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I don't have a cellphone, but want a camera of similar
quality that easily fits in my pocket.
I have a SiPix Blink II that takes acceptable pictures
for what I want and fits in my pocket.
Problem is that it draws 6mA when it's off.
That translates into a battery life of 4 days.
It's always dead when I want to use it.
I've had others, but they all have the same problem.

Yes, I can take the battery out, but then I have
to carry it somewhere.

Is there a cheap, very small, toy camera with flash memory
that doesn't suck the battery dry when it's OFF???

Thanks, mike

On Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:42:58 GMT, mike <> wrote:

>I don't have a cellphone, but want a camera of similar
>quality that easily fits in my pocket.
>I have a SiPix Blink II that takes acceptable pictures
>for what I want and fits in my pocket.
>Problem is that it draws 6mA when it's off.
>That translates into a battery life of 4 days.
>It's always dead when I want to use it.
>I've had others, but they all have the same problem.
>
>Yes, I can take the battery out, but then I have
>to carry it somewhere.
>
>Is there a cheap, very small, toy camera with flash memory
>that doesn't suck the battery dry when it's OFF???
>

I wouldn't expect much in the way of suggestions in this newsgroup. A
newsgroup that exists to discuss photography is not likely to contain
people who have experience with toy cameras.

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

On Sep 30, 3:42*pm, mike <spam...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I don't have a cellphone, but want a camera of similar
> quality that easily fits in my pocket.
> I have a SiPix Blink II that takes acceptable pictures
> for what I want and fits in my pocket.

A very funny friend of mine was raving about a SiPix camera that he'd
been carrying around for a while shooting utterly random stuff--I'm
talking a couple of hundred photos a day. Some of his results were
funny as hell, and the camera's completely erratic and unpredictable
results just added to the fun when reviewing the shots.

I will never forget his exact words:

"The coolest thing about it is that there is zero pressure to take
anything even close to a technically decent picture with it, 'cause
it's impossible!"

--
YOP...

On Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:42:58 GMT, mike wrote:
>
> Yes, I can take the battery out, but then I have
> to carry it somewhere.

Nope. Open the battery door/latch/cover and place a thin piece of
plastic over the battery contacts and re-close it.

Probably, you can find such thin, sturdier-than-paper plastic in
amongst all the junk mail that you receive -- or, in the mess of over-
packaging you find in the kitchen.

Using scissors, Carefully cut out a shape that covers several, if not
all, of the battery ends. Cut out several -- keep'em in your wallet --
for when it blows away, etc, as you're trying to remove it.

I even do that when traveling by air with my carry-on cameras. It's
not _that_ inconvenient when the droids in The Dept Of Homeland Hysteria
ask me to turn them on and prove they are cameras.

I also pack our small, 4 C-cell dive lights in this manner in our
checked luggage.

HTH,
Jonesy
--
Marvin L Jones | jonz | W3DHJ | linux
38.24N 104.55W | @ config.com | Jonesy | OS/2
* Killfiling google & XXXXbanter.com: jonz.net/ng.htm

On Sep 30, 3:42*pm, mike <spam...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I don't have a cellphone, but want a camera of similar
> quality that easily fits in my pocket.
> I have a SiPix Blink II that takes acceptable pictures
> for what I want and fits in my pocket.
> Problem is that it draws 6mA when it's off.
> That translates into a battery life of 4 days.
> It's always dead when I want to use it.
> I've had others, but they all have the same problem.
>
> Yes, I can take the battery out, but then I have
> to carry it somewhere.
>
> Is there a cheap, very small, toy camera with flash memory
> that doesn't suck the battery dry when it's OFF???
>
> Thanks, mike

How did you measure amp draw, it might be your batteries or a defect.

On 1 Oct, 00:59, Allodoxaphobia <bit-buc...@config.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:42:58 GMT, mike wrote:
>
> > Yes, I can take the battery out, but then I have
> > to carry it somewhere.
>
> Nope. *Open the battery door/latch/cover and place a thin piece of
> plastic over the battery contacts and re-close it.

Beware that some cameras have an internal "coin" cell for the setup
memory, clock etc. Removing/disabling the main batteries will
discharge this instead -- and it's a lot harder to replace.

