serial cable for digital camera

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

I recently bought an 2nd hand digital camera (kodak dc215 zoom). Its lens assembly fits snugly in a 1.25" focuser.

But it does not have a USB connection. Instead it has a stereo headphone type socket which is meant to feed into the serial port on the PC. Does anyone know where I can get one of these "headphone-to-serialport" cables?

Or maybe someone here has one & they don't need it anymore??

[silvinator]

Hi Janos, just tried a search on ebay using the words "kodak dc215 serial cable" and four results came up. They seem reasonably priced. Check it out: serial cables on ebay linky (the first one for US$8.95 and the third one for US$8.88 seem to have the best shipping rate).
They seem to be going for around about $25 here in australia (just typed the same search in google) so the ebay prices are just a little less including shipping.
Hope that is what you are looking for.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Thanks Slivie, look for it on ebay? why didn't I think of that?? $20+ is a bit much though considering camera only cost me $45. The asking price from the US sounds about right but the postage is the killer. Found a wiring diagram on the google search so might try to make a cable.

[iceman (Mike)]

I'm sure one of our electrician members could help you too.

[acropolite (Phil)]

Janos, If you only want to retrieve the images there is a simple alternative. Go to DSE/Tandy or a similar electronics store and buy a USB multi format card reader. Simply take the compact flash card out of the cam and read it in the reader. It will be heaps quicker to transfer your images as well, especially if it's a USB2 reader. I have seen readers for under $30 and if you get a multi type it will serve you well into the future no matter what cam you get.. There's one at DSE for $39.95 that reads 7 different types of card. I have a 12 in 1 USB2 model that came from Jaycar for around $50 They can also be found on Ebay.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Thanks Phil! Sounds like a better alternative to buying a cable for around the same price. At least the card reader might have other uses in future.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

I've used a number of different card readers over the last 4 or 5 years. Card readers are the only way to fly. No relying on the battery power of the camera and quicker. No need to install secondary download programs to clog up your hard drive. Simply drag and drop from the camera card to you image directory.

Only downer : some models were a pain in the butt to install, but I've had the same problem with certain brands of USB micro drives. If you decide to get one see if you can get one that comes with a driver disk. That's been the problem before. XP wasn't able to load them for some reason without the driver and then I had to track them down on the net. Usually found them.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

No probs Paul. I use linux, so driver disks usually go straight to the bin. Without being aware of it, I already had the software to read the pics off the camera (which has an AC adapter, so no need for batteries), but it's a little tricky without the funny cable. Card reader would be fine, but at this time I have no other use for it so it'd just be more clutter on, or more likely under my desk. There's already a scanner down there I mostly just use as a footrest...

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

PS (to the thread): problem solved; made a serial cable using the drawing I found at at http://www.beyondlogic.org/KodakDC215/dc215.htm. Works well.