** samwise samwise@bagshot-row.org [2007-08-13 17:05]:
Interesting. I have no real desire to use it as a webcam (though that might be an added bonus). General consensus from here and another forum I posted on, is that USB storage is all that's required and RAW support may be out of my price range.
Personally I'd forget ideas of webcam since, much like directly connecting the camera to the computer for data transfer, it will result in the camera getting very hot. This may have changed in more recent cameras perhaps, but given the ever increasing resolutions and compactness of digital cameras this isn't something that has improved. I've always worked on a card reader to transfer pictures across as it removes any worries about compatibilities, even my PCMCIA SD card reader worked out of the box with Linux back in 2002. For my desktop I've stuck a reader into a spare 3.5" bay as it saves the hassle of matching the mountpoint which changes depending on the order of insertion of USB devices - or did when I last played with it anyway!
<snip>
For the record I have a card reader which should cope with most formats (when I get it working with Linux). I also have a video camera which takes MemorySticks and my phone takes RS/DV-MMC cards (soon to change but I have one of the cards).
** end quote [samwise]
I favour SD format cameras myself, but this is highly likely to be due to the fact that I had a DV camcorder that used MMC/SD cards for digital stills before I ever had a digital camera. This was then aided by my serious bias towards Nikon cameras, and my little digital compact (5200) also uses that format, as does my Palm - so there's a distinct advantage in keeping to a single card format. I was most dissapointed to find out that the Nikon DSLR cameras used Compact Flash, but they seem to have rectified that at the lower end of their range, so when I finally manage to afford one I know pretty much where my pennies will be headed :)