Chris

On Wed, 1 Oct 2008 10:13:42 -0700 (PDT) wrote:
| On 1 Oct, 00:59, Allodoxaphobia <bit-buc...@config.com> wrote:
|> On Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:42:58 GMT, mike wrote:
|>
|> > Yes, I can take the battery out, but then I have
|> > to carry it somewhere.
|>
|> Nope. ?Open the battery door/latch/cover and place a thin piece of
|> plastic over the battery contacts and re-close it.
|
| Beware that some cameras have an internal "coin" cell for the setup
| memory, clock etc. Removing/disabling the main batteries will
| discharge this instead -- and it's a lot harder to replace.

They still use that old technology? A tiny chip with a megabyte of flash
memory that requires no electricity to keep its state is now very cheap.

--
|WARNING: Due to extreme spam, googlegroups.com is blocked. Due to ignorance |
| by the abuse department, bellsouth.net is blocked. If you post to |
| Usenet from these places, find another Usenet provider ASAP. |
| Phil Howard KA9WGN (email for humans: first name in lower case at ipal.net) |

On 1 Oct 2008 22:00:24 GMT, phil-news- wrote:

> | Beware that some cameras have an internal "coin" cell for the setup
> | memory, clock etc. Removing/disabling the main batteries will
> | discharge this instead -- and it's a lot harder to replace.
>
> They still use that old technology? A tiny chip with a megabyte of flash
> memory that requires no electricity to keep its state is now very cheap.

You'd still need a battery to maintain the clock-calendar chip's
time. Not to worry, though. Most cameras use tiny rechargeable
batteries for this, and are able to keep going for days to a month
when the main battery is removed. When the main battery is
replaced, it fully charges the small internal battery within a day
or two. I wouldn't expect any type of internal backup battery in a
toy camera though. There are many inexpensive non-toy Lumix,
Powershot and Coolpix cameras the can easily fit in a shirt pocket
and can go for many months without noticeably draining their
batteries (whether using 2 AA cells or proprietary Li-Ion). They
certainly cost more than the cheap toy cameras that I've seen, but
those toy cameras have image quality that's inferior to that of most
cell phone cameras.

ransley wrote:
> On Sep 30, 3:42 pm, mike <spam...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I don't have a cellphone, but want a camera of similar
>> quality that easily fits in my pocket.
>> I have a SiPix Blink II that takes acceptable pictures
>> for what I want and fits in my pocket.
>> Problem is that it draws 6mA when it's off.
>> That translates into a battery life of 4 days.
>> It's always dead when I want to use it.
>> I've had others, but they all have the same problem.
>>
>> Yes, I can take the battery out, but then I have
>> to carry it somewhere.
>>
>> Is there a cheap, very small, toy camera with flash memory
>> that doesn't suck the battery dry when it's OFF???
>>
>> Thanks, mike
>
> How did you measure amp draw, it might be your batteries or a defect.

I measured the amp draw by putting a milliamp meter in series with the
battery.

ASAAR wrote:
> On 1 Oct 2008 22:00:24 GMT, phil-news- wrote:
>
>> | Beware that some cameras have an internal "coin" cell for the setup
>> | memory, clock etc. Removing/disabling the main batteries will
>> | discharge this instead -- and it's a lot harder to replace.
>>
>> They still use that old technology? A tiny chip with a megabyte of flash
>> memory that requires no electricity to keep its state is now very cheap.
>
> You'd still need a battery to maintain the clock-calendar chip's
> time. Not to worry, though. Most cameras use tiny rechargeable
> batteries for this, and are able to keep going for days to a month
> when the main battery is removed. When the main battery is
> replaced, it fully charges the small internal battery within a day
> or two. I wouldn't expect any type of internal backup battery in a
> toy camera though. There are many inexpensive non-toy Lumix,
> Powershot and Coolpix cameras the can easily fit in a shirt pocket
> and can go for many months without noticeably draining their
> batteries (whether using 2 AA cells or proprietary Li-Ion). They
> certainly cost more than the cheap toy cameras that I've seen, but
> those toy cameras have image quality that's inferior to that of most
> cell phone cameras.
>

Interesting inputs, but the cameras I'm talking about don't have clocks.

I'll clarify...
I have several < $10 cameras that can be stuffed in a pocket.
What I want is a camera that can be slipped in my pocket with a lot of
other stuff and not cause crowding. I want something WITHOUT an LCD
display to get busted.

The SiPix is about 2" square and half an inch thick. Doesn't have
a display, so you can drop it without breaking it.
And if you break it, you buy another one for 25 cents at a garage sale.
Money is no object...
I wouldn't be opposed to paying twenty times that much for one that didn't
drain the battery when off.

Nobody would mistake the pictures for "good", but they're good enough.
mike