Novel Uses for Digital Cameras
jam
I'm collecting novel uses for digital cameras for a new feature article
at the URL below and can't think of a better place to find them out than
here on RPD. If you have any to share, I'd love to hear about them here.
I plan to give name credit for any uses posted unless asked not to do
so. I'm most interested in novel applications actually used
successfully, but if you've dreamed up something cool but untested,
let's hear it.
Our recent move to Colorado inspired this topic. Our "new" 1927 home
needed many small repairs and many items from the hardware store, some
of which had to matched to existing fixtures. One morning in the shower
(the font of all my best ideas), it occurred to me to take pictures of
all the items that needed repair with my trust old Oly D-340L P&S, take
the camera to Home Depot and view the shots via the LCD in the store to
help me (1) remember exactly what I needed to bring home, and (2) make
the required matches correctly. It worked like a charm.
Not long thereafter, I needed to replace a faucet on a sink. I just
couldn't manage the pretzel-like position required to see the existing
hardware, but my camera held at arm's length had no trouble getting a
clear look at the rear undersurface of the sink. The onboard flash
provided all the light needed.
Lately, I've been using the D-340L to peer into all kinds of
hard-to-reach places around the house. Recently, it allowed me to
inspect the connections at the back of our home theater AV receiver,
which can only be pulled out so far now thanks to a couple of pricey DVD
cables that are barely long enough to reach the receiver in its
operating position. Now I know that the 30+ cables back there are all
well-seated. (What a mare's nest!)
Thanks in advance for any and all contributions.
--
Jeremy McCreary (remove the zero before replying by e-mail)
jer...@cliffshade0.com
www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/
Most problems are multifactorial and most solutions incremental.
Bob
I was teaching a photo class at a high scholl the other day and I was
able to demonstrate the exposure triangle through actual examples we
took in class.
I have used my digital camera for more unusuak things then I can
count. Recently I used it to apply for a variance on a workshop I am
building that is not within code setbacks. I photographed 20
examplesof other garages in my nieghborhood that also violated the
code to give evidence of community standerds for my project. I had
evidence in my hands within minutes to take to thwe planning
commision.
I have also taken photos to stores to explain what I need. Recently
I installed a wood stove and broughrt a photo of my fireplace and
stove to the pipe store..
bob j
On Sun, 11 Nov 2001 22:46:36 -0700, "jam" <see_m...@save-net.com>
wrote:
David Lutz
I live in a block of four apartments (old federation-style house,
subdivided) and when it rains heavily I get leaks and the people downstairs
get flooded out. It seems the guttering and downpipes can't handle the water
flow when it rains heavily, resulting in the water flooding into the
eave-space of the verandah, and from there to several points along the wall.
Water floods down the inside of my front door and from there to the
downstairs apartment.
We tried unsuccessfully to get the landlord to repair the leaks and
overflowing guttering without success. Every time he visited he said that
the guttering was adequate for the job and implied that we were crazy and to
stop bothering him.
Of course, he wouldn't visit DURING a rainstorm, so never saw the resultant
damage.
I took about 50 photos during the last storm and submitted them on CD
(complete with autorun slideshow player!) to the estate agent handling the
rental property.
Presto! New guttering and downpipes! Problem gone!
Use 2:
I also use it to document the state of any rental premises when I move,
showing any defects or uncleaned appliances. Inspection reports by the agent
are invariably on the lenient side before you move in, but the final
inspection is invariably tougher! Photographic evidence works wonders!
Use 3:
I take photos of all insured household and equipment items and store them on
my website so that there can be no dispute in he event of a claim.
Hope that helps.
"jam" <see_m...@save-net.com> wrote in message
news:9snnnr$cfh$1...@news.chatlink.com...
Slim
say) was too embarrased to go to the docs for treatment of his piles.
Instead he used the timer option on his camera and took some pics of his
undercarriage and sent them via email to his doc. 3 Days later he recieved
a pescription for Anusol through the mail.
Robert E. Williams
in a new computer I am building.
