[pct-l] Digital vs.

[dude at fastmail.ca (dude)]

see my comments below (its long)...

> My QUESTION is this:  what is the bottom line
> regarding weight for similar sized cameras - digital
> vs. 35mm?  

I am not sure about which type of camera is heavier.  Based on my 
experiece, I would have to say that film cameras are usually lighter 
unless you want to skimp on quality for a digital camera.  I have 
seen some very very small and light digital cameras, but they are 
always very poor quality.  When you go shopping for a digital camera, 
you will definitely want to get at least a 2 megapixel camera if you 
plan on printing 4x6's or smaller.  If you think that you might want 
to make prints larger than 4x6 (say 5x7 or 8x10), then you should 
look for at least a 3 megapixel and possibly more. In fact, 5 
megapixel cameras are getting cheaper and smaller all the time.  The 
bottom line here is that the more megapixels that the camera can 
record, the more data is stored which will make the image sharper and 
more detailed.  There is a point, however, at which more megapixels 
do not benefit the average user.  If you are very particular about 
how your photos look, and you like to make large prints, consider 
spending the extra money for more megapixels.  On the other hand, if 
you just like to print 3x5's, and don't really notice the fine 
details of photography, and just like to share a few photos with 
friends and family, then a 2 megapixel will probably do fine.  Most 
places like Best Buy, OfficeMax, and CompUSA will have samples of 
photos available for you to look at so that you can see what you are 
willing to live with.  If you just want to put photos on a website 
and never plan on printing them, then just get the cheapest smallest 
cameral you can find because most computer monitors are unable to 
display anything more detailed than 72 dots per inch.  Many of these 
lower quality cameras will only take photos that are 640x480, which 
will be fine for viewing on a computer(but definitely not for prints).


> Do you have to bring "extras" with the
> digital, such as a battery charger and memory sticks?
> Do you carry the "extras" or bump them ahead?  Are you
> more limited by the digital regarding how many photos
> you can take?

You may have to bring "extras" with you, but the weight of these 
extras is miniscule.  I always use Lithium Ion batteries, which last 
4x longer and weight 1/3 as much as regular batteries.  This way, you 
could easily carry only one set of batteries (in the camera) for a 
week or so, then pick up extras in your drift box after a week or 
so.  As long as you didn't accidentally leave your camera on, this 
would work fine.  My lithium batteries have lasted as long as 4 weeks 
on the trail.  Although Lithium batteries are not rechargable, the 
fact that you will use 4x fewer of them does help to reduce waste.

The number of photos per card depends heavily on 2 things: the number 
of megapixels of the camera, and the type/size of storage media.  
Most cameras offer several 'quality" settings that can affect the 
size and quality of the photos, but it seems foolish to buy a 5 
megapixel camera (which will weigh more and cost more) if you will 
only use the 2 megapixel setting.  That being said, a 5 megapixel 
camera will be able to store fewer photos on the same size media card 
than a 2 megapixel card.  There are basically about 7 different types 
of storage media:
1.  Smart Media Card
2.  Secure Digital Card
3.  Multimedia Card
4.  Compact Flash Card
5.  IBM MicroDrive
6.  XD Digital Picture Card
7.  Sony Memory Stick

Right off the bat, like most of their products, Sony's memory card is 
propriertary, so it will cost more and will be slightly harder to 
find/replace and will not be compatible with non-Sony cameras.  For 
this reason, I do not like Sony Cameras.  However, their cameras 
produce very high-quality images, are reported to be very reliable, 
and come with user-friendly software to help beginners and non-
technical users to easily extract and manipulate the photos.

Smart Media Cards have probably the most widely used storage media up 
to the present time.  Many digital cameras and other devices (mp3 
players) use them, and the technology is not proprietary and is 
manufactured by many different companies.  For this reason, smart 
media cards are fairly inexpensive.  However, because of the large 
number of companies that make these cards, very occasionally you will 
see certain cards that will be incompatible or might not work as well 
in certain devices.  Personally, this has not really been a problem 
for my digital camera, which uses Smart Media Cards.  One very big 
limitation for smart media cards is that the largest card made is 128 
meg.  This size card will hold approximately 200 to 250  3 megapixel 
photos, which may seem like alot but you end up taking many more 
photos with a digital camera and you will notice the card fill up 
fast.  The Smart Media format is certainly the least expensive of all 
the formats.  One friend of mine who recently rode his bicycle from 
Houston to Acongagua had an interesting plan for his photos:  he 
bought a ton of small (16 meg) Smart Media cards and as he filled up 
the cards, he mailed them home in a regular envelope.  This way, he 
surmised that if something happened to him, or his camera, or his 
card, he would at least have the media cards that he had mailed 
home.  This plan also takes advantage of the fact that the smaller 
cards are cheap because no one wants them.  I think that the basic 
concept of the plan would work for all of the media formats.

