[pct-l] O.T. Digital Cameras and Thru-Hikes

[dude at fastmail.ca (dude)]

The Olympus Stylus is repeated quite often on this list as the camera 
of choice.  That is what I use on all my hikes.  Its not digital, but 
as you say, the batteries last much longer because of that.  Its also 
durable and "weather-proof".   I have said before on this list that 
while hiking from tahoe to whitney in 98, I passed two unreleated 
people who were also using the Olympus Stylus and said that they had 
dropped the camera in a stream and recovered it quickly and it still 
worked fine.  I've certainly exposed mine to alot of rainy weather with 
no problems.

I also met some pro photographers on top of Whitney who had lugged up 
100lbs of photo gear who said that the Olympus Stylus was their "point 
and shoot of choice".  One of them said that he carries one in his 
glove box in case he see's the "perfect shot" and doesn't have his good 
camera.

OTOH, that camera is probably old technology by now.  I bought mine in 
97.  There are a number of super-small and light weight cameras out 
there these days, and going digital eliminates the HUGE expense of 
developing all the film that you will take on a thru-hike.  In 
addition, with a digital camera, you will probably take more photos and 
thus have more opportunities for that "perfect shot".

I have been looking at replacing my Olympus with the Pentax Optip 
(mentioned on this list), The Casio Exilim, or the Minolta Dimage.  All 
of these are digital and tiny.

I am also looking at these two SUPER-TINY camera's from oregon 
scientific:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AMDXZ
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000AMDXL

Good luck choosing a camera!

peace,
dude



> Off Topic - no way!
> 
> I carried an Olympus digital on the AT last year. It used 4 AA
> batteries. I carried extra batteries at first, then found that by
> turning off the display the batteries would last more than a week.
> That was more than long enough to swap them out during town stops if
> they were starting to get low.
> 
> We  carried an Olympus point-and-shoot film camera on the PCT. It took
> a special battery. As mentioned in another thread, put a spare in the
> bounce box. Actually this one was so light I carried one spare and had
> a third in the bounce box. Don't ever want to run out of camera
> batteries and miss the wonderful scenery on the PCT.
> 
> Ken
> www.GottaWalk.com
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ken Marlow" <kenmarlow@earthlink.net>
> To: "Pacific Crest Trail List" <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 8:30 PM
> Subject: [pct-l] O.T. Digital Cameras and Thru-Hikes
> 
> 
>> I'm considering a digital camera, but am concerned about battery
>> longevity on longer backpacking trips. I use one at work and noticed
>> once the the supplied lithium battery was no longer good,
>> rechargeable NIMH don't have that much of a life. What are you doing
>> for the battery situation? The thought of a solar recharging unit
>> sounds heavy.
>> 
>> I'd prefer a small manual conventional SLR or similar, as the
>> battery's
> only
>> needed to operate the meter, but it might outweigh the digital, in
>> film
> and
>> body weight.  Any ideas?
>> 
>> -Ken M.
>> 
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