I have an image of each device, its brand, model number, revision no.,
serial number, jumper configuration wiring arrangement socket location
etc., etc.
A Macro shot of the Mother Board before anything is put on it, is
extremely helpful in locating tiny jumpers and sockets that eventually
disappear in a nest of wires and cables.
Regards, ...Bob Williams
Moat
usage (aside from taking photos) :
1. keep track of all my receipt (used to keep track of my spending using
palm pilot but taking photos is easier:)
2. take photos of newspaper (advertisement/events/etc., used to tear them
out and keep in the pocket, now no more)
3. some form at work are difficult to fill, i take photos of them for
reference in the future.
4. sometime i dismantle "stuff" for fun, its great to have the photos for
reference when i have to install it back
5. sometime i need to photocopy certain document at odd hour, so i just use
the camera with a laser printer (emergency use only, not practical for
normal use)
6. photos of business card (easier than keeping the paper copy)
Slim
whenhis mum told him to move it back up to his bedroom. We took a picture
of the current layout and printed it out as a map for him to re-create it in
his bedroom.
pMAC
Now I take pictures of signs/shops etc that I've been looking at for years
but still don't know what they mean.
I take the pic, get on the train, pull out my electronic dictionary and
look-up the 'kanji' and am starting to learn a lot faster now.
--
Sincerely yours,
Peter McEntyre,
ICQ# 7082799
E-mail: py...@ceres.dti.ne.jp
Our Homepage:: http://www.ceres.dti.ne.jp/~pyms/index.htm
Jeremy
>
> I'm collecting novel uses for digital cameras for a new feature article
> at the URL below and can't think of a better place to find them out than
> here on RPD. If you have any to share, I'd love to hear about them here.
> I plan to give name credit for any uses posted unless asked not to do
> so. I'm most interested in novel applications actually used
> successfully, but if you've dreamed up something cool but untested,
> let's hear it.
Went shopping for curtains - couldn't decide between two different
materials, so took photos of them in the store, then cooked up a
"fake" shot of the different materials superimposed on an image of our
lounge. Not perfect, but it helped!
cordially,
Jeremy.
James Buddenhagen
of its own UPC code (for my records)
before sending the original in for
a $100 rebate.
--Jim Buddenhagen
TRR
sizes. No tripod,autoflash and LCD display seems to work pretty good.
Beats looking for a copy shop at 2 AM.......good luck......
Todd Walker
wrote:
>I take photos of all insured household and equipment items and store them on
>my website so that there can be no dispute in he event of a claim.
I have done this as well and recommend highly that everyone do the
same. I burned 2 CDs -- I keep one here and my parents have the other
one. I am shortly going to burn another to keep in the safe deposit
box. In the event of fire, flood, etc, it would come in extremely
handy.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Todd Walker
http://twalker.d2g.com
Canon Pro90IS:
http://twalker.d2g.com/pro90/index.htm
Pbase galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/twalker294
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
tbl
Wonder what the result would have been using film and the local,
drug-store processor? <g>
goodboy
My wife and I are shopping for a new sofa set. She dislikes shopping and
doesn't have the time due to her work schedule. I went to all of the
furniture stores and took photos of all the couches that appealed to me and
showed them to her at home where we could get an idea of how the colors
would look in our room. I wouldn't have bothered to do that with a film
camera.
Terry Pinnell
chocolates that I'd accidentally dropped down behind the back of a
kitchen cupboard. (Wasn't desperate for the chocs, but anticipated
they might start to whiff and attract insects.)
Also recovered the precariously balanced mirror that was the first
tool I'd tried!
Terry, West Sussex, UK
Bryce
cams when I was living there. That's a great idea!
"pMAC" <py...@ceres.dti.ne.jp> wrote in message
news:9soaqj$kb9$1...@news3.dti.ne.jp...
David Lutz
of EVERYTHING that catches his eye that may be useful in his new house, such
as unusual doors, windows, furniture, etc., to discuss with his wife and as
an aide memoire!
"goodboy" <sask...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3beffe83$1...@news3.accesscomm.ca...
