From owner-celegans@net.bio.net Wed Jun 18 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!webtv.net!uunet!in1.uu.net!206.154.70.8!news.webspan.net!feed1.news.erols.com!howland.erols.net!surfnet.nl!news-zh.switch.ch!elna.ethz.ch!bcmac6.ethz.ch!user From: kraev@bc.biol.ethz.ch (Alexander Kraev) Newsgroups: bionet.celegans Subject: Re: Digital Cameras Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 16:45:22 +0100 Organization: ETHZ Zurich Lines: 41 Message-ID: References: <5o63m5$ii6$1@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: bcmac6.ethz.ch X-Newsreader: Yet Another NewsWatcher 2.1.2 In article <5o63m5$ii6$1@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu>, chalfie@cubsps.bio.columbia.edu (Martin Chalfie) wrote: > I'm finally tired of waiting for pictures to be developed and am thinking of > getting a digital camera for our Axiophot. What experiences have people had > with these cameras and which cameras are the best to get? I'd appreciate > approximates prices, if you know them. Thanks. > I have been using a Minolta RD-175 (also known as Agfa Action Cam) for almost a year now and I am happy with the results. It has interchangeable lenses fitted to an (almost) regular Minolta AF SLR body (I think it is 450si in the US) and so you can have real professional quality images with its macro lens (tested to be one of the best SLR macrolenses) and it intergrates well into a Mac dominated environment ( I have no opinion for a PC-version). The pictures are transferred to a Power Mac using the software coming with the camera and then processed with Adobe Photoshop, and finally stored on 128 or 230 MB optical disks. We got ours with two lenses, a flash and some small accessories (like orange and yellow filters, for EtBr and SYBR Green, resp.) for just under $10000 as an intro offer. I think it is the only semi-professional compromise at the moment. Cheaper cameras have a limited close-up range and mediocre lenses, and thus are not much use in the lab, better cameras are way too expensive. It may help browsing the last five issues of any photographic magazine to get an overview: these cameras are "hot" on the consumer market right now. Cheers, -- Alexander Kraev, PhD Biochemie III, ETHZ Zurich Phone 41-1-632-31-47 Fax 41-1-632-12-13 e-mail kraev@bc.biol.ethz.ch .