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Signing out the camera:

The camera lives with Anu Mahabal, in Robinson Room 11. If she's not in, leave a note so we know where the camera went. Please note :
  • Please *do not* return it without charging the batteries. If you use our rechargeable batteries, then recharge them for the next person.
  • Please *do not* return it with any unusual options active. Please turn off any non-standard options ("Date & Time" Watermark ...etc) that you use.

Quickstart Guide to taking pictures:

  1. Turn the camera on by quickly pressing the POWER button.
  2. Rotate the MODE-DIAL (around the FOUR-WAY CONTROLLER) to "CAPTURE".
  3. Remove the lens cap, look through the Viewfinder. You can use the Zoom button to zoom in and out on your subject.
  4. Lightly press the SHUTTER button until the green light appears in the Viewfinder.
  5. Press down the SHUTTER button all the way until you hear a click to take a picture.
  6. Turn the camera off by pressing and holding down the POWER button.

Downloading pictures on taurus,Windows 2000 machine

  • Kodak dc290 software
    This allows a person to plug in the dc290 camera, and the hardware will auto-detect the camera and mount the CF card as g:
  • Adobe Pagemill and Adobe PhotoDeluxe
    These two pieces of software allow very simple photo editing and page development.
All three programs are available through the "Start" "Programs" "Kodak" menu.

Quickstart Guide to downloading your pictures on a Linux computer through the Kodak dc290 camera:

  1. Attach the USB cable to the USB port on the side of camera and to a free USB port on any Linux computer.
  2. Turn the camera on by quickly pressing the POWER button.
  3. Rotate the MODE-DIAL (around the FOUR-WAY CONTROLLER) to "CONNECT"
  4. Log into the computer and change directories to the location where you wish to put the photos
  5. Download the images with this command:
    > gphoto2 -P
  6. Delete the images from the camera with this command:
    > gphoto2 -D
  7. Turn the camera off by pressing and holding down the POWER button.

Quickstart Guide to downloading your pictures on a Linux computerthrough the external CF Jumpshot cable reader:

  1. Turn off the DC290 camera and remove the CF card from the camera. This can be done by swinging open the slimmer of the two doors on the right side of the camera. Then swing the white lever down, and press it inwards to eject the CF card.
  2. Place the CF card into the external Jumpshot cable reader with the label side up. The green Jumpshot cable LED should light up and flicker.
  3. Log into the Linux computer, and mount the card as a filesystem with this command:
    > mount /mnt/jumpshot
  4. Your pictures will now be in a directory called /mnt/jumpshot/dc290_01. You can copy them, move them, and delete them from this directory, but please do not remove the dc290_01 directory itself.
  5. When you are finished, you must unmount the device before you physically remove the CF card with this command:
    > umount /mnt/jumpshot
  6. When the green LED stops flickering and turns solid green, it is now safe to remove the CF card and place it back in the camera.
    note - Only CF cards labeled "USB enabled" will work in the jumpshot cable. Any other cards must be downloaded through the dc290 camera itself.

Linux software available:

  1. jhead (Solaris also) - This program pulls the information out of various types of EFIF digital camera files. Interesting information includes the date, the resolution, the focus distance, and the exposure time. With the "-w" flag, you can extract the sound-bite from your .jpg file if one exists.

    Example:

    To view the the header information:
    > jhead p0000001.jpg

    To extract the .wav sound bit, if one exists:
    > jhead -w p0000001.jpg

  2. gqview - This program allows you to view your pictures online.
  3. xv (Solaris also) - Another program that allows you to view and edit your pictures online.o.
  4. ImageMagick (Solaris also) - Commands include "convert", "combine", "identify", "mogrify", "montage", "animate", "display", and "import".

    Examples:

    To convert a .jpg to a .gif file:
    > convert input.jpg ouptut.gif

    To convert shrink/enlarge your image to 640x480 pixels:
    > convert -quality 100 -geometry 640x480 input.jpg output.jpg

    To display your image:
    > display input.jpg


A Word on Resolution and Compression (* denotes our default setting):

Compression - This setting denotes the way the image is stored after it is taken. There are 4 Compression settings:
  • good - jpg format with high compression and small output files
  • better - jpg format with medium compression and medium sized output files
  • *best - jpg format with low compression and large output files
  • uncompressed - tiff format, no lossy at all but HUGE output files

Resolution - This setting indicates the number of pixels that are being used to store your image. The CCD in the camera is 1901x1212 pixels, but the resulting output images can have these 4 resolutions:
standard - 720 x 480
medium - 1440 x 960
*high - 1792 x 1200
Ultra - 2240 x 1500 (with software interpolation in the camera)


Embedding Sound Bites

  • In PostView Mode - If this feature is turned on, the image will appear on the LCD screen for several seconds after it is taken.
    1. While the image is still on the LCD screen, press the RECORD button and a microphone will start blinking on the screen
    2. Speak clearly into the Microphone
    3. Press the RECORD button again to end the recording
  • In Review Mode - If you are reviewing your pictures long after they are taken.
    1. Rotate the MODE-DIAL (around the FOUR-WAY CONTROLLER) to "Review".
    2. Use the FOUR-WAY CONTROLLER's to scroll to the correct picture.
    3. Press the RECORD button and a microphone will start blinking on the screen
    4. Speak clearly into the Microphone
    5. Press the RECORD button again to end the recording
    6. Press the "Save" softkey to save the sound to the image

    Created by Cheryl Southard, Last Update 18 July 2001

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