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lightweight digital camera help

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tom Conover
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Tom Conover

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I need help! I plan on thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Scenic Trail this summer at 2600 miles long. I would like to use a very lightweight digital camera to record the magnificent scenery along the way. I know nothing of digital cameras except for Sony mavica fd-71 I have that is far to heavy and battery hungry to take. Weight is crucial on this trip. I need to be able to record photos and then mail them home for later viewing etc. as I will not be near a computer often enough on the trail as it is mostly a wilderness journey. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
I will agree that the 71 is heavier than most cameras but i have always found it to be superior in battery consumption. Generally my friends with other cameras would have changed batterys 3 times before I changed once.

The Iomega Clik! drive may be an option but you had better find out from actual users what its battery requirements and consumption is like. It may just be another battery to worry about. It will be hard to beat the flexibility of floppies since they offer storage without any power requirements but.. they are bulky where weight is an issue.
Member said:
I need help! I plan on thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Scenic Trail this
summer at 2600 miles long. I would like to use a very lightweight digital
camera to record the magnificent scenery along the way. I know nothing of
digital cameras except for Sony mavica fd-71 I have that is far to heavy
and battery hungry to take. Weight is crucial on this trip. I need to be
able to record photos and then mail them home for later viewing etc. as I
will not be near a computer often enough on the trail as it is mostly a
wilderness journey. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
Using a digital camera for those hikes must be a pain. Have you considered just buying a small p+s camera like a Olympus Epic and stick to 35mm. Then when you develop it, see if you can also make a picture disk where they digitize the pictures onto a floppy for you.

What advantage do you see in using a digital camera or the reason why you would want to use a digital camera?
Member said:
Member said:
I need help! I plan on thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Scenic Trail this
summer at 2600 miles long. I would like to use a very lightweight digital
camera to record the magnificent scenery along the way. I know nothing of
digital cameras except for Sony mavica fd-71 I have that is far to heavy
and battery hungry to take. Weight is crucial on this trip. I need to be
able to record photos and then mail them home for later viewing etc. as I
will not be near a computer often enough on the trail as it is mostly a
wilderness journey. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
First, check out Steve's Digicams. In his review section their is a review done of a Solar Powered battery charger. It's small and light. This charger could be attached to the outside of your backpack. It charges AA batteries if I remember correctly and takes 12 to 16 hours depending on sunshine. Other cameras that are light use proprietary batteries that won't work with this solar powered charger. Don't use the LCD if you can help it and you may be able to get buy without charging. The Nikon 800 will get 100 shots with the LCD on if I remember correctly.

That, would limit you of course, to cameras that use AA batteries. This puts you into the realm of Nikon 950 and 800. The Oly 2020 can also be considered, but is uses Smartmedia and you need to get more very expensive 64MB cards. The 800 Nikon and Oly 2020 are about 120 grams lighter than the FD-71. I'd opt for the 800 Nikon, as it uses Compact Flash. One or two 96MB card should do if you don't photograph in TIFF! Get an extra lens cap or two and some sort of protective cover. You'll miss the 400mm capability of the Sony but you'll gain far better image sharpness with the 1600 X 1200 res as opposed to the 640 X 480 res in the old Sony.

You can just use film. A dozen rolls of film, while not heavy, occupies a lot of space in a backpack. It's also very susceptible to damage from heat.
Tom Conover said:
I need help! I plan on thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Scenic Trail this
summer at 2600 miles long. I would like to use a very lightweight digital
camera to record the magnificent scenery along the way. I know nothing of
digital cameras except for Sony mavica fd-71 I have that is far to heavy
and battery hungry to take. Weight is crucial on this trip. I need to be
able to record photos and then mail them home for later viewing etc. as I
will not be near a computer often enough on the trail as it is mostly a
wilderness journey. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
Keat Lim said:
Member said:
Member said:
I need help! I plan on thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Scenic Trail this
summer at 2600 miles long. I would like to use a very lightweight digital
camera to record the magnificent scenery along the way. I know nothing of
digital cameras except for Sony mavica fd-71 I have that is far to heavy
and battery hungry to take. Weight is crucial on this trip. I need to be
able to record photos and then mail them home for later viewing etc. as I
will not be near a computer often enough on the trail as it is mostly a
wilderness journey. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Keat, you may have a point regarding just regular film cameras. I used disposable cameras on Appalachian Trail hike last year. Seemed that lack of processing and post editing options were nice features of digital cameras. Ultimately I may decide to use inexpensive 35 mm film camera if I can't find a better digital alternative.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Keat Lim said:
Member said:
Member said:
I need help! I plan on thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Scenic Trail this
summer at 2600 miles long. I would like to use a very lightweight digital
camera to record the magnificent scenery along the way. I know nothing of
digital cameras except for Sony mavica fd-71 I have that is far to heavy
and battery hungry to take. Weight is crucial on this trip. I need to be
able to record photos and then mail them home for later viewing etc. as I
will not be near a computer often enough on the trail as it is mostly a
wilderness journey. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Instead of 35mm, what about the APS p+s cameras? Might have limitations compared to 35mm, but film cartridges are smallerAs well as camera itself), easier to load the film, ect.

