How to use your digital camera as a cheap PDA

Let's say you're on vacation and need to take some info with you-- an address, a map, or several paragraphs of info. Maybe too much to write down, but not enough to hunt down a printer (a futile effort in many hotels). Why not take a pic and let your camera hold the info?

My camera (shown in the gallery), a Casio Exilim Z60, happens to have a Text mode for capturing printed and on-screen text. But most any camera will work provided the following:

• Macro setting is mandatory. Zoom won't do, as usually you can't hold the camera steady enough.
• Flash: macro usually means turn it off, and computer screens will look blank with it reflecting
• Make sure autofocus isn't squirrelly.
• The bigger the LCD screen on the back of your camera, and the easier to navigate or zoom into a pic, the better your results.

Be aware that this is a completely improvised method. In theory, you could carry a small (32 MB) memory card around just for grabbing info vs. memory shots. But I find it's just less fuss to grab some info at the hotel and just scan back on the camera until I find it. Usually this info isn't needed all night. It helps that my Casio has a calendar too, which adds to the faux-PDA concept. Amaze your friends by pretending you can access Google Maps on your camera!