Ihor
How about redecorating the kitchen. My wife generally has to look at
every available option before eventually going back to the first
choice.
Hmmm! Interesting experience.
I took photos of our kitchen from different angles.
I then opened up Photoshop and played around with the wall colors,
tile color, cabinet colors, refridgerator, etc. Magic wand selection,
Hues, color. Saved a lot of leg work and aggravation.
At least it eliminated a lot.
We did a similar thing when buying our patio set.
It can probably be used for fashion as well. Color coordination is
very important. :) (Sarcastic) ;)
Ihor
"jam" <see_m...@save-net.com> wrote in message news:<9snnnr$cfh$1...@news.chatlink.com>...
Beth Peace
I really needed to find out the condition of a second story window that's not
accessible from inside (vaulted ceiling). I didn't want to go up on the roof,
but my nephew loves to, so I sent him up with my camera and he took several
pictures. I called the contractor that night.
This might qualify more as a novel use of a nephew...
Beth
Redneck Jim
angles. Some of the parts, like the choke linkage, only go back together a certain way & my
memory isn't what it was in the old days. Gave me a lot more confidence when putting all the
small parts back together.
Dan Seur
taking closeups of nest occupants. Any chance we can work something
out? We've got everything else we need - cams, macro lenses, milk &
cookies or beer & pretzels (depending on the nephew), etc.
Dan Campbell
stimulation unit to help increase the flexibility in my artificial knee.
Part of the visit was a demonstration by sales rep of the exact
placement of the eight electrodes for optimum benefit. So I took along
my Oly C3030 and took photos of the electrodes exactly as placed by the
sales rep. I use that photo as my model whenever I set up...
loosecruise
1. Took pics of accident scene and damage to my trailer which I sent
to Insurance Co of the at-fault party, had check 3 days later.
2. Used to remember addresses and phone numbers.
3. Took pics of beveled stained glass peices and scaled and designed
the work on the computer, shaving hours off pattern time.
4. Greeting cards we've personalized, using previous photos of the
subject and school yearbooks.
5. Rebates. Save pics of upc labels and receipts. Lots ask only for a
copy of upc, salvaging the box.
KenJr
> i have a small oly c1 that i carry everywhere
> usage (aside from taking photos) :
> 1. keep track of all my receipt (used to keep track of my spending using
> palm pilot but taking photos is easier:)
> 2. take photos of newspaper (advertisement/events/etc., used to tear them
> out and keep in the pocket, now no more)
> 3. some form at work are difficult to fill, i take photos of them for
> reference in the future.
> 4. sometime i dismantle "stuff" for fun, its great to have the photos for
> reference when i have to install it back
Did much the same thing when I replaced the carb on my car. There were
22 vacuum lines that needed disconnected. Took pictures from every
concievable angle, then proceeded to disconnect everything. The printouts
of the carb and engine compartment proved to be invalueble.
> 5. sometime i need to photocopy certain document at odd hour, so i just use
> the camera with a laser printer (emergency use only, not practical for
> normal use)
> 6. photos of business card (easier than keeping the paper copy)
>
>
>
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wrote:
I was able to get some good close ups from the street of a repaired gutter drain
four stories up with a 10x zoom. Beats climbing ladders.
jam
this response is beyond my wildest dreams. (Well, not the very wildest,
but close.)
I just remembered another use of my own in the "how to put it back
together" category.
When I bought a 4-place bicycle rack for family driving trips 3 years
ago, 2 of our bikes had 14" unisex frames with sloping top bars and 2
had adult-size male frames. Getting all 4 bikes on the rack at once with
2 sets of handlebars hanging at wheel level and 2 sets of cranks at
upper frame level turned out to be an exasperating puzzle. Only one
configuration out of many, many possible loading orders and bike
orientations turned out to work.
I never thought to document the solution the first around, but after
cussing myself roundly for that the next time I had to load all 4 bikes,
I recorded the winning arrangement with my digital camera. Viewed via
the LCD, those photos greatly simplified loading up the rack for the
drive home. Once there, I stored prints of the key shots with the rack.
