Coolpix 2500: Update

[Joel Hammer]

Just an update on this camera.

I have been using it for about a week. It takes excellent photos,
faraway and close up, and plays very nicely with linux. Red eye is
still a nuisance, however. I must be doing something wrong there. So,
if anyone is looking for a moderately priced digital camera ($280),
this is an excellent choice.

This digital stuff really opens up new ways of doing things. For example,
I take photos in a medical laboratory. We have always had a dedicated
photo stand (actually two), with very expensive lights and a table with
glass plate and backlight. Lots of expense, a nuisance to keep clean,
and wasted laboratory space. A dirty background was always a problem.

Now, with digital, we can take a picture of a specimen on a bloody
cutting board, use a flash, and hold the camera in our hands if we
want. The digital camera has a quicker shutter speed, what with the bright
flash.  Overhead ceiling lights, once a problem, are now not a problem.
With gimp it is quick and simple to replace that bloody cutting board
in the background with a nice jet black background so your specimen just
hangs there in space, beautiful. Diverticulosis never looked this good
before.

So, if you have hesitated about going digital, I think the technology has
arrived.

Joel