If you want to take static pics, almost any 2mp and up brand name camera will do just fine. All of my photos that I've posted here up until now have been with an older Olympus 2mp camera off of ebay. It will take a high enough resolution photo that Photobucket will still have to reduce the size. If you want an all around camera, look for something in the 4-6mp range with 3x-5x optical zoom to stay in your price range. Don't let "digital zoom" be a selling point. It's no different from resizing and cropping on the computer. Optical zoom is the important type of zoom. Stick with name brands like Sony, Olympus, Fuji, Cannon, Nikon, Kodak, Pentax, etc. I just picked up an OfficeMax flyer off the top of the pile of newspapers. The first thing I see is a Fuji Finepix F650 with 6mp and 6x optical zoom within your range. I'm sure there are dozens of other cameras that will fit the bill also.

If you want to take launch photos, you need to do a bit of research and find something that doesn't have much shutter lag. Hopefully the new cameras aren't as bad as the ones I delt with a few years ago when I was looking for my first digital. I used to get really good liftoff shots with my 35mm SLR, but I've never had good luck with the old digital. I finally broke down and combined the positives of both with a Digital SLR.

Let us know a little bit more of what you plan to use the camera for. Just like with Centuri/Estes, Ford/Chevy/Chrysler, etc. everyone has their favorite brands. If you have a favorite, you probably would pay a few bucks more for the trust you have in that particular camera company. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but they all are getting better and better every year.

Newegg is already one of my regular money pits for computer hardware, as I build computers...



Give us the URL for that file, James. I'd like to take a look at it myself...

I want to think that RockSim has the ability to merge the new data, but I don't remember. You may have to do the merge in Excel first, then save the file back to the DATA folder under the original filename. The database files are stored as CSV files (Comma Separated Values) and not as XLS files (Excel).



Ahhh, yes...

The Wrath of Pecan...

__________________
Craig McGraw

BARCLONE Rocketry -- http://barclone.rocketshoppe.com
BARCLONE Blogsite -- http://barclone.wordpress.com
BARCLONE Forum -- BARCLONE Forum

BARs helping BARs

SAM 0044
AMA 352635

Craig, for the RMR parts update file is at this url

http://www.rocketreviews.com/rocksim_zips.shtml

This is the RMR Rocksim Library zip packs. the file name is:

Fliskits, Semroc, BMS parts

Thanks, JP

James Pierson
NAR #77907

OK, snagged 'em.

Here's the process:

1. Download the ZIP file.
2. EXTRACT the CSV files into your ..\ROCKSIM\DATA\NEW folder.
3. Run RockSim.

RockSim automatically looks in this folder every time it starts up for new CSV files, which it immediately adds to the appropriate databases. You don't need to do anything special beyond this, unless RockSim finds a duplicated entry in the new file. It will notify you of the duplicated entry and ask if you want to overwrite the old entry with the new data. You say "YES" or "NO", and it continues making all of the changes on its own.

Addendum: This technique works with RS8; I don't think RS7 had this ability, or it worked a bit differently...

__________________
Craig McGraw

BARCLONE Rocketry -- http://barclone.rocketshoppe.com
BARCLONE Blogsite -- http://barclone.wordpress.com
BARCLONE Forum -- BARCLONE Forum

BARs helping BARs

SAM 0044
AMA 352635

Understand on the "optical" versus "digital" zooming. Optical is better.



I'm looking for a broad-range camera, some outdoor, some indoor; I'd like to catch the occasional launch frame, but I'm really looking for image clarity in static shots. Fast-action shots are of a secondary importance; good indoor close-range shots are of greater importance.

I'll go shopping and see what's available locally. Right now I have no particular brand loyalty. I haven't seen enough or worked with enough to get that picky. If I had the $$$ I'd go with an SLR-style body and a good set of changeable lenses; my rich uncle is still in the poor house, but when he gets out...

__________________
Craig McGraw

BARCLONE Rocketry -- http://barclone.rocketshoppe.com
BARCLONE Blogsite -- http://barclone.wordpress.com
BARCLONE Forum -- BARCLONE Forum

BARs helping BARs

SAM 0044
AMA 352635

Craig, I have made a few searches and cannot find the ROCKSIM/DATA/NEW file. Should I already have one or do I need to create a new folder? I have figure out the extract part but don't have a folder to send it to.

The old saying must be true, that computers are only as smart as the person running them.

Thanks, JP

These two websites might help you sort things out a little. Steve's site has a "best cameras" section where he lists the top cameras in several categories. Dpreview has the ability for you to compare the specs of several cameras side by side.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

http://www.dpreview.com/

Which version of RS are you working with? If you don't already have these folders, it's probably not version 8, or they've been deleted somehow. Check your version number. You might not have this auto-merge/auto-load feature if it isn't number 8.

__________________
Craig McGraw

BARCLONE Rocketry -- http://barclone.rocketshoppe.com
BARCLONE Blogsite -- http://barclone.wordpress.com
BARCLONE Forum -- BARCLONE Forum

BARs helping BARs

SAM 0044
AMA 352635

Craig, I have version 8.0.1. 14 Well at least that what is says on the disk. May be time to reload the program from the disk to see if anything is missing.

Thanks, JP

James Pierson
NAR# 77907

Try updating your build. The current version is 8.1.0f7 (I just got this upgrade today). Still, you should see the \Data\New folder where the program was installed.

__________________
Craig McGraw

BARCLONE Rocketry -- http://barclone.rocketshoppe.com
BARCLONE Blogsite -- http://barclone.wordpress.com
BARCLONE Forum -- BARCLONE Forum

BARs helping BARs

SAM 0044
AMA 352635