That saved lots of loading time and gnashing of teeth on subsequent
trips.
Now that the kids have outgrown those 2 unisex bikes, I'll soon have a
new puzzle to solve.
--
Jeremy McCreary (remove the zero before replying by e-mail)
jer...@cliffshade0.com
www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/
Most problems are multifactorial and most solutions incremental.
"jam" <see_m...@save-net.com> wrote in message
news:9snnnr$cfh$1...@news.chatlink.com...
KenJr
says...
> Before I tore apart a 4 barrell QuadraJet Carburator to rebuild, I took pictures from all
> angles. Some of the parts, like the choke linkage, only go back together a certain way & my
> memory isn't what it was in the old days. Gave me a lot more confidence when putting all the
> small parts back together.
>
Same here, except I was replacing the carb instead of rebuilding it and I
needed to remember where all the vacuum lines went. Took about 30
pictures of the carb and engine compartment from every angle.
I've also used it for other auto repairs so I knew how to put it back
together. The pictures in the auto manual never seem to match what my car
looks like. Like you my memory isn't as good as it used to be.
Airngnr
for my 1976 Chris Craft carburetors and sent it to a parts guy in
Michigan. Cleared up the misunderstanding we had over the phone.
Air
Steve Barker
s
"KenJr" <kenny_...@floodcity.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.165a1d07f...@news.floodcity.net...
qas
best attempts at bribery. We took macro shots of the suspect teeth ie, the
ones with the big holes, printed them and showed the dentist. They were
apparently enough information for him to recommend a general anaesthetic
repair job.
Chris
>
> I'm collecting novel uses for digital cameras for a new feature article
> at the URL below and can't think of a better place to find them out than
> here on RPD. If you have any to share, I'd love to hear about them here.
> I plan to give name credit for any uses posted unless asked not to do
> so. I'm most interested in novel applications actually used
> successfully, but if you've dreamed up something cool but untested,
> let's hear it.
>
king...@ozemail.com.au
<Sli...@nowhere.co.uk> took time out from the neverending quest to rid the
world of grues and wrote:
> Don't know if you'd wanna use this but a friend of mine (oh yes I here you
> say) was too embarrased to go to the docs for treatment of his piles.
> Instead he used the timer option on his camera and took some pics of his
> undercarriage and sent them via email to his doc. 3 Days later he recieved
> a pescription for Anusol through the mail.
Is he the same bloke who three days later told his doctor that it tasted
terrible and for all the good it did, he may as well have shoved it up his bum?
Ward Stewart
wrote:
>Hmmmmmmmm 22 vacuum lines eh? Had to have been a Honda.
>
>s
Don't knock Honda - my "Civic" is past 150,000 and runs like a swiss
watch. The loudest body noise comes from the lid of the glove
compartment.
ward
---------------------------------------------
"We, as a people are in far far greater danger from
those who would abrogate the constitution for some
notions of what should or should not be published
than we will ever be from one or another piece of
pornography, however disgusting."
Ward
---------------------------------------------
Claude Rieth
or on special occasions.
Its always a drama, in the evening, to get her face cleaned. Lots of tears.
Now I take a photo of the painting, show it immediatly in the LCD, and no
more tears to get the face cleaned.
jam wrote:
--
Claude Rieth
Computer Team sarl
Hint: Try our Photo Album Software, ctPhotoBook V1.4.
Download & Screenshots: http://computer.team.lu/ctphotobook.htm
tbl
<geds...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> NOTE: Courtesy copy of this follow-up sent to author via email
>
> On Sun, 11 Nov 2001 22:46:36 -0700, "Jeremy McCreary"
> <jer...@cliffshade.com> wrote:
>
> >Hi,
> >
> >I'm collecting novel uses for digital cameras for a new feature article
> >at the URL below and can't think of a better place to find them out than
> >here on RPD. If you have any to share, I'd love to hear about them here.
> >I plan to give name credit for any uses posted unless asked not to do
> >so. I'm most interested in novel applications actually used
> >successfully, but if you've dreamed up something cool but untested,
> >let's hear it.
