By David Gewirtz
We get lots of photo-related questions from readers. Often, if we have anything resembling a useful answer, we repay some old karma debts and just type out a quick reply. While of the questions are pretty interesting, it's usually the case that neither the question nor the answer is enough to justify a full article. This week, we've collated three that were lying around our mail folder.
Showing dates on the face of prints for Fujufilm 3800 cameras
Herman wants to date stamp his pictures. He asks:
A question...I have a Fujifilm 3800 Digital camera...love it. But I can't figure out how to get the dates to show on the face of prints. There is nothing about it in the manual...only how to set the date in the camera.
Fujifilm tells us that you'll want to look on page 69 of your manual. The digital image files do not store with the date, but the date can be appended automatically when printing to certain types of printing. This uses a technology called DPOF (Digital Print Order Format), which is a format used for recording specifications for images shot with a digital camera. While some printers support date and time imprinting, others do not. You'll want to look at pages 70-73 for the details on turning DPOF on and off for your camera.
Alternatively, you might want to look at a batch image processor like Batch It! from BatchImage.com (at http://www.batchimage.com/product/batchit/index.html) This product will add text watermarks (in this case, the date of the picture) on all the images in a set.
Using SD cards in CF card slots
Tony Santare is looking for an interesting gadget. He writes:
Do you know of any adapters available that allow you to use SD Modules in Flash Card devices? All of my cameras either use Type I or Type II Flash cards and I would like to try an SD type to compare speed, etc.
Yeah, no. That sort of thing would be bad. You certainly wouldn't derive any speed benefit by going through a conversion process. Whenever you deal with adapters, there's always some performance degradation, even if it's slight. And since you'd, theoretically, be reading an SD card in a Compact Flash adapter, top speed would be limited by the top speed of the CF interface.
We haven't seen a real big push on speed differences between CF and SD, although you can get faster and slower versions of each. I have an "ultra" variant on one of my CF cards, which does have somewhat better memory write speed than the generic cards I otherwise use. Definitely look at the CF manufacturers and see if they offer faster rated memory, if you're looking for a speed benefit.
Should you be determined to use such a thing, we'll list a few strange adapters in the product availability section at the end of this article.
Teeny film for teeny cameras
Jim Rockwell wants to get some film for a sub-miniature camera. He writes:
James, enjoyed your article on using substitute film for an old box camera (I've got a couple myself, on a shelf). Is there any parallel for getting film for a MinoxB (sub-miniature camera from Europe)?
The article Jim refers to is Senior Editor James Booth's "Box cameras in the digital age," at http://www.connectedphotographer.com/issues/issue200404/00001266001.html. James also responds to Jim's question:
I'm glad you enjoyed the article. I must confess that have absolutely zero experience when it comes to sub-miniature cameras. As a matter of fact, I've never even seen one in person, only in print and online.
I did a bit of digging and I think I may have found a retailer for you that sells subminiature film. B&H Photo has Agfa film for Minox subminiature cameras listed on their site. Not just the film either, but the developing mailers as well. They come together and separately. I've done business with B&H many times and they are not only a reputable retailer, but one of the largest in the photo catalog/mail order business.
There's a link to the sub-miniature film page at the end of this article. I hope this helps.
There you go. Three interesting questions with interesting answers. We can't guarantee we'll answer your question, but you're welcome to send in your photo questions to editor@connectedphotographer.com and if you're very, very lucky (or if we owe a whole lot of karma that week), we'll answer you with something useful.