View Full Version : Camera for thru hike.
JaketheFake
07-22-2015, 22:25
I intend to carry my iPhone next year and I have pulled off some decent pics with it.... What are some thoughts regarding carrying a small camera versus relying on an iPhone versus some other alternative. I guess if I used my iPhone I could carry it on airplane mode to save batteries? I just kind of would like to not see a phone every second of the day...I am sure many of you can appreciate that.
Have purchased a Olympus TG-4 for my hiking and backpacking. It is waterproof to 50ft, can hack a 2 meter drop is dust proof, good down to 14 degrees, 4x optical zoom, gps compass wifi, can use your phone as a remote, has a f2 lens with 16mp with a 1080hf video and other treats as well can be had for about $304 to $329. It goes from off to on and focused in about 1 second. I am really enjoying it. Oh 220lb crush proof too
http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/tg-4.html
(http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/tg-4.html)
JaketheFake
07-23-2015, 00:05
That definately seems like a good option. How heavy is it?
Slo-go'en
07-23-2015, 00:12
Unless you want to upgrade to something like Busky recommends, your iPhone will be good enough. You probably wouldn't be able to see much difference between the phone and a $100 price range camera.
JaketheFake
07-23-2015, 01:06
[QUOTE=Slo-go'en;1990717]Unless you want to upgrade to something like Busky recommends, your iPhone will be good enough. You probably wouldn't be able to see much difference between the phone and a $100 price range
camera.[/QUOTE
i agree... I am very happy with my phone camera... But if I went with something like Busky recommends I could stash my phone in my backpack during the day and have camera ready... ?
Slo-go'en
07-23-2015, 08:40
[/QUOTE]
i agree... I am very happy with my phone camera... But if I went with something like Busky recommends I could stash my phone in my backpack during the day and have camera ready... ?[/QUOTE]
I kept my phone handy as it fit in a small side pocket nicely and my good camera stashed. Only took the good camera out when there was something really good to shoot. But I often used both. My camera doesn't have all the fancy wi-fi stuff so I can only share using the phone. (which was a cheap $20 smart phone, so it's camera wasn't all that good).
soumodeler
07-23-2015, 09:03
I have the TG-3, which is last year's model. The TG-4 just adds some new features but the guts are basically the same. Love the camera, takes decent movies, and weights 8.8oz on my scale with the strap.
I also took my phone for pictures when I wanted to be able to upload them immediately.
bigcranky
07-23-2015, 09:10
I carry a small camera while hiking. Recently it was a Canon S100, which is a tiny camera with a good lens, which I got as a refurb for about $150. My daughter swiped it to go overseas... :)
A small camera will give better photos than a phone, though recent phones do make pretty decent images. Look for a small camera with optical image stabilization and a reasonable zoom range with a wide angle lens. The S100 has a "24-120mm" zoom range, so it's pretty good wide angle and a reasonable zoom for portraits. I'd avoid a massive zoom. Water resistance is nice, but keep the camera in a ziploc bag and stick it in your pack during downpours (same as your phone unless you get a waterproof case).
Bring a spare battery and a charger, and try to leave town with two fully charged batteries.