>
> [snip]
>
> The one feature of digital cameras that I have found the most use for
> is the fact that pictures cost almost nothing. You can take a couple
> of thousand pictures for the same price as a roll of film and
> processing.
>
> Another such application:
>
> Back in 1974/75 when I was in the Navy, I served a year out on Midway
> Island. For those of you not familiar with Midway, it is a small
> coral atoll 1,300 miles west-north-west of Honolulu hawaii. The main
> island of the 3 island is only about 1.5 miles across. Up until the
> '90s it was a Navy base only. Since then it has been turned into the
> Midway Islands National Wildlife Refuge. It is most famous for its
> Gooney Birds.
>
> For some time now, I thought that it would be interesting to revisit
> the island and this past April I did just that. Since it had been 27
> years since I had been there, and since I will probably never get
> there again (It is a fairly expensive trip), I wanted to get as many
> pictures as possible.
>
> I spent 7 days there (The minimum amount of time due to the once a
> week flights from Honolulu). I set up a rotational schedule of
> digital pictures, film pictures, and video. I took a couple of
> thousand digital pictures during my one week stay.
>
> The one unique thing I used my digital camera for was to generate a
> "virtual tour" of the island. Since the island is only 1.5 miles
> across, it is a task that can be done in a reasonable amount of time.
> I went to numerous points around the island and took a full set of 8
> pictures looking in a 360 degree panorama around that point. About
> two thirds of my digital pictures were done like this. When I got
> back home, I started to work on a program that arranges the pictures
> in a way that allows the user to "walk" around the island in any
> direction he wishes. He can turn and look all around him and select a
> particular direction to walk in next.
>
> Gary Edstrom
Now, *that's* cool!
-tbl
Dan Campbell
macnmotion
macnmotion :)
KenJr
nu...@bisness.com says...
> Hmmmmmmmm 22 vacuum lines eh? Had to have been a Honda.
>
84 Honda Accord LX. Makes me wish I had kept my first car. It had one
vacuum line from the carb to the distributor.
Eddy
geds...@pacbell.net says...
snip
> I have always wondered just how much I toss and turn in my sleep at
> night. Since I live alone, there is nobody I can ask. One night I
> set up my camera on a tripod pointing at my bed. I set it to take the
> smallest pictures possible and highest compression: 640x480 8:1 jpeg
> compression. I also setup an infrared light to illuminate the room.
> I set it to take 1 picture per minute. There was far more than enough
> memory to last the whole night.
>
snip
Gary,
If you don't mind sharing, what camera and light did you use? I would
like to do the same type of thing to record the wildlife that visits our
deck each night.
Thanks,
Ed
jam
Thanks again for all the great material. I've incorporated all distinct
uses posted thus far, along with some replies to uses, in a draft
article at
www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/novel.htm
It's not yet linked into the dpFWIW site. To enhance readability, I've
taken the liberty of editing a bit here and there, mostly for spelling
and grammar, but the words remain largely those of the contributors. If
you'd like to have your name or submission modified or removed, please
let me know.
Thanks again. Compiling this article's been a lot of fun. I'd love to
see even more entries before this vein plays out.
--
Jeremy McCreary (remove the zero before replying by e-mail)
jer...@cliffshade0.com
www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/
Most problems are multifactorial and most solutions incremental.
"jam" <see_m...@save-net.com> wrote in message
news:9snnnr$cfh$1...@news.chatlink.com...
| Hi,
|
| I'm collecting novel uses for digital cameras for a new feature
article
| at the URL below and can't think of a better place to find them out
than
| here on RPD. If you have any to share, I'd love to hear about them
here.
| I plan to give name credit for any uses posted unless asked not to do
| so. I'm most interested in novel applications actually used
| successfully, but if you've dreamed up something cool but untested,
| let's hear it.
|
B.Server
wrote:
>NOTE: Courtesy copy of this follow-up sent to author via email
>
>On Sun, 11 Nov 2001 22:46:36 -0700, "Jeremy McCreary"
><jer...@cliffshade.com> wrote:
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>I'm collecting novel uses for digital cameras for a new feature article
>>at the URL below and can't think of a better place to find them out than
>>here on RPD. If you have any to share, I'd love to hear about them here.
