Connecting Digital Camera to PC

Mr Nook

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Hi,

I've finally decided to take the plunge and move into the world of digital photography.

Before I buy a camera though: my PC at home is about 5 years old and doesn't have any USB ports (though internally it is USB). Most cameras seem to come with a USB cable. Is there a simple way of connecting via a serial port or some other port on the PC via an adaptor.

Any help/replies appreciated.

Thanks

RDB :)
 
You can get a serial to USB adaptor but they are quite expensive and might be quite slow.

On the other hand you can buy a USB card to fit in a spare PCI slot on your PC for less than £20 so this would be the way to go.

But regardless of what camera you end up buying, double check that your PC meets the minimum spec for the software that comes with it.
 
You can also get 'serial card readers'. Most are USB, so you will need to do some searching. I never connect my cameras to the PC, just use a card reader.
Adding USB via a PCI card is also a good option or if the MoBo supports it you could just add an internal USB bay and connect to the MoBo. You will need to be running Win 98SE or later, or with 98 first edition (and I think 95 also) you can get a USB patch, but I have found this not to be that reliable at times.

Mark.
 
I bought a PCI USB card for £7 - just slot it inside the pc and you have USB ports - cant remember where i got it - somewhere online, maybe DABS, but it was very simple and cheap.

Then I would advise using a card reader, it means you don't need to use the camera software and you can copy files straight into a windows folder and / or view in your image editing software
 
Thanks for the replies guys. There seem to be a few options but thankfully it is possible. Just wanted to check before I bought a camera. I'll look further into the various ways you've suggested.

Cheers,

RDB :smashin:
 
Another one in favour of the PCI card route. Get one with as many spockets as possible as you will find it useful for lots of other devices at a later date. Im upto seven sockets all of which are used.

Scan used to do a card with 2 sockets on it and an extension with three sockets on it that fits ibto a front 3.5 inch bay. This is ideal if you hate fiddling round the back with wire. I think they still do it.
 
I agree with getting more sockets & having some at the front - Its almost a non-starter to crawl round the back every time!

Just saw that 7dayshop.com have a 4 socket usb hub for £5.99! - so with a cheap 2 socket pci card and a hub at this price I reckon you could have 5 usb's (with 4 accessible at the front) for about £14!
 

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