A Digital Camera for Genealogy

Introduction

One of my main reasons for making the transition was my increasing use of my computer both for communication and for storage.  The big attraction of digital photography is instant results,  No waiting to see what develops - after it is generally too late to repeat the shots.   You can review the result instantly - and if necessary retake.  When you get home - you can immediately download the trip's take without waiting for a film to be finished.  I have taken shots and they have been at the other side of the Atlantic minutes later.

When I started my research - I looked for direct replacements for my existing SLR.  I got the photography bug before I left school - and have relied on being able to make overriding manual adjustments for special shots.   Once I started looking at Digital Camera (DC) specifications - I soon realised that I could get away from lugging a bulky camera around and still achieve good results.

So what did I want from a DC?
Apart from acting as a general-purpose family camera - I need to be able to photograph records - old documents and pictures - often in poor light conditions without a flash. Remembering that todays family shots are potential genealogy material for the future.

Basic Requirements

1. use standard off-the-shelf batteries.
    
2. good picture clarity and colour replication
    
3. to operate at low light levels without a flash
    
4. to have an optical (conventional) viewfinder - as well as LCD
    
5. macro facilities (for close-up shots)
    
6. something compact - preferable pocket sized.
    
7. 2 mega-pixel minimum image size.
    
8. budget £200-300 including tax (multiply by 1.4 for us$ and by 2.3 for can$ approximation including tax)

9. manual override of at least exposure - shutter speed - flash
   (manual focus and compact do not usually co-exist)
    
10. Raw image output - or jpeg with a Compression Factor (CF) of 1.
    Jpeg by its very nature results in image degredation unless the Compression Factor is set to 1. The jpeg CF can be set between 1 and 99 and is a trade-off of file size against quality. A CF setting of 99 gives the smallest file size but the poorest quality image.
     
11. take short video clips - (overcomes the significant delay between pressing the shutter and taking the shot from which most DC's suffer)
     
12. use the widely available Compact Flash memory cards

My Research

After examining a number of 2 to 6 megapixel images downloaded from professional DC review sites - and taken by various cameras. It became apparent that the larger image sizes were an unnecessary extravagance - even when considering future proofing. Prices are falling and specifications are getting better.

I sub-sequentially settled on 2 megapixel plus as being a good compromise at that time. With the idea of regarding this as an intermediate purchase - and upgrading to something else later if necessary. This also had a very favourable impact on the budget required. A 2 megapixel image should produce an acceptable A4 print - a size I rarely exceeded from 35mm film.

My researches raise the question - why don't manufacturers have sample pictures taken by their products on their websites? I am not prepared to buy without first seeing the results - and I'm sure that I'm not alone in this. This would not remove the need for independent comparative reviews - but it would provide a good starting point - we don't necessarily want to wait until a particular DC is reviewed.

I initially compared DC technical specifications and then looked at public reviews for those that looked promising. I quickly realised that public reviews were not generally objective - frequently by people that only had a DC cameras for a few days. OK - this could be said to be the same for professional reviewers - but at least they are experienced DC users - and are objective - generally providing comparative images of the same subjects under similar conditions taken with various DC's.

It also became apparent that having decided on requiring standard batteries - it wouldn't be a true pocket DC - but still reasonably compact. In fact going too small can result in the controls being too small - both to operate and see easily. Unless it is a very basic DC.

1. Canon Powershot A40 - the DC I eventually bought for its good all round performance - and its very superior low light performance (sensitivity 0.67 lux)
    
2. FuJi FinePix 2600 Zoom - a very close 2nd - and better value package - one I nearly purchased when I found the A40 in very short supply. I eventually decided to wait for the A40 because of its much better low light performance.
    
3. FuJi FinePix 2800 Zoom which is an upmarket version to the 2600 - in a differently styled case - and from memory - did not have an optical viewfinder.
    
4. Minolta E203 - soon discarded as I could find no reviews or images. It's a pity as this DC looked good on paper. I understand the "E" signifies this was Europe only model - which would account for the lack of review material - most of which is from the US.
    
5. Nikon Coolpix 2000 - no optical viewfinder - (sensitivity 11 lux)

Having handled the cameras and made some test shots as best I could under shop conditions - with a sales person breathing down my neck - I decided on the Canon A40 Powershot. Although not from a retail shop as they were priced some £50 higher than internet sources. Another reason for buying from a box shifter was that I had identified a focusing problem with earlier models and I wanted something from new stock. It is also worth noting that specalist camera websites give better value than computer sites - although competitive priced cameras were available from some of the superstores have online sales - bettering their own retail outlets.

A problem I hadn't expected was the non-availability of this particular model. The story was that Canon were not shipping this model to Europe until the next month. I suspected there may be a design or production problem - but on checking - it was widely available in the US. Well next month stretched from July until the 2nd week in October!!! I was tempted to buy the Fuji 2600 but as I didn't have an urgent need I decided to wait for the Canon A40.

