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coolrun
January 2nd, 2004, 06:03 PM
Everyone has these stories. People ask us questions about their own digital cameras when they see we have a pro DSLR. Here are my top three stories of last year.

1 – A lady comes over to me at a party. “I spent a lot of money on this camera. It worked fine when it was brand new. Lately there is a problem. Every time I turn it on, it shuts off.” The camera is a 5mp P&S with loads of features. I turn it on, the lens pops out, and then it shuts down. She says, “See? It doesn’t work!” I switch it on again and look at the battery indicator. It blinks twice indicating dead batteries and dies again. I remove the four alkaline AA’s and ask the lady, “How old are these batteries?” She tells me, “They came with the camera and are only four months old. They should still be working!”

2- A friend shows me his holiday present, a nice Minolta digital camera. He tells me it works fine but it is “full” right now. He can’t use it. I said, “What do you mean it is full?” He says, “There is no room inside the camera for more images.” It turns out he takes pictures, views them on the LCD, and deletes what he doesn’t want. Since he hasn’t edited in a few days, the camera is “full”. I told him he could download the images into his computer and reformat the CF card so it could be reused. Or, he could insert a new CF card. He had no idea you could do this. He thought you view images on the LCD and that was it.

3- Another friend meets me outdoors one day. He tells me he enjoys his digital camera but wishes the CF card could hold more images. I ask him what size card is inside. He says he doesn’t know. So I take his camera and begin to pop open the door to look at his card. He grabs the camera away from me in horror. “Don’t open the camera! You’ll expose all the pictures!”

Sleeping Bear
January 2nd, 2004, 07:13 PM
:rofl: :cheers:

Bill C
January 2nd, 2004, 07:26 PM
I've had several digitals over the years, and many co-workers would come to me and ask for recommendations on cameras. For one lady I recommended a little 2mp 'point and shoot' - a great little camera for her. I tried to explain 'mega pixels', and 'resolution' to her, but she wasn't interested. She purchased the camera, and a few days later when I saw her I asked her how she liked the camera. She was quite upset, and told me that they can't use it - the pictures are too big to fit on the computer monitor - even after they purchased a new 17 inch monitor! (hmmm 800 by 600 is still 800 by 600 ... I think I remember trying to tell her about resolution!)
Bill

Linda G
January 4th, 2004, 02:39 PM
Coolrun, those are great stories!

I used to work in a photo/camera store and had some great tales to tell, my favorite being the one where the lady came in before me, slammed her camera on the counter, told the other lady what was wrong and left.

Seems the day before was her daughter's first communion and she had tried to take pictures of it all and only got 13. They'd changed batteries, handed it around to different relatives, but no one could get it to advance to take more pictures. (it was auto advance)

I looked at the camera, didn't even open the battery compartment although that's usually the answer to many problems. She had a window on the back of the camera to see the roll of film and there it was, plain for anyone to see, it was a roll of 12...she thought she had a roll of 24. <g> Boy, did she feel dumb and did I ever have a story to make others feel smart!

Mr. Stacey
January 5th, 2004, 05:56 AM
Hahahahahahaahahaha.

ianmcc
January 5th, 2004, 07:32 AM
Those digital stories are great! keep them coming!...

I don't about you folks but from about Dec 13 onward I would get asked by friend or clients every second day about which digicam to buy.... Doesn't anyone notice there are about 3000 models to choose from? Not to mention they change every week!

I do notice certain trends show up in the questioning. Last year how big your megapixels are was all the rage. This year the trend is Optical vs Digital zoom.
I swear it more about what's written on those little stickers they put on the demo cameras than anything else.

Of course people tend to ask about my cameras when I am shooting. The top questions? How many pictures can you hold on there? and How much did that camera cost?(which is rude to ask IMHO, if I pulled up in a new car no one asks how much it costs) Kinda scary when people on the street ask me. I brace myself for a fight and don't reveal how much.

I do sway my friends toward a 3 megapixel camera, as most don't even plan to make 5X7's, 4X6's are about as big as they go.

ianmcc
January 5th, 2004, 07:39 AM
Coolrun those stores are so funny I had to share them with my pals! Thanks again!