Camera compatibility question - US vs UK

[zbdent]

Okay, a co-worker has an offspring which is going to be in England for 6 months.

My co-worker, knowing that I am a (relatively) computer guru, asked me about compatibility issues with digital cameras.

Although I felt sure that a person in the US can take a brand-name digital camera to England and be assured that the software would run on the PCs over there (Windows would be run on the both sides), I did not want to give him a blanket "Yes" without being absolutely sure.

Now, I know that there should be little if any difference between a PC in England running Windows and a PC in Cleveland Ohio running Windows. But I just want to be sure.

Also, I pointed out that you could always take out the digital media from, say, the Olympus that my co-worker uses, and there would be places where, like the US has, you can stick the media in a "photo processing" kiosk/drugstore/department store/whatever and get your prints made.

Please assure me that I was right in telling my co-worker that his child shall have no problems with using a digital camera there. It's not like trying to adapt the power outlet.

[jdots]

1. mmmmmmm you could sit on hold at olympus

and get the answers,actually they are good to deal with.

[pk_du]

2. You are correct........

My sister ( from UK) was here (in US) on vaction earlier this year and bought Sony Digital P72 camera here whilst on vacation....software/hardware all work fine over there.

[Maiden England]

3. my parents brought a Kodak, while over in here on vacation

it works just fine in the UK. The USB connections and software are all standard. The only thing you have to watch out for, is should the camera be rechargeable, then you need to make sure the power cord is dual voltage, which considering that these things are designed with the world traveller in mind it should be! Anyway to double check, you make them take the power cord out of the box, and look at the back of the plug, it should have written on it 110-240v on it somewhere, it's pretty much a standard to see that nowadays, even my desktop is dual voltage.
Its more likely its battery operated though, and a AA is a AA anywhere in the world.

[LibLabUK]

4. Yes, it'll work.

It'll work.

Just remember we photograph on the left over here. :)

[zbdent]

7. I'll have to remember to tell him that

ha ha ha ha ha!

[Atlant]

5. Certain cameras can output video to a TV

While I can't think of any way that the purely-photographic and computer
aspects of a camera could vary between the UK and America (other than
the aforementioned charger mains voltage), there is one thing you
should be aware of:

Certain cameras (like my Nikon Coolpix) can create a slide show on
a television set. (That is, they can output the stored pictures as
video.) Others can actually capture moving pictures and play them
back just like a camcorder. But the video we use here in America
("NTSC") is not compatible with the video they use in most of Europe
("PAL") or France ("SECAM"). Some European sets will display American
video, but it's very unlikely that any American set will display
European video ("NTSC") and I'm certain they won't display French
video ("SECAM"). The upshot of all of this is that the camera-as-TV-
slide-projector or camera-as-camcorder playback features may not work
across the pond, although they will work fine once the camera comes
back to its native turf.

Atlant

[LibLabUK]

6. Hmm..

"Some European sets will display American video"

Most modern European TVs will display NTSC video with little fuss.

And there's usually a software switch somewhere on the camera that allows you to select between a PAL/Secam output and an NTSC output.

[Atlant]

8. The original poster asked what to be concerned about.

I suggested a concern (which, BTW, is completely valid for my CoolPix
950 which *DOES NOT* have an NTSC/PAL switch, although its follow-on,
the CoolPix 990 does).

Also, be careful you don't confuse NTSC with "PAL-60"; I think you'll
find there exist European TV sets that like PAL-60 (PAL color
encoding, but at NTSC 525/60 scan rates, as produced by DVD players
and VCRs playing NTSC-encoded video) but don't decode the NTSC color
signals.

If it doesn't concern you, that's fine, but it may still concern the
Original Poster; let them decide for themselves.

Atlant

[Kellanved]

9. You are right, the digital camera should work w/o problems

The video output is usually multi-mode (i.e. PAL and NTSC) and practically all newer(ten years, or so) European TV sets are able to display NTSC anyway.


I have never heard, nor experienced of any software problems or other problems.

[zbdent]

10. Thank you all for your insight

My co-worker will be pleased.

All of you have been very helpful.