Digital cameras and Linux

[Neil Booth <NeilB@earthling.net>]

Hi,

I'm considering buying a digital camera or videocam, but am concerned
about being able to download the JPEG images to Linux.  Of course, the
cameras come with a serial cable and software for downloading the
images to Windows.

Does anyone know if these cameras simply pass the JPEG data down the
serial line, or is there some special camera-specific protocol they
use (rendering it useless without special software)?  In the former
case, how would I capture the data coming down the serial line?

Thanks for any information or advice,

Neil.