Compact Flash cards have been around for a very long time and are 
reported to be very reliable.  As devices have started to get smaller 
and smaller, fewer of them are using Compact Flash cards because they 
are the largest of the media storage cards (they probably weigh the 
most also).  One ebenfit of these cards is that they go up to at 
least 512 megs, which is significalty more than Smart media cards.  
Additionally, most devices that use compact flash cards will also 
accept the IBM MicroDrive, which can be 1 gig or possibly larger.  
Compact Flash cards are about 10% more expensive than Smart media 
Cards for the same amount of memory.  

The IBM MicroDrive, from what I understand, is really sort of a 
suplemental media storage device for products that use the Compact 
Flash card.  I call the MicroDrive a "device" because it is not 
simply a solid-state card like the compact flash.  The MicroDrive is 
actually is tiny hard-drive, which is why it can store so much more.  
One down-side to the mocrodrive is that is supposedly drains your 
camera's batteries much faster because it has moving parts and does 
not have its own power supply but rather uses power from the device 
that it is interted into.  Microdrives used to be exclusively 
produced by IBM, but are now made by other companies under liscense 
from IBM.  Because of the increased load on batteries and subsequent 
reduced battery life, I do not recomend the MicroBrive.

Secure Digital/MultiMedia Cards - These cards are usually 
interchangeable and are often referred to as "SD/MMC" cards.  These 
cards are slightly smaller than Smart Media carsd and can actually 
hold more photos.  I believe that the largest SD/MMC cards are 512 
meg, which is significantly more than the Smart Media Cards.  Despite 
the benefits of these cards over the smart media card, the SD/MMC 
card did not enjoy the popularity of the Smart Media card up to now.  
Recently, the SD/MMC card has increased in popularity and is 
certainly easy to find and replace.  However, SD/MMC cards are still 
slightly more expensive than  Smart Media cards (probably about 30% 
on average for the same amount of memory).

XD Digital Picture Cards - these cards are the "new kid on the 
block", but they are quickly gaining popularity and accemptance.  
Many manufacturers (inlcuding Olympus) are adopting this format 
because it was developed specifically for digital images and digital 
cameras.  The XD card is very tiny, even smaller than either the 
Smart Media card or the SD/MMC cards.  Currently, the largest XD card 
is around 265 meg.  Hoever, the official XD technical standard 
projects the limit of the XD format at 8 gig, which is much larger 
than any media card currently available.   These cards are currently 
about 40-50% more expensive than Smart Media cards for the same 
amount of memory.  However, the prospect of being able to buy an 8 
gig card may be worth the extra cost.  This technology is at its 
beginning, whereas Smart Media and compact flash seem to be near the 
end of their life cycle, and certainly near the end of the technical 
advancements of the format.  The next digital camera that I buy will 
probably be one that uses the XD card. 

The weight of most of these media formats (excluding the microdrive, 
and compact flash to a lesser extent) is almost negligible.  I ahve 
notw eighed a Smart Media card on my postal scale, but I would not be 
surprised if it didn't even register (less than 0.1 oz).  I would 
guess that the SD/MMC or XD card would be the same.  Of course if you 
carried 100 cards, it would weigh at least several ounces.  

You will have to either bring lost of cards or transfer the photos 
off the media cards somehow.  If you wanted to do a version of the 
plan that my friend did (mailing back cards to home), you could put 
cards in your dift box and mail back the used cards at the spots 
where you meet with your drift box.  Alternatively, you will need 
some way to transfer the photos from a limited number of media cards 
that you carry with you.  You will need a device in your drift box 
that would allow you to do this.  You could either use a laptop, or 
buy a mass storage device that is compatible with either your card or 
your camera.  Some mass storage devices have usb connections that 
would allow you to connect directly to your camera, others might have 
a slot for your memory card.  You will need to research this in 
detail to figure out what would work for you.  Using a laptop or a 
mass storage device, make sure you have enough storage space for your 
whole trip.  For example, if you hike for 100 days and average 35 
photos per day, that will add up to about 2.5 gig of storage needed 
(this assumes 3 megapixel photos.  larger photos will require even 
more space).

HTH.

peace!
dude
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