what camera is the best for an AT thru-hike. digital, or 35mm? the problem with digital is that if something happens to your memory card you are screwed out of all your pics to that date, whereas 35mm you have a hard copy in your film, and if something happened you only will lose one roll of film. What have other thru-hikers done about a camera.
Ben Dover
Last year I hiked in the winter with a Minolta Diimage digital camera. The pictures from it are on my 2005 TJ site. I think it did quite well, is small and light, and uses a standard SD storage card.
If you are concerned about your memory card, why not buy 3 or 4 of them and as they get full, send them home to someone. If you get the 256mb or smaller cards, they are pretty cheap. The newer cards are 1gb and now 2gb, and they cost more.
With your pictures on a SD card, you can get a small USB port adaptor and upload the pics wherever there is a computer with internet access.
The only thing I know about 35mm cameras is that they are larger and heavier. If you plan on doing any uploads of your pics, the digital camera is the way to go. IMHO
jaws
I ruined a lot of film with my 35mm, not to mention the ones I never got processed because of the lack of cash. and to date I have never loss a single digital pic and I have shot about 4000. I would never pick film over digital unless I was shooting with a medium format camera or unless someone else was packing it and paying for the prrocessing. but, thats just me. oh yeah, I love the fact that I can veiw each pic as I shoot them, it has really cut down on the number of junk pics I take, and has improved my photography.
Animal Man
joey
I had a 35mm in 04 and a digital in 05 and liked my digital much better. Definitely one thing I discovered is that I took a lot more pictures with the digital since I wasn’t concerned about the price of film or taking a second shot of something.
0101
I suggest a camera that takes AA batteries instead of a “priority battery” that requires recharging. Nothing more frustrating that seeing a “battery low” indicator and not a 110v receptacle in sight to recharge. Carrying a few AA batteries for your camera might save missing the picture of a lifetime!
2Questions
Digital. It is just too expensive these days to have film processed, and often, I want them on my computer anyways, without paying even more for that. 0101 pointed out a good part, you take alot more pics when you don’t have to woory about development, and you can sort through it all later.
A very popoluar and relatively inexpensive camera is the Olympus Stylus 300. Small, very durable and water resistant, lightweight. Not the newest camera out there so the cost has decreased significantly, and uses SD cards, as jaws said above, the 256Mb cards are low cost. 3 megapixal, gives excellent pics (I never saw a need for those 5,6, or 8 megapixal cameras for what I need them for, and very happy with the quality I get).
Do a search for digital cameras on TJ, this topic has come up several times.
ALso, check online at places like pricewatch.com for cameras, often you get them much cheaper then at other stores, even the online version of the stores (ie BestBuy.com). My camera, all the cables, battery, a few extra cards, etc etc, totaled under $250, and I take it everywhere, and use it alot, still works great, no problems.
have a great hike,
-xtn :boy
airferret
Nikon announced that it will cease making all film cameras except two and all large format and enlarging lenses.
My suggestion would be to go digital and get the smaller cards that way you risk less loss and you can swap them out with someone from home.
I have a canon s500 which I’ve been really happy with. It has great battery life if you don’t use the LCD screen & use the viewfinder most of the time.
The other camera I like if you’re concerned about weather is the Pentax WP5i. It’s waterproof down to one meter so rain is pretty much a non issue. The downside is a shorter battery life since there’s only an LCD screen.
viabledaddy
I never even take the memory card out of my camera so it’s doubtful that anything will happen to it. I have a small usb cable that I carry to upload pictures so it doesnt even come out in town. Film takes up a lot of space if you dont mail it home frequently and I have ruined film before by dropping it in water, crushing it, and accidentally opening the back of the camera. Most digital cameras have more options and features than a cheap point and shoot 35 so you will get better pictures with digital if you know how to use it.
Bon Scott
I hiked SOBO in '03 and used disposable cameras the whole time. They took surprisingly good pictures given the camea type. No one seems to be mentioning disposables but they have several advantages: lightweight, no batteries needed, cheap (no worries about rain, scratching, etc). Balance that against the cost of developing and normal film limitations (no instant display, no unlimited picture taking).
The biggest camera issue I saw on the trail was batteries. Using the preview feature, some cameras can burn through batteries rather quickly, and as 2Questions mentioned, 120 VAC outlets are not too common on the AT. Spare AA batteries are heavy too, especially if you need 8+ for your camera and flash.
The other issue you should consider is what you will do with all those photos. Do you normally take hundreds of pictures? A big fancy camera that’s deep in your pack won’t be much use for that spur-of-the-moment shot (kind of like a gun). 10 pictures of the same view? A hillside view? Finally, don’t forget to label each picture either during or shortly after they’re taken. I’ve got dozens of photos that must have been significant at the time, but now are just another mountain.
Goggles
I missed so many good pictures (especially Grayson Highlands…damn!) due to fear of running out of film, or because I DID run out. I wish I had spent the money and research time for a digital.
Go digital
Leki-Less
Suggestion - buy and use lithium (either AA or AAA) batteries with your digital camera. Longer life, perform better during winter, and weigh less. Not cheap, though.
I have a little notebook that I enter my personal journal in daily. At the bottom of each day I write down any pictures taken that day and what they were of.
jaws
Well I hate to say this and I never thought that I would but digital is really the way to go for all of the reasons listed above. However, I would get the largest MP camera that is in your budget because you will be taking a bunch of photos and chances are good that you will eventually take a photo that you will want to enlarge. If you are in the 2 to 3 MP range you will be limited with what you can do but the high end MP cameras are rivaling what film can do sniff sniff
Prospector
Take a look at
www.pentaximaging.com/products/product_details/digital_camera--Optio43WR/reqID--1004/subsection--optioe
ALL the features a thru hiker needs. We used this one on our thru-hike of the AT '04 and for our thru hike of the PCT '05. Takes wonderful pics, uses AA batteries (use the lithium ones). Water proof, 4MP, no moving gagets on the outside to get grit/dirt/water in. You can do movies, attach a verbal description to each photo. Rubber corners in case it is dropped etc. We never had a single problem with it. It will accept a tri-pod too. We’ll answer any questions you have. Good luck.
Little Bump and Flounder
I totally agree that digital is the way to go. I film camera that can outperform a digital is much heavier. Also, the preview function makes digital a winner. Nothing worse then going home and finding your picture had a smudge on the lens, or heads cut off, or out of focus, etc… Preview the shots before moving on. It’s bad? Delete it and shoot another one. You’ll never be at that moment again, make it right.
People mentioned batteries. I had a Canon S400 (would recommend the 5MP or the 7MP version available now). I had 2 lithium ion batteries with me. The battery symbol NEVER appeared. You are in town every 4 or 5 days. While you’re shopping, just plug in your charger. The trick to long battery life is to use the optical viewfinder not the LCD to take pictures. That’s what eats up the battery. 90 - 100 shots with the LCD viewfinder on, 300 - 400 with it off.
Film / disposables are just too expensive. The cost of film / cameras is more than the cost of a digital camera + memory card.
Dave and Miranda
I also think that digital is the way to go, but my eyes glaze over every time I try to read descriptions of them or how to use them. Do you have to recharge them even if you use the AA batteries? How do you know when the memory card is full? Do you just pop out a card and pop in another one? What the heck are all those cables for? AAhh!!
I really don’t want to spend $200-$300 or more unless I absolutely have to. I also don’t want to spend a month figuring out how to use it before I leave.
Guess I better research some more…
Mindi
Mindi