>>I plan to give name credit for any uses posted unless asked not to do
>>so. I'm most interested in novel applications actually used
>>successfully, but if you've dreamed up something cool but untested,
>>let's hear it.
>
>[snip]
>
I am horning in on Gary's post as the original expired while I was
traveling.
I have found my CP990 very useful for making quick copies of maps,
directions, and other details while traveling. Particularly while in
places where the language and writing is difficult to interpret (Japan
primarily), a quick shot of a small map or the sign on a shot leaves
me with a reliable way to save the directions/name/location for later
filing or reuse. (There is usually a "neighborhood" map publically
displayed that will show roughtly an 8x8 block area or smaller) I
went so far as to "copy" several pages from an old guidebook (that I
could not take home) in order to record the location of some shops
that were of interest but that did not appear in any current
reference. A small tripod helps, but is not essential for the images
to be useful.
Chuck Gadd
chemical test kits to analyze the water conditions. Most of these
tests involve taking a sample of the tank water, adding chemicals
which cause the water to change color, and comparing that color to
a chart of different colors and values. Trying to eyeball the
difference between the "safe" and "unsafe" values can be tricky.
While doing some tests recently, I couldn't decide which color on the
chart matched my water sample.
I took a digital picture of the test tube and color chart in the same
photo. The chart background is pure white, and I held the test tube
in front of that white background.
Then I bring the picture into Photo shop.
It's got a neat feature called "Select ColorRange". When you do it,
you use the eyedropper to click on any spot, and it shows you all the
parts of the image that are the same color. It allows you to adjust
the "fuzzyness" of the selection, to average slight differences due to
the light.
Then I click on the test-tube in the image, and see which spot on the
color-chart is the most selected. I've compared the results I get
there with the results from an electronic meter, and the results are
right on.
Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua
verminiusrex
> I'm collecting novel uses for digital cameras for a new feature article
> at the URL below and can't think of a better place to find them out than
> here on RPD. If you have any to share, I'd love to hear about them here.
> I plan to give name credit for any uses posted unless asked not to do
> so. I'm most interested in novel applications actually used
> successfully, but if you've dreamed up something cool but untested,
> let's hear it.
I was viewing the photos of my friend's trip to Europe on his web
page, and there is one picture that he took of himself, captioned "I
had just eaten a hotdog, and could not find a mirror to see if I had
mustard on my face..." High technology replaces the common reflective
surface.
-Verminius Rex
mag...@rahul.net
B.Server <lwne...@ix.net(remove)com.com> created
>quick copies of maps,
>directions, and other details while traveling. Particularly while in
>places where the language and writing is difficult to interpret (Japan
>primarily),
I haven't used this trick yet, but will use it in the future when
needed... a friend was visiting some eastern European country
where the alphabet is strange and the pronunciation even
stranger, and he couldn't pronounce the name of the street his
hotel was on. So when he needed a taxi to take him back to his
hotel, he showed the taxi driver the name of the street.
With a digicam, you can take a picture of your hotel and the
nearest street sign, as well as any nearby landmarks, and then
show those pictures to your taxi driver or to anyone you might
need to get directions from, and this would be even better than
just having the address on a piece of paper.
jc
jam
www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/novel.htm
and linked into the larger site, but the party's not over. There have
been too many pearls and laughs to quit now. I plan to keep adding uses
as new ones come in.
--
Jeremy McCreary (remove the zero before replying by e-mail)
jer...@cliffshade0.com
www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/
Most problems are multifactorial and most solutions incremental.
