Hiking Camera

[willindeed]

I will be hiking the Appalachian Trail later this year and need help in selecting a camera to record my adventure. Factors that are crucial are weight, water resistance and durability. The hike will take six months, so I'll be exposed to much that Mother Nature can dish out. Since I'll be carrying everything on my back, size and weight are critical. Every ounce is important. While I don't plan on taking underwater pictures, the trail is frequently shrouded in fog and rain in the mountains is frequent. I also will need a camera hardy enough to handle a long trek without being babied.

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible. Around $300 would be the limit.

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you? The lighter the better.

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? 5 or 6 seem fine

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify) I would love to have ultrazoom but the other factors I have listed are more important

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
7 is fine for my eye
Do you care for manual controls? No

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? Outdoor pictures mainly, though the light conditions will range from sunrise to sunset.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? No

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos? Rarely

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos? Rarely

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? My girlfriend has a Canon SD600 and I am fond of both her and her camera.

Are there particular models you already have in mind? The soon to be released Olympus Stylus 770 SW has sure caught my eye. What I wonder and what I hope can be answered on this forum, do I have to get a "waterproof" camera or can I get a "normal" Point and Shoot which will take better pictures and cost less?

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD) See above. I also want the camera to have minimal time lag between shots.

All help will be appreciated. The primary question I have: must I get a waterproof camera, like the Olympus Stylus 770 SW (or its sibling, the 720 SW) or the Pentax W20, or can I get something like the Canon SD600 and put it in a weather proof bag, getting a better picture maker and saving some dough at the same time? Will the SD600, or something similar from another maker, be sturdy enough for a six month trek?

Thanks for all replies.

[speaklightly]

The Pentax W-20 has received good reviews. Here is a link:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_reviews/optio_w20.html

Speaklightly

[Tom_N]

I also will need a camera hardy enough to handle a long trek without being babied.

...

What I wonder and what I hope can be answered on this forum, do I have to get a "waterproof" camera or can I get a "normal" Point and Shoot which will take better pictures and cost less?


Keep in mind that a camera that is "waterproof" may not be "crushproof". I would assume that any camera will need to be babied, at least to the extent of putting it in a small padded photo bag, and trying NOT to set the full pack down on top of it.

Another factor to consider -- will you have frequent access to AC power? If not, you may wish to limit your search to cameras that use AA batteries, so you can carry several sets of disposable alkaline or lithium cells as backup.

[Riley]

there is also the Ricoh Caplio 400G but if memory serves me, way out of your price range. Quite probably the Olympus models 770 SW, the 720 and the 760 might be the simplest choices

http://www.steves-digicams.com/pr/olympus_01252007_stylus770sw_pr.html

http://www.steves-digicams.com/pr/olympus_01252007_stylus760_pr.html

[reppans]

.. Another factor to consider -- will you have frequent access to AC power? If not, you may wish to limit your search to cameras that use AA batteries, so you can carry several sets of disposable alkaline or lithium cells as backup.
What he said...

Hmmm, every camera you've listed interest in has a Li-ion battery... do you have some sort of solar charger? will it work under the canopy along the length of the AT?

Here's my recommendation: http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28471

[flippedgazelle]

You probably will not get better photos out of the SD600 than the Pentax W20 - quite possibly it is the other way around. From samples I've seen the Pentax lens looks to be slightly better than the Canon, though both cameras seem to produce slightly soft, indistinct images IMO. Perhaps it's the photographer.

In addition to being waterproof, the Pentax W20 is also dustproof.

All that said, if you are reasonably careful, I don't see why a Canon A710IS or Panasonic TZ1 would fit the bill quite nicely.

Be sure to wave "hi" as you pass through Sussex County, NJ. I'll wave back atcha! :D

[willindeed]

Thanks to all for the input and assistance. Your words helped me look at the situation with new eyes, and offered me insights that I had not previously considered. Already you have made the upcoming trek a little better. Thanks again.

[LR Max]

In the past when I've done long treks (Philmont, etc), I'll just grab a few disposable cameras. I know it sounds anti-climatic but they are cheap, lightweight, and when you are done filling them up you can strip them down to just the roll of film and discard the rest. As I remember, there are a couple of places along the trail to pick up supplies. You can easily procure another disposable camera.

Another option to look at is Kodaks. I am working on a weather balloon project with some physics peoples and they use kodak easy shares because they are so lightweight. They are plastic and weigh like, half as much as my sony. The cheap plastic kodaks make great cameras for weather balloons where weight is always a concern.

[mattdm]

I'm not really sure about the level of waterproofness you'd need. And I haven't played with that particular model of Pentax, but I've used the W10, and I was very disappointed with both its performance (i.e. speed at doing things, including some essentials like focusing

So, weatherproofing aside, since low-light isn't an issue for you, I'd say Panasonic has your camera -- either the TZ1 for the telephoto zoom or the FX07 for more portability and wide landscape shots. Or, depending on how long you can wait, the upcoming TZ3 for both wide and telephoto.