View Full Version : Digital cameras
Grey Fox
07-30-2005, 22:22
I was thinking about buying an Olympus Evolt for use on my thru hike. 2 quick questions. 1-has anyone used this camera, I've done a lot of research and it seems to be the best, but any firsthand experience would be great. 2- this is my first digital camera, how do thru-hikers deal with full memory cards? I was thinking I would buy a few and mail them home when they get full, but any advice would be appreciated.
-Grey Fox
I have no experience with the Olympus Evolt. I used a Nikon Coolpix 5600 for my hike on The Long Trail this summer. I bought a 1 GB SD card and took about 200 pictures. That was impressive and there was no indication that it was anywhere near full.
I would think that if you have any support at home you could get 2 cards and mail them back and forth. A professional photographer friend of mine said to stick with Nikon or Canon because thaey are the industry standard. At any rate, you will want something that uses SD (secure digital). Everything else is in the process of phasing out.
By the way, with lithium batteries I also had no problem with battery life. They were going strong after 20 days and are very light.
Good luck
Baby Blue
07-30-2005, 23:04
I'd recommend a large memory card (at least 256MB), they make ones as large as 1 GB now. Also at many drugstores (CVS, Rite Aid, Ekerd) as well as WalMart they have Kodak Picture Centers where you can plug your memory card right into thier machine and download the pictures onto a CD which you can send home for about $5. Then you can just delete the pictures from your card and continue on.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
07-31-2005, 07:43
We have an Olympus Stylus 300 and love it. It is weather-proof, somewhat shock-proof, light weight, easy to use, very download friendly.
I got a 1GB XD card for this camera. It will hold about 1,300 high-quality pics. The camera comes with a cord that plugs the camera into a USB port and makes it fuction as a removal disk. I have a couple of text files on the camera's memory card with info like family snail and email addresses / phone numbers and other info / phone numbers we might need while out frolicking.
First, try to find a camera that is at least water resistent, it will get wet. Large memory cards are nice, but if you should lose it, or it become corrupted, there go all your pics from your trip. I'd keep them on small memory cards and mail them home as they fill up. They don't weigh anything, so carrying spares is not a problem. I have a Nikon coolpix and got some great shots from it. Course, I've seen great shots from a throw away camera too.
justusryans
07-31-2005, 10:04
We carry A Sony Cybershot DSCP-200 It's a 7.2 mega pixels. Weighs 6.3 oz holds up to a 2 gb memory stick. Has all the bells and whistles. I also agree with Baby Blue. You can go to a CVS or Wal-mart... anywhere with a Kodak picture center and burn your photo's into a cd. Just mail your cd home, deleat your existing photos, and you're good to go.:jump
justusryans
07-31-2005, 10:36
A professional photographer friend of mine said to stick with Nikon or Canon because thaey are the industry standard. At any rate, you will want something that uses SD (secure digital). Everything else is in the process of phasing out. SD (secure digital) refers to the format you're memory card uses. your professional photographer friend probably uses a digital SLR camera. The SLR is a full body camera like the big 35mm of the past. Lots of bells and whistles, cabable of taking professional quality photo, and weigh about a ton! (ok,ok, about 1 to 2 pounds!) There are many other storage formats for memory cards, ie compact flash 1 and 2, memory stick, multimedia cards, and xD memory cards. The format used depends a lot on type of camera purchased, brand of camera purchased, ect. I wouldn't worry about all the others phasing out.
Kerosene
07-31-2005, 16:05
I just purchased a Pentax Optio 5Si (5 megapixel, 3x optical zoom, 2" LCD, 4.2 oz with battery) with a 1 GB SD card. I also purchased an extra battery, but didn't need it after 100 pictures in a week. The biggest issue is that the LCD screen doesn't adjust intensity in poor/bright light conditions, making it difficult to see. There are very few truly water-resistant lightweight cameras out there. I'd rather keep it in the zip-lock baggie when it's raining.
