Being a new owner of a digital camera I am really discovering how stupid this thing makes me feel. Where can I find a SIMPLE tutorial for my digital camera. I am EXTREMELY new to computers and am not savvy with computerease. Also What is a media reader????

-- Rita Ulsheimer (riverstonebeads@yahoo.com), August 01, 2000

Answers

Try www.shortcourses.com . You can read them on the web or order the books.

You really have one of the best resources going in this forum... Just use the search feature and you'll find tons of related posts to subjects you wish to learn about or questions you have.

A media reader is just another way of transferring the images from your camera's media card into your computer. Their chief advantage is that they're MUCH faster than serial transfers. If you have USB, don't bother with one. USB is pretty fast, and quite portable as long as carrying the cable and install disk around is possible. If you have a notebook computer, you can get a pcmcia adapter that will accept smartmedia or one that'll accept compactflash and allow for very fast transfers.

You might try the accessories section at: www.steves-digicams.com for more info and reviews of some media readers.

-- Gerald M. Payne (gmp@surferz.net), August 02, 2000.

Rita--I'm not exaggerating when I say that I feel sorry for you. You've just joined a hobby that can be VERY rewarding AND VERY FRUSTRATING for each of us almost at the same time.

First, try www.shortcourses.com for both on-line tutorials and also written material. I found the ShortCourse book on the Olympus 2500 very useful and lots easier to read and digest than the user's manual.

Second, take a course in PC (or Mac) use. If you do not, you may end up tossing the thing out the window (NOT the Bill Gates kind) in frustration. I've been using PCs for 18 years (the IBM PC was introduced in 1981; I 'joined' the next year) and I still get frustrated/annoyed/angry/infuriated more than ocassionally.

Third, a media reader is an electronic device that plugs into your computer and 'reads' the storage card in your camera. It allows you to transfer the picture files from the card to the computer so you can do something--like modify and/or save and/or print--with or to them. The cards come in several different types--SmartMedia, CompactFlash (types 1 and 2), MemoryStick (Sony only)--so you must know what your camera uses to store the images you create.

Fourth, find friends who know something about these things; having someone to call when you can't figure it out yourself is VERY helpful.

So, don't feel stupid too long--educate yourself and experiment and TAKE PICTURES.

Good luck and write again; we'll help.

-- jeffrey behr (behrjk@uswest.net), August 02, 2000.