"jam" <see_m...@save-net.com> wrote in message
news:9snnnr$cfh$1...@news.chatlink.com...
| Hi,
|
| I'm collecting novel uses for digital cameras for a new feature
article
| at the URL below and can't think of a better place to find them out
than
| here on RPD. If you have any to share, I'd love to hear about them
here.
| I plan to give name credit for any uses posted unless asked not to do
| so. I'm most interested in novel applications actually used
| successfully, but if you've dreamed up something cool but untested,
| let's hear it.
|
Arthur Bond
wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I'm collecting novel uses for digital cameras for a new feature article
I was concerned when our pet dog had diarrhoea for two days so I took
a shot of the download(?) and it helped the vet to prescribe an
antibiotic for her. It was certainly preferable to taking the original
along!
Ladd Morse
airplanes; that way if any item fails to arrive at the other end I can
use the LCD to show the pictures to the "lost luggage" officials for
when they go look thru the stuff in the back that lost it's tags or
whatever.
This procedure really came in handy last summer when a flight I was on
was cancelled due to equipement failure. The luggage had already been
loaded onto the plane and had to all be taken off. When the ticketing
agent was setting us up with a new flight, she had to go into the back
room and find all of our luggage in the giant pile of items. Showing her
pictures of the individual luggage items was far more informative than
"large, kinda green, and has a strap around it".
She found the luggage right away and we were off to our other flight.
Another, not quite so unusual use, is that of preparing good
"housesitting" notes for friends who help us out when we travel. While I
always take them on the tour showing the important utility connections,
etc, having a photo with an arrow on it showing exactly which lever must
be flipped to re-activate the well pump if it kicks off, or which lever
shuts of the gas makes them (and me) much more comfortable that they'll
be able to do the correct thing three weeks later if required.
Additionally, I was once on a business trip and took photos off all
sorts of Native American masks that I thought were interesting. Rather
than simply select the one I liked best, I took digital photos of all
the ones I like and emailed them to her. She picked a couple that were
her favorites, and I picked the one I liked best from that lot. Voila: a
gift that everyone loved! :-)
Mark Grebner
I make copies of public documents that are located in out-of-the-way
courthouses. My employees and I have shot 1,200,000 frames over the
past two years. They aren't quite as clear as good photocopies, but
they're much cheaper and faster.
Using a portable Xerox copier, we were spending about 20 cents per
page, given that it costs $200 per day to put somebody on site - wages
and expenses. Using a camera, we're down to about 7 cents.
I'm really surprised somebody hasn't rigged up a general-purpose
office copying system, with a camera, copystand, and software
specially designed to solve real-life office needs.
Ron Bean
Ma...@Grebner.com (Mark Grebner) writes:
>I'm really surprised somebody hasn't rigged up a general-purpose
>office copying system, with a camera, copystand, and software
>specially designed to solve real-life office needs.
I saw one several years ago at a historical library-- it worked
exactly like a copier, but with a copy stand in place of the
glass platen on top. The idea was that it was less damaging to
the books than squashing them flat on the glass. Unfortunately the
quality was much lower than a copier, so I found it frustrating
(it tended to turn line art into fuzzy halftones). It also had
a fancy spring-loaded base to accomodate the shape of an
opened book.
Note that 8.5x11 at 150 dpi is 1275x1650, or roughly 2mp.
If you want 300 dpi, that's 4mp, which is about where
consumer-priced digicams are right now (the aspect
ratio isn't quite right, but 4:3 isn't too far off).
At one time SGI had an idea that you could just hold
a piece of paper up in front of the camera on top of
your monitor, and it could be automatically OCR'd and
turned into a file. But the typical webcam doesn't
have much resolution, so I don't know how well it
actually worked.
B.Server
Have you attempted to OCR (optical character recognition) the text
from any of the pictures of the documents? I find that with the
CP990, a tripod, and my software (TextBridge), the images are just shy
of being usable. I keep hoping that I will find a combination that
works.
Chris
<see_m...@save-net.com> writes
>Thanks in advance for any and all contributions.
I've sometimes photographed the Times crossword when I've been in the
local library.
And I've photographed the BIOS settings of my computer
as an alternative to writing them down with a pen.
(Does anyone know a way to print out BIOS settings?
Remember that at that stage you are not into any operating system.)