Lanthar Mandragoran
07-31-2005, 16:27
Just an FYI, the more megapixels, the more features (aka prosumer), the bigger the LCD screen (assuming you use it rather than the the small viewfinder), the faster it will (typically)chew through batteries
If you're interested in a waterproof (to 1.5 meters) camera, check this out...
http://www.thru-hiker.com/ebates.html
dje97001
07-31-2005, 22:52
One the is really getting my attention is the casio Exilim S500 -- releasing 8/15? tiny and also takes mpeg4 (or vhs quality) video with monaural sound. Pretty wild. 1GB SD card can capture @ an hour of video. 5 megapixel, 3x optical zoom, credit-card size, 2.2 in lcd (no optical viewer:() comes with small charging cradle for proprietary battery. Anyway, I was seriously considering the Pentax optio series but this one has my full attention right now...
Edit: Actually, apparently it has been out in Europe for a while (a month?) and has just recently shipped to at least a few camera shops. We got one yesterday (and it is extremely sweet). I believe the 8/15 timetable may be for the orange one in the US.
Kerosene
08-01-2005, 11:15
That Pentax Optio WP is new (or at least the same model didn't turn up in my research) and is very impressive for a 4.8 oz. total weight. I would definitely have this one on your short list.
Lanthar Mandragoran
08-01-2005, 11:59
I actually held / played with a WP when I was in San Fransisco (?I think?), one of the streetside electronic shops had one in. Just as usable and light as any other camera of that calibre out there. I reeeeaaaaallly want one... ah, well, maybe some day.
FlyPaper
08-02-2005, 12:38
If you are buying spare cards, check ebay. You can get them much cheaper than in the store. I have a 2.1 mega-pixel camera and can get 109 high resolution pictures on a 128 Meg card. I no longer take low resolution pictures since I can always lower the resolution later for e-mailing, but I can't improve the resolution if I take low resolution pictures.
jackiebolen
08-02-2005, 16:06
I actually just got the new Pentax Optio WP and I love it! So light, 5 MP and waterproof so no worries about it getting wrecked while hiking. Plus you can take pics out in the rain to everyone back home can get the full effect of a rainstorm while hiking.
Check out the link below (to my blog) if you want to see what kind of pics it takes. I've gone on a few hiking trips lately, so I have a lot of those type pictures on it.
trippclark
08-02-2005, 16:47
We have an Olympus Stylus 300 and love it. It is weather-proof, somewhat shock-proof, light weight, easy to use, very download friendly.
I got a 1GB XD card for this camera. It will hold about 1,300 high-quality pics. The camera comes with a cord that plugs the camera into a USB port and makes it fuction as a removal disk. I have a couple of text files on the camera's memory card with info like family snail and email addresses / phone numbers and other info / phone numbers we might need while out frolicking.
I have this camera also, and my hiking partner has the stylus 400. I agree with all that you said. I would just add two things. First, get an extra battery. The rechargeable Lithium Ion battery is long life (unless you spend alot of time viewing pics) but it does die. Having an extra to swap is well worth the $30 or so. Second point is that this camera, and most small cameras like it that most of us would consider suitable for backpacking (because of weight/bulk) has a narrow barrel/lense. As a result, low light photos are often too dark, especially when you zoom in (reducing the light that enters the camera that much more). STILL, I really love this camera for backpacking and most everything else. The weatherproof feature and size/weight were what sold me; plus I had previous good experiences with Olympus digital cameras.
badinfluence
08-30-2005, 17:37
One often overlooked item is memory options.
It is often worth checking to make sure the device you purchase is compatible with other electronic devices you have. I.e. I have 2 digital cameras, both use SD cards - so does my MP3 player.
In an emergency, I can erase a few songs to make space for pictures - it is a good feature to look for and can come in handy. Especially since you can find decent cameras for hiking that use all the main memory formats.
Jonathan