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DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> Question for European DPCers (especially German!)
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04/18/2003 01:02:38 AM · #1
Hi everyone!

At present we have a German exchange student staying with us here in the states, and she has decided to purchase a digital camera (like, tomorrow!) and is looking spend no more than $500.

My questions are this: Would it be a good idea to steer her towards a camera that accepts regular batteries, rather than one that uses a rechargable battery unit? I am worried that due to the different voltages (is it 110 here vs 220 in Europe?) that it could potentially be a problem once she got back home. So would it be better to stick with one that used rechargable AA batteries?

Also, I know the software would be in English, and the manual in English (or Spanish, haha) but we can always download and print a manual in German. But would there be any other surprises once she got the camera home? Like USB connections, are they the same everywhere, etc... And are than any brands that differ less from here to there?

Any other info anyone could provide would be GREATLY appreciated. The ETP (estimated time till purchase) is only about 16 hours away!

Thanks!

Message edited by author 2003-04-18 01:04:15.
04/18/2003 01:15:21 AM · #2
Send a PM to 'kiwiness'... he's in Germany and should be able to help...


04/18/2003 01:17:20 AM · #3
thx John!
04/18/2003 03:34:43 AM · #4
Gidday Michael,

Just sent you a detailed email! Hope it helps...

Gary
04/18/2003 03:41:35 AM · #5
Voltage in Europe is 220. Outlets are different as well. And yeah, you can mess around with converters but it never works as well. Couldn't she just buy a camera online from a European vendor that is destined for the German market and specify the German language manual? It may cost her a bit more in shipping but it will save a load of headaches down the road. Doing it this way, may also help her lateron with any technical support or warranty issues.
04/18/2003 06:58:16 AM · #6
My Canon S30 comes with a voltage switching battery charger. That means you can feed it 110 or 220 (or 240 in the UK) volts and it will work just fine with any. So I take mine all over the world and all I need is a plug shape converter.

I'd be VERY surprised if that wasn't the case for almost *all* the cameras out there.

If you're unsure then ask to see the charger before you buy the unit. On the label it should say something like "Input: 100V-240V". That all means it'll take any AC voltage between 100V and 240V.

John
04/18/2003 12:12:17 PM · #7
Thx everyone. It seems as though we really don't have too much to worry about, as long as mind the battery issue. Seems Canon has good support in that area, and that is the camera I was gonna try to steer her towards anyway.

Journey, I was concerend about her purchasing over here for those very reasons, but it seems there is a significant price difference between here and there... So her mind is made up. She is gonna buy a camera here and thats that!
04/18/2003 01:02:43 PM · #8
The TV systems are different. Pal vs ntsc or something. So connecting an American camera to a European TV could be a problem. But perhaps you could switch that in the camera menu?
04/18/2003 01:43:26 PM · #9
Thx Azrifel, I know my canon switches systems. I think pretty much all cameras are designed to be compatible everywhere (at least the hardware is, anyway). I didn't know that until now, but that seems to be the case :)
04/18/2003 01:47:21 PM · #10
The menu in most, if not all cams, should provide a PAL (Germany) setting. Sony's proprietary (supplied with cam) adaptor covers 100 V to 240 V AC. At 220 V (Germany). You will need to purchase a plug adaptor, however, since the plugs there are different. Stay away from transformers or "travel converters", which often cause malfunctions. Sony also included a separate German/French user manual with my Canadian purchase.
04/23/2003 10:45:43 AM · #11
NIMh PowerEx (2000Mah) AA batteries are the way to go for long lasting inexpensive power. The 220V NiMh chargers have the same output voltage as ours.
04/23/2003 11:03:32 AM · #12
I am a German-born Australian, currently living in the USA. I have learnt from experience that you need to watch for the PAL/NTSC issue, because the rest of the world gives you the choice which one you want to use, but some American products only supply the NTSC version (e.g. the Pinnacle Studio 8 upgrade we purchased - luckily Pinnacle exchanged it for us). The recharger should just need a different powerpack - thats the easy part. Good luck!
04/23/2003 11:18:00 AM · #13
Just a quick update on Sabina's purchase the other day... after looking through the many cameras at Best Buy she purchased a tiny little Nikon Coolpix 3100. It's a very compact little camera and is light as a feather too.

Right off the bat there were problems with the additional 128 mb compact flash card she purchased. (PNY brand... just say no) The camera would report that the card could not be used. If you removed and reinserted the card, everything was ok for a while... Only to come back again later. That problem was easily fixed by trading the PNY card for a SanDisk card. No further problems with the card so far.

Now the battery indicator is going loco. Reports low batteries minutes after inserting fresh ones! (Camera also likes to shut itself down whenever it feels like it.) Even Nikon has owned up to this one. Last night we decided the camera was going back... This morning I wake up and see that DPReview has a notice saying Nikon has posted a firmware upgrade for this very problem. Too late!

So, finally, I may be able to get her to look more closely at the Canon. (muhahaha)

(And Webster, PowerEx comes up as the number 1 charger in a lot of places. The new camera I'm having her check (Canon A70) also uses rechargeables, and I'll be pointing out the PowerEx as well!)
04/23/2003 01:15:36 PM · #14
Originally posted by mcmurma:

Now the battery indicator is going loco. Reports low batteries minutes after inserting fresh ones! (Camera also likes to shut itself down whenever it feels like it.) Even Nikon has owned up to this one.


My camera (Fuji S602) has a power save mode that is extremely annoying... It always seems to shut down (not completely off) at the worst times when I'm trying to get a shot, so I have to hit the shutter button and wait a few seconds for it to come back on. It does this more when the batteries are getting weak I think. The battery indicator is useless because you don't see it at all until just before the batteries are dead, when it pops on for about 5 seconds, after which the camera shuts off! It's to much of a problem however I always have spare batteries.
04/23/2003 01:17:56 PM · #15
Chris - this is a set-able option in the Fuji. 2 minutes, 5 minutes, or not at all I think. The LCD screen may go off (which is a power save feature), but it's only that, not a full power-down.

Ed
04/23/2003 11:07:17 PM · #16
Originally posted by mcmurma:


Right off the bat there were problems with the additional 128 mb compact flash card she purchased. (PNY brand... just say no)


The 128 mb card is got was PQI. How is that? Meant to get SanDisk but i blew it.
Last week i stopped by Best Buy and they had a special on 128mb cards then (didn't buy any) but seemed a good buy. Probably not a bad idea to stop by there every now and then.
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