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Model:  An Introduction to Camera Adapters

An Introduction to Camera Adapters

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By Jeremy Horwitz

Editor-in-Chief, iLounge
Published: Monday, January 2, 2006
Category: Camera Adapters

When digital still cameras were beginning to grow in popularity, memory cards were expensive and low-capacity, while hard drives were comparatively cheap. Many companies figured that photographers would prefer to transfer their photos from memory cards to portable hard drives, freeing up precious memory card space for more photos.

So two companies, Apple and Belkin, created a total of three accessories to transfer digital camera photographs onto an iPod’s hard drive, These accessories originally cost as much as $100, but eventually fell to $29. Two of them are capable of instantly showing pictures on a color iPod’s screen; two of them can be used to store (but not show) photographs even on black-and-white iPods. A deeper overview of the accessories is available at this link.

They all have the same problems in common - they’re slow and rapidly drain the iPod’s battery, as well as the batteries of either your digital camera or memory card reader. As memory card prices fell, serious photographers and iPod listeners alike found them more of a hassle than they were worth, relative to just buying extra cards.

But they all offer casual digital photographers an option, as well as the tantalizing prospect that video clips may one day be transferred to an iPod from a digital video camera, and watched immediately. Our reviews of Camera Adapters can be seen here.