--
Chris
Mark Olson
> And I've photographed the BIOS settings of my computer
> as an alternative to writing them down with a pen.
>
> (Does anyone know a way to print out BIOS settings?
> Remember that at that stage you are not into any operating system.)
On some PCs the print screen button will dump the BIOS
screen to LPT1. Have you tried it?
Mark
pezz
and ive used it to recall
mixer/cable settings/runs,
Also photographing phone numbers written on paper before they are lost
can be a good thing..
"Mark Olson" <ols...@visi.com> wrote in message
news:3BF7D514...@visi.com...
Chris
>"Mark Olson" <ols...@visi.com> wrote in message
>news:3BF7D514...@visi.com...
>> Chris wrote:
>>
>> > And I've photographed the BIOS settings of my computer
>> > as an alternative to writing them down with a pen.
>> >
>> > (Does anyone know a way to print out BIOS settings?
>> > Remember that at that stage you are not into any operating system.)
>>
>> On some PCs the print screen button will dump the BIOS
>> screen to LPT1. Have you tried it?
Yes - it came out so unformatted as to be unusable.
Is there a better way?
--
Chris
Ron Bean
Earlier I wrote:
>Note that 8.5x11 at 150 dpi is 1275x1650, or roughly 2mp.
>If you want 300 dpi, that's 4mp, which is about where
>consumer-priced digicams are right now (the aspect
>ratio isn't quite right, but 4:3 isn't too far off).
Hmm, I thought that didn't look right...
4mp is more like 200 dpi-- not great but certainly readable.
300 dpi would be something like 8mp-- probably only a few years away.
Mark Olson
Probably your printer is a 'Winprinter' which cannot print straight
ASCII text. Any standard 'line printer' (dot matrix, etc.) would
probably work OK. My Canon BJC-4200 inkjet will print normal ASCII
just fine.
Mark
tbl
wrote:
My previous printer, an HP Laserjet Series III, would take
whatever was sent over in a "PrintScreen" dump. But my current,
HP Deskjet 812c, won't. :(
-tbl
tbl
wrote:
Mark, do you know if a "Winprinter" with DOS drivers installed
will do this?
Thanks,
-tbl
Dave Martindale
>Mark, do you know if a "Winprinter" with DOS drivers installed
>will do this?
Not when you "print screen" in the BIOS. DOS isn't running yet.
Dave
Mike Russell
>
> >I'm really surprised somebody hasn't rigged up a general-purpose
> >office copying system, with a camera, copystand, and software
> >specially designed to solve real-life office needs.
>
> I saw one several years ago at a historical library-- it worked
> exactly like a copier, but with a copy stand in place of the
> glass platen on top. The idea was that it was less damaging to
> the books than squashing them flat on the glass. Unfortunately the
> quality was much lower than a copier, so I found it frustrating
> (it tended to turn line art into fuzzy halftones). It also had
> a fancy spring-loaded base to accomodate the shape of an
> opened book.
>
> Note that 8.5x11 at 150 dpi is 1275x1650, or roughly 2mp.
> If you want 300 dpi, that's 4mp, which is about where
> consumer-priced digicams are right now (the aspect
> ratio isn't quite right, but 4:3 isn't too far off).
I have some sample 3 megapixel images, taken at different contrast and
quality settings, at:
Chris
writes
Thanks Mark. My printer is an Epson Stylus Color 600.
Any hope?
--
Chris
Mark Grebner
Actually, the claimed megapixel ratings for cameras don't exactly
apply to monochrome images. The output image "appears to be" 3
megapixel, or whatever, but it went through an interpolation step.
The real linear resolution for monochrome images is the claimed
resolution divided by sqrt(2).
So my Toshiba PDR-M70 claims to have 2048x1536 resolution, but it will
really only resolve a maximum of about 1080 lines (or 540 line pairs)
in the vertical direction.
In my experience, you need to resolve 70 lines per linear inch of
original in order to be able to read regular pica-size type - 6 rows
of type per inch, with 10 characters per horizontal inch.