Once the delay reached well into September - I decided to take a look at any new cameras that had been launched since my earlier research. The only new contender was the Nikon Coolpix 2500 but was discarded both on not having an optical viewfinder and poor low light sensitivity.

At last in the 2nd week in October 2002 the A40 was again available in the UK. I will not buy from any company not giving a physical address that can be checked out. I decided on The Digital Camera Company - who gave a Guildford address - just 20 minutes away. I ordered my Canon A40 late on Thursday 16th and was told three working days which would be Wednesday. To my pleasant surprise it arrived early Monday. Top marks The Digital Camera Company.

So how does it measure up to my requirements:-

1. Use standard batteries - yes - 4 size AA - I bought seperate rechargable NiMH batteries and charger.
    
2. Picture Quality - possibly slight blurring at extreem distance - otherwise excellent - including colour replication. (it should be noted that displayed colours for the same image can vary between viewing programs on the same computer).
    
3. Operate at low light levels - This is about the most sensitive DC I found in my price range - and indeed many others. This DC produces good results without a flash with ordinary room lighting. A requirement for the use of DC's at PRO.
    
4. Optical and LCD viewfinders - yes - optical zoom but the LCD is slightly smaller (1.5") than most having LCD only.
    
5. Macro Facilities - 16 cm (6.3 inches) is about the closest - which is ample for document work - although many other cameras focus closer. To give this perspective - at 16 cm a DVD case would fill the screen. A lens adaptor can be added for wide angle/macro and teleconverter lenses enabling focusing down to 10 cm and x 2.4 magnification to the telephoto performance.
    
6. Something Compact - typical for a DC using standard batteries - will not fit into a shirt pocket - but fits into a jacket pocket. 110 mm (4.3") x 71 mm (2.8") x 38 mm (1.5"). Weight 200 g (8.8 oz) without batteries and mem card. I bought a separate Canon caying case which slides onto my belt.
    
7. 2 mega-pixel minimum image size - 1600 x 1200 pixels image size which equates to 1.92 mega-pixels which is close enough.
   the camera can also be set to take images of 1024 x 768 and 640 x 480 pixles. I would only use the smaller sizes if I photographed something specifically for the internet and even then I prefer to use the highest quality (largest size) and downsize a copy of the image if necessary. You cannot work with something that's not there in the firat place. Capturing and saving at the highest quality give a degree of future proofing.
    
8. Budget £200-300 - price £195 delivered including tax. Extras ordered with the DC - battery charger and 4 NiMh 2000 mAh batteries £44 - carrying case £15 - 128 mb Compact Flash card £48

9. Manual Override The following can be manually set on the A40:- shutter speed - exposure time - ISO 50 100 200 400 - exposure compensation. Exceptional for this budget.
    
10. Raw Image - or jpeg with a Compression Factor (CF) of 1. Tests I have made with images from this DC suggest that the fixed inbuilt Compression Factor for this DC is 1 or 2 - resulting in no - or negligable degredation of downloaded images.
     
11. Video Clips - 320 x 240 pixels up to 10 secs. - 160 x 120 pixels up to 30 secs. - both wih sound.
     
12. Use Compact Flash cards - yes but only a measly 8 mb provided - I bought an additional 128 mb card.

Images taken by the A40

3. File size - jpeg images downloaded from the A40 vary greatly according to content - ranging from less than 300 kb for a dark subject to over 1.3 mb for something with a lot of detail and graduated colours. Images for webpages should be as small as possible - ideally under 20 kb. Otherwise pages can be very slow to load - even with a broadband connection. My solution to this has been to provide a reduced and highly compressed images to show the overall picture - and a separate insets from the original images showing the original detail.
    
4. Copyright - an essential requirement is the ability to photograph documents - and the best way to demonstrate this would be to photograph something with small print. However - the fact that it is printed generally means copyright. There is a big difference between copying a document electronically for your own achives - and publishing it on a webpage. My solution to his has been to deliberately blur the overall image and ensure that copyright information cannot be abstracted from the insets.

This image has been shrunk to 18% of original linear size and compressed for this webpage. The original image was 1600x1200 pixels which represents 1.92 mega-pixels - requiring 5.76 megabytes before compression by the DC. This particular image downloaded from the DC as a 830,634 byte jpeg file - which is much too big for a webpage.
Part of the image as downloaded from the DC before shrinking and compression. This image is stored in the jpeg format with a Compression Factor of 1 to preserve the original quality as downloaded from the A40.

Other DC's Seriously Considered

• Minolta - dimage X was initially considered for size alone - but the images I downloaded were poor. Probably due to the prisms used to keep all of the optics totally within its small case. This really is a pocket sized DC.