Canon EOS D30 Digital SLRCanon's first digital SLR packs 3 megapixels of CMOS sensor into a speedy, compact body! (Smallest/lightest digital SLR as of August, 2000)<<Camera Modes & Menus :(Previous) | (Next): Video, Power, Software>> Page 11:Image Storage & InterfaceReview First Posted: 8/27/2000 |
Image Storage and Interface
The EOS D30 utilizes CompactFlash (Type I and II) memory cards as its image
storage medium, which should never be removed from the camera while in use.
(Removing a card while the camera is still writing to it could cause permanent
damage to the card.) A 16MB card comes with the camera, but upgrades are available
to 30MB and 48MB from Canon, and as large as 224MB from third parties, or even
1 Gigabyte in the form of the IBM MicroDrive. We shot all our test images with
a 340 megabyte MicroDrive, and can't say enough about what a pleasure it made
the camera to use. If you're spending the money for a D30, don't skimp on the
memory card: Our recommendation is to get a MicroDrive and have done with it.
Below are the approximate compression ratios and maximum images for a 16MB card:
Resolution/Quality vs Image Capacity |
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Compression |
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Compression |
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CCD RAW file |
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Fine Quality |
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Normal Quality |
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The CCD RAW mode listed above deserves some explanation: This
is a format that records all the data from the CCD, exactly as it comes from
the A/D conversion process. It is losslessly compressed, meaning that
the file is reduced to a smaller size, but without losing any data in the
process.
The D30 has a USB port for rapid file transfers to the host computer, which
we timed at a transfer rate of 257 KBytes/second (10.6 megabytes of data in
41.3 seconds). This is much faster than RS-232 (which the D30 also apparently
supports), but is a little slower than average among USB cameras we've tested,
and much slower than a dedicated USB card reader. (Dedicated card readers
can get pretty close to the theoretical 1 megabyte/second transfer rate of
the USB bus itself.)
One
of the first things any new digicam owner will need is a larger memory card
for their camera: The cards shipped with the units by the manufacturers should
really be considered only "starter" cards, you'll definitely want a higher
capacity card immediately. - Probably at least a 32 megabyte card for a 1.3
or 2 megapixel camera, 64 megabytes or more for a 3, 4, or 5 megapixel one.
(The nice thing about memory cards is you'll be able to use whatever you buy
now with your next camera too, whenever you upgrade.) To help you shop for
a good deal on memory cards that fit the D30, we've put together a little
memory locater, with links to our price-comparison engine: Just click on the
"Memory Wizard" button above to go to the Canon memory finder, select your
camera model , and click the shopping cart icon next to the card size you're
interested in. You'll see a list of matching entries from the price-comparison
database. Pick a vendor & order away! (Pretty cool, huh?)
Lost Images? - Download this image-recovery program so you'll
have it when you need it...
Since we're talking about memory and image storage, this would be a good time
to mention the following: I get a ton of email from readers who've lost photos
due to a corrupted memory card. It's tragic when it happens, there are few
things more precious than photo memories. Corrupted memory cards can happen
with any card type and any camera manufacturer, nobody's immune. "Stuff
happens," as they say. A surprising number of "lost" images
can be recovered with an inexpensive, easy to use piece of software though.
Given the amount of email I've gotten on the topic, I now include this paragraph
in all my digicam reviews. The program you need is called PhotoRescue, by
DataRescue SA. Read our review of it if you'd like, but download the program now,
so you'll have it. It doesn't cost a penny until you need it, and even then
it's only $29, with a money back guarantee. So download PhotoRescue for
Windows or PhotoRescue for
Mac while you're thinking of it. (While you're at it, download the
PDF manual and quickstart
guide as well.) Stash the file in a safe place and it'll be there when you
need it. Trust me, needing this is not a matter of if, but when...
PhotoRescue is about the best and easiest tool for recovering digital
photos I've seen. (Disclosure: IR gets a small commission from sales of
the product, but I'd highly recommend the program even if we didn't.)
OK, now back to our regularly scheduled review...
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