[pct-l] Film cameras

[john@frozenpoodle.com (John Brennan)]

I took a Nikon 885 (digital) on the PCT this year, and really liked it.  I
added a 256MB memory card and took two rechargeable batteries.  The camera
has a 30mm-70mm zoom, not great, but better than a fixed focal length lens.

The batteries were the biggest worry.  I don't think I ever ran out of
juice, but I got close once.  The recharger was in my bounce box, as were
non-rechargeable batteries.  The suggestion for a camera that uses AA or AAA
batteries is good, but good luck in finding a camera that meets your other
specifications too.  For one long bounce box-less section, I actually
carried the battery charger...

I was bouncing a laptop, so when I had it, I'd transfer photos to the
laptop.   If you didn't want to do that (and after my experience, I can
understand why), you could just get more memory cards.  It was nice though
to be able to rename the files along the way from the cryptic camera file
name to something more descriptive.  If I had to do it at the end, I might
not even get the name of the state right... If you have a person and the
hardware at home, you might be able to do a long trip with two cards,
swapped when necessary.

A quick cost/benefit analysis revealed that the initial investment in a
digital camera would soon pay for itself when compared to film.  Plus, I
loved being able to take as many pictures as I wanted.  I never came close
(with periodic downloads) to filling up a 256MB card.  My files were
typically 200K-400K.

The Nikon 885 has a macro lens, a feature I really, really liked. Although
the photo pages are nowhere near complete, all the photos are my site were
taken with the 885.  The macro features show best at
www.cupcakewalk.com/photos/flowers.html.

I'll post a note to this list when my photos are all there.

John B./Cupcake

>Hi all,
>I'm looking to replace my now defunct Olympic Epic Stylus Zoom 80.
>I thought I would want to switch to digital for my PCT thruhike next year
>Mara