blog
 

 
Photography: Photos, News, and Tips
 
 
   
 
Saturday, August 30, 2003
 
Canon Digital Rebel

The other shoe has finally dropped. When Canon announced the EOS 10D digital SLR, the superb upgrade to the D60, there were rumors about a less expensive sibling hidden somewhere in the wings. I have been producing digital files with the 10D for several months now that can easily be printed print out at sizes up to 12x18 inches with excellent quality.

There is now a less expensive Canon option than the 10D that will still produce the same lucious digital files. Canon has announced the EOS Digital Rebel (the 300D in other parts of the world). The Digital Rebel will have the same 6 megapixel memory chip and the same "DIGIC" color processor as the 10D but in a less expensive Rebel body.

The Digital Rebel body will have less bells and whistles than the 10D, but once the shutter has been pressed, the same high quality digital files as you can get from the 10D will now be yours.

The 10D sells for around $1500. The estimated U.S. price for the Digital Rebel will be around $900. This will be, for a while at least, the most memory per dollar that you can get in a digital SLR.

More information about the Digital Rebel/300D is at the DP REVIEW and at Canon USA.

My reviews of the Canon 10D are here and here.

UPDATE: DP Review posted a review of the Digital Rebel/300D on Sept 4. The review is here.

The part of the review you need to read most carefully, especially if you are choosing between the 10D and the Digital Rebel, is the features that are missing from the Digital Rebel that you get with the 10D.

Tuesday, August 12, 2003
 
PDA MEMORY RESTORED

I had a Magellen GPS module plugged into the expansion slot of my Handspring Visor PDA. It plotted every step of my journey between Iowa, Ohio, and Michigan. One night in Michigan, the Magellan unit and my Visor locked up. When I tried to turn it on in the morning, the batteries were dead.

This meant my calendars, phone books, memos, special programs I had loaded, plus the Bible and other books in its memory were all gone. It would be a long time while before I would be back home and could hotsync it to my computer. Of course, the hotsync operation is meant to update the database of information for the PDA's basic functions. It does not restore special downloaded programs, books, and lots of other goodies I have stored in its memory.

Fortunately, my son talked me into getting a MemPlug Memory Module (it holds a CompactFlash card) some time ago. The module with memory card are plugged into the expansion slot of the Visor when the Magellan GPS unit is not there. I back up the Visor to the MemPlug module on a regular basis. In fact, I did that just before I plugged in the GPS unit for the latest leg of my trip.

On the morning of the dead batteries, I unplugged the GPS unit, popped in new batteries and turned my Visor on. It was just like brand new - that is, no calendar items, no phone books, no memos, no class notes, no digital books, no cool added programs, no Depth of Field photography program, no moon phase program, no user name - zilch. It didn't even know who it's owner was!

I plugged in the MemPlug module, clicked RESTORE, and 10 minutes later, several MB of precious data was all back in my Visor. I am nominating my son Jared for sainthood. Or maybe I will just thank him for talking me into getting the MemPlug module in the first place.

If your PDA takes a separate memory module with a backup funtion, I highly recommend that you get one. It might save your precious data and programs when you are miles from your computer. Especially when you consider that even a hotsync with your computer will not restore all the extra goodies you have been adding to your PDA.

I have a 64 MB card in my MemPlug module, so I can keep a lot of information on the card that will not all fit at the same time in the 8 MB of memory of my Visor. If I need something (like a book), I just drag it over from the memory card to the Visor's own memory. When I am done, I drag it back to the memory card in the module.

Incidentally, the Magellan GPS module is a cool little accessory for the Handspring Visor. You can download maps to your Visor and the GPS unit will show you on the map where you are. It will also show the direction you are going, how fast, how far you have gone, your exact position (in latitude and longtitude), where you are in relation to your "waypoints" and much more.

One last thing - remember to back up your PDA on a regular basis.

Handspring is here.

Handspring Visor accessories are here.

Some memory modules are here.

The Magellan GPS for the Visor is here.

 

 
   
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