My brother went to Thailand/India. He bought a CP950/40MB CF, and a clik! drive to copy from the CF to the Clik cartridges. He has been emailing me, but guess not allowed to hook up camera/cf card reader to the comps in the inet cafes, since he has yet to send me any pics:(
 
Hi Tom,

even being a "digital fan" and happy owner of a digital camera, I share Keat's opinion that, in your case, staying with film appears to be the most appropriate solution. Having done 1-2 weeks hikes in the past, I know very well how heavy the backpack becomes! By the way, are you really planning a 2,600 miles hike? How long will it take? I never went over a 50 miles/week pace.

Coming back to your question, digital cameras seem not yet ready for this kind of use. For the time being, you may consider the photo-CD, as suggested by Keat, or to buy a film scanner. Either solutions will give you the possibility of transferring your images to a computer and benefitting of editing options. Next year, may be, suitable digital cameras will be available on the market. Technology runs fast (faster than hikers)!

Have a nice trip!

ciao

Giorgio
Tom Conover said:
Keat Lim said:
Member said:
Member said:
I need help! I plan on thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Scenic Trail this
summer at 2600 miles long. I would like to use a very lightweight digital
camera to record the magnificent scenery along the way. I know nothing of
digital cameras except for Sony mavica fd-71 I have that is far to heavy
and battery hungry to take. Weight is crucial on this trip. I need to be
able to record photos and then mail them home for later viewing etc. as I
will not be near a computer often enough on the trail as it is mostly a
wilderness journey. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Keat, you may have a point regarding just regular film cameras. I used disposable cameras on Appalachian Trail hike last year. Seemed that lack of processing and post editing options were nice features of digital cameras. Ultimately I may decide to use inexpensive 35 mm film camera if I can't find a better digital alternative.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Giorgio Terdina said:
Hi Tom,
even being a "digital fan" and happy owner of a digital camera, I share
Keat's opinion that, in your case, staying with film appears to be the
most appropriate solution. Having done 1-2 weeks hikes in the past, I
know very well how heavy the backpack becomes! By the way, are you really
planning a 2,600 miles hike? How long will it take? I never went over a
50 miles/week pace.

Coming back to your question, digital cameras seem not yet ready for this
kind of use. For the time being, you may consider the photo-CD, as
suggested by Keat, or to buy a film scanner. Either solutions will give
you the possibility of transferring your images to a computer and
benefitting of editing options. Next year, may be, suitable digital
cameras will be available on the market. Technology runs fast (faster
than hikers)!
Have a nice trip!
Click to expand...
Giorgio, concerning trip it will take about 4 1/2 months starting around May 1. About 250 people attempt the PCT each year and about 10 % finish. Ckeck out http://www.pcta.org . I did Appalachian Trail last year where about 2500 start and about 15 % finish. Its kinda like your 1-2 week trip done over and over again for 4 1/2 months except you accumulate a certain amount of trail wear that stays untill months after hike. Thanks for advice and I probably will use film. I really liked the new Astracam 1000 but saw no way to transfer images to disc-card internally to mail home.
Member said:
ciao

Giorgio
Tom Conover said:
Keat Lim said:
Member said:
Member said:
I need help! I plan on thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Scenic Trail this
summer at 2600 miles long. I would like to use a very lightweight digital
camera to record the magnificent scenery along the way. I know nothing of
digital cameras except for Sony mavica fd-71 I have that is far to heavy
and battery hungry to take. Weight is crucial on this trip. I need to be
able to record photos and then mail them home for later viewing etc. as I
will not be near a computer often enough on the trail as it is mostly a
wilderness journey. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Keat, you may have a point regarding just regular film cameras. I used disposable cameras on Appalachian Trail hike last year. Seemed that lack of processing and post editing options were nice features of digital cameras. Ultimately I may decide to use inexpensive 35 mm film camera if I can't find a better digital alternative.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Personally, I would opt for a cheap p&s camera. I wouldn't wan to haul my brand new $500- 600 digicam into the wilderness and drop it in a lovely
mountain stream somewhere.

kevi
 
I would choose a film camera for this type of trip. A good one to consider is the Canon Elph Jr. It's incredibly small, has a fixed wide angle lens, and takes APS panaramas. Do a search for Canon Elph Jr and you should find plenty of postings giving examples of pictures taken with this camera. If you want a well made tiny camera that takes great pictures then the Canon Elph Jr is certainly worth considering.
 
I live in Washington state, and have spent a bit of time on the Pacific Crest Trail. If it were me I would probably look at something like a Yashica T4 or

an Olympus Stylus Epic. They are cheap (the Olympus can be had for under $90), fixed lense and and somewhat weather resistant (always good in

our climate). Oh, yeah, they take pretty good pictures as well. I took a Yashica T4 all over Glacier Peak one particularly rainy fall and it worked out
nicel
 
Hey guys,

Im currently studying industrial/product design, and coincidently have been given a project to design a digital camera. I am focusing my design on a similar market to which Tom is looking for. My target market is for the outdoors type, for eg. hikers, climbers - extreme sports.

Reading previous replies obviously weight is acrucial issue. I am looking at making the camera splash/water proof. Any further suggestions would be appreciated.

There are certain components we are required to include in the design: TFT screen, 4xAA batteries, Lens unit - F4.0x4.7, 29-58mm 2xzoom, PCB area 6050mm square, capacitor 300v 270 mF. Im not even too sure what all the specs mean, but any feedback as to whether you believe a suitable camera with these requirements with my target market in mind would be appreciated.

Cheers guys
 
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