[pct-l] Camera

[Kevin Cook]

Lot's of excellent advice here. Some I disagree with though. I'll just make
a list of the important factors I would look for.

1. As was said above, look for a wide angle lens. They aren't as common as
they could be on inexpensive point and shoot cameras, but they are out
there.

2. I used to make sure my camera used AA batteries so it could share with
the GPS. Unless you're already planning to carry extra AAs for something
else, a camera with a proprietary battery is fine. Most should take a
thousand photos on a single charge, so just bring 2 and bounce your charger.
Here is where testing before you take it will help. Get the camera early and
experiment to find out how long the battery lasts. If you only get 5 days,
you might want a couple extra batteries.

3. Now to memory cards... As was said before, lots of little cards are
better. With all do respect to John, do NOT get a 16GB card. That will hold
thousands of photos! If it goes bad or gets lost, you lose thousands of
photos! Another advantage is the smaller ones are cheaper. I carry four 2GB
cards with me. With my DSLR, I can shoot ~800 RAW photos on one card. If I
had a 16GB card, that would be ~6400 pictures! So far, I've been lucky
enough to not lose any photos on a 2GB card, but I would be pretty upset to
lose 800 pictures. Imagine losing 6400!!!

Gary's tips about using the camera are good ones.

On Sun, Nov 21, 2010 at 9:54 PM, John Abela <pacificcresttrail2011 at gmail.com
> wrote:

> On Sat, Nov 20, 2010 at 8:37 PM, Ethan Smith <esmith11 at my.whitworth.edu
> >wrote:
>
> > I would love to get some advice about buying a camera for my 2011
> > thru-hike. I am looking for one that is light-weight, durable, $150
> range,
> > takes good (doesn't have to be excellent) pictures, and is easy to use.
> > Also, what have you done about memory cards?
> > Thanks!
> >
>
>
>
> Hello Ethan,
>
> Two you might want to look at are:
>
> Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7  -- this has a very impressive zoom and even more
> impressive a wide-angle feature - and why would you want a wide-angle on a
> trip like the PCT!!  It is about $100 over your price range, but it would
> be
> a great hundred dollar investment.
>
> Canon PowerShot SD1400IS -- would be a #2 choice. Does not have the
> impressive zoom or wide-angle but it is still an amazing bang for the buck.
>
> Canon PowerShot SD1300IS -- would be the choice if you just really have to
> keep the price of the camera under $150. It is pretty much identical to the
> SD1400IS minus 2-power zoom.
>
>
> All three of these cameras are going to be super light, beyond reliable and
> priced about right. They all also do video which is great for the short
> videos you might want to do. They can all be found on amazon.com
>
>
> Memory cards:
>
> Memory cards come down to two things:
>
> The amount of photos you need to store
> Whether you want to do video.
>
> At the top end of things I would recommend the "SanDisk 16GB Extreme - SDHC
> Class 10" (do an amazon search for "SDSDX3-016G-P31"). They are a bit
> expensive at 75-80 bucks, but the 16gigs is a nice amount of room for both
> video and pictures. I carry two of them on my trips (I do a lot of videos
> for youtube.)  Being that they are Class 10 they can handle the high
> quality
> of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7. The higher the class number the faster than
> can 'save' photos/video. So, if you want to do a videos you should get at
> least a Class 6, but an 8 or 10 are ideal if you want to do the higher
> quality video. For photos only, Class 6 is a great way to go and save some
> money.
>
>
> Obviously a lot of options out there, as I am sure you have discovered. The
> above are just my suggestions. The three cameras I listed are all going to
> give you amazing quality photos, fit within a hip-pouch on your pack have
> great battery life, and are reasonably priced for what they are. Memory
> cards are a nightmare in and of themselves. All I would say about them is
> even if you do not buy the one I recommended above, try to buy a SanDisk.
> There are other companies out there making decent memory cards, and cheaper
> ones, but the reliability of a card is sooo important on a long trip like
> the PCT. It is a once in a life-time chance for most of us. Don't skimp out
> and get a lower-quality memory card that's going to store all the photos of
> place you'll probably never get back too.
>
> John
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-- 
~ Kevin
Soon To Be PCT Thru Hiker!
"The indoor life is the next best thing to premature burial." Edward Abbey