[pct-l] Cameras

[David Money Harris]

Samuel,

I spent quite a bit of time looking this fall and finally settled on the 
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3 for my thru-hike.

I wanted a camera that was light weight, takes pictures of quality 
adequate to publish in a guidebook, could cover wide angle scenery and 
also reach at least 4x zoom, would survive my tender treatment, and was 
responsive.  Image stabilization and GPS location stamping were pluses 
(and are on the TS3).

I've loved my Canon Elphs over the years, but have gone through three of 
them on account of a particle of dust in the lens, a fall from a fire 
lookout ladder, and an interaction with my toddler.  So I ordered the 
Canon A1200 because it operates on rechargable AA batteries.  It was 
dead on arrival, with vertical purple bands on all the photos.  I got a 
replacement, which lasted 29 days before it failed in exactly the same 
way.  Fortunately, it was from Amazon with a 30-day return policy and I 
sent it back.  The only other Canon with rechargeable batteries is a big 
superzoom that was too heavy to consider.

I've taken about 1000 pictures with the TS3 now.  It shockproof to 6 
feet, water proof, and doesn't have a lens that extends outside the 
camera.  Leaving the GPS running in the background hasn't noticeably 
degraded battery life; I plan on carrying a spare battery and recharging 
at food drops, but expect I can leave the GPS on all the time.  The 
picture quality has been good at screen resolution, though it doesn't 
have as much sharp detail as a SLR when I zoom in to the pixel level.  
The lack of an extending lens must hurt the image quality and was a 
point of concern for me, but I'm pleased with the pictures anyway and am 
glad to have a camera that is likely to survive the trip. I'm quite 
satisfied.

Many other reviews suggesed that the TS3 is the best of the bunch of 
today's rugged cameras.

I got a roocase Neoprene sleeve to go with it.

Canon just came out with their S100, which has GPS.  If I were shopping 
again and didn't need the rugged form factor, I'd look at the Canon as well.

Happy hiking,

DMoney

On 1/12/2012 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> Message: 14
> Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:33:18 -0800
> From: Samuel Theule<samtheule at gmail.com>
> Subject: [pct-l] Cameras
> To:pct-l at backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
> 	<CAPnNA999xQ86onHK20htg=2nosFsO7fkP8t1HA6M5G788OdY-Q at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> hey everyone, I wanted to get your opinions on some lightweight digital
> camera options. something that doesn't weigh or cost a ton, but still takes
> quality manual pictures.