OT Film camera recommendations.

On 6 Jun 2004 06:45:31 GMT, Brian <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Will be planning on taking photographs on the trip. Power
hungry digital camera not really compatible with wild
camping away from power sources to charge the battery.

I've just spent two weeks away. A week in North Wales with
my class of 21 Year 6 children (11 years old), and a week in
Lochcarron with my mountaineering club. I took over 300
digital photos - and the battery didn't need recharging. The
trick is not to use the screen.

On 6 Jun 2004 06:45:31 GMT, Brian <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Any suggestions welcome - I'm looking to spend £120
maximum.

Was looking on line at this the other day. A solar NiMH
battery charger.

steves-digicams.comicp solar.htmlOpen ↗

HTH

Noz
--
Email (ROT13) [email hidden]

In article <[email hidden]>,
Brian Innes <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Nozza said:

Brian said:

Any suggestions welcome - I'm looking to spend £120
maximum.

Was looking on line at this the other day. A solar NiMH
battery charger.

steves-digicams.comicp solar.htmlOpen ↗

Looks good, except my digital camera doesn't use NiMH
batteries, but a Lithium Ion battery pack...

Still considering getting a standard film camera, should be
able to get a pretty light weight one, and not have to
worry about running out of memory card space etc.

At the top of your budget (Jessops.com price is ten pence
under!) is the Olympus Mju III 150. I have had an older
model Mju zoom for several years and have been very pleased
with it...

--

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Nozza said:

Was looking on line at this the other day. A solar NiMH
battery charger.

steves-digicams.comicp solar.htmlOpen ↗

I've got one of these - took it on Everest Basecamp Trek in
Jan and it worked very well. Of course there's no
'intelligence' (so I wouldn't use it long term) but it
helped keep my dSLR and GPSr going over the trek . Mark
Cavendish Cardiff, Wales

Nozza said:

Brian said:

Any suggestions welcome - I'm looking to spend £120
maximum.

Was looking on line at this the other day. A solar NiMH
battery charger.

steves-digicams.comicp solar.htmlOpen ↗

Looks good, except my digital camera doesn't use NiMH
batteries, but a Lithium Ion battery pack...

Still considering getting a standard film camera, should be
able to get a pretty light weight one, and not have to worry
about running out of memory card space etc.

--
brian

Brian Innes said:

Looks good, except my digital camera doesn't use NiMH
batteries, but a Lithium Ion battery pack...

Ahh, you don't get away that easily! Appreciate that you're
pretty set on getting another camera but just so as you
know: the iSun will output 12v so all you need is a car
adaptor (tho' a 2nd batt would come in handy - otherwise
when you want to take pics its still charging!) . Mark
Cavendish Cardiff, Wales

Brian Innes said:

Nozza said:

Brian said:

Any suggestions welcome - I'm looking to spend £120
maximum.

Was looking on line at this the other day. A solar NiMH
battery charger.

steves-digicams.comicp solar.htmlOpen ↗

Looks good, except my digital camera doesn't use NiMH
batteries, but a Lithium Ion battery pack...

Still considering getting a standard film camera, should be
able to get a pretty light weight one, and not have to
worry about running out of memory card space etc.

You are imagining problems that aren't really there. A spare
battery and using storage as if it was film should get you
through a week. For longer ttrips take a look at this page
luminous-landscape.comwilderness.shtmlOpen ↗
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the
"Westminster Gasworks"
95/284 5/219 c.100/300 (>900m with drop>100m )

In this kind of situation I use a second hand Canon EOS 500
with a 28-90 zoom lens, its widely considered to be the
lightest 35 mm film camera ever made and has the advantage
of using all the same lenses as my 10d thugh I use the
better quality 28 - 105 zoom when weight is not an issue.

Gerald "Mark Cavendish" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Brian Innes said:

Looks good, except my digital camera doesn't use NiMH
batteries, but a Lithium Ion battery pack...

Ahh, you don't get away that easily! Appreciate that
you're pretty set on getting another camera but just so as
you know: the iSun will output 12v so all you need is a
car adaptor (tho' a 2nd batt would come in handy -
otherwise when you want to take pics its still charging!)
. Mark Cavendish Cardiff, Wales

Phil Cook said:

You are imagining problems that aren't really there. A
spare battery and using storage as if it was film should
get you through a week. For longer ttrips take a look at
this page luminous-luminous-Open ↗
landscape.com/locations/wilderness.shtml

Eek! A CD-burner - hardly the most power/weight efficient
item (aside from the foibles of CDRs.

For the record, for a 3 week trek I took: 2 x camera - dSLR
& SLR GPSr (easily the highest batt drain item!) PowerRunner
Li-Ion rechargeable (any voltage, so I could charge AAs,
Archos or direct into camera). In the end used to charge
Archos for music! Archos AV140 (40GB drive) for picture bank
(tho' 'cos I didn't use up all my power I listened to MP3s
as well!). iSun solar charger (charge AAs or output 12v) -
and its very light despite what article asserts 6 x Li-Ion
non-rechargeable AAs as backup (easily the best
charge/weight/low temp batt going) which were'nt needed
Temps down to -10/15 at night, didn't sleep with any of the
gear (!) and it all behaved brilliantly. Did use yaks to
transport but, again, gear all survived the rough treatment!
. Mark Cavendish Cardiff, Wales

Phil Cook said:

You are imagining problems that aren't really there. A
spare battery and using storage as if it was film should
get you through a week.

I tend to agree. These lithium batteries last for ages if
you take care to conserve them. For what he'd spend on a new
camera he could buy one or two spare batteries and a decent
sized memory card, or one of those image banks which store
about 40 gig and weigh only 8 ounces (more reliable than a
CD writer I'd guess).

Paul
--
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photosig.comuserphotosOpen ↗

Mark Cavendish <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

For the record, for a 3 week trek I took: 2 x camera -
dSLR & SLR GPSr (easily the highest batt drain item!)
PowerRunner Li-Ion rechargeable (any voltage, so I could
charge AAs, Archos or direct into camera). In the end used
to charge Archos for music! Archos AV140 (40GB drive) for
picture bank (tho' 'cos I didn't use up all my power I
listened to MP3s as well!). iSun solar charger (charge AAs
or output 12v) - and its very light despite what article
asserts 6 x Li-Ion non-rechargeable AAs as backup (easily
the best charge/weight/low temp batt going) which were'nt
needed Temps down to -10/15 at night, didn't sleep with
any of the gear (!) and it all behaved brilliantly. Did
use yaks to transport but, again, gear all survived the
rough treatment! . Mark Cavendish Cardiff, Wales

Hmmm, thats quite a lot of stuff. I'd need a mountain goat
to carry all that stuff + camping gear + food!

I still think a film camera would be the simplest solution,
rather than faffing around with portable hard drive picture
banks and solar chargers. Would also be the most lightweight
solution too.

I'd be paying around £80 for a 256mb xD card, plus about £30
each for a spare li-ion battery (as I'd said earlier my
camera doesn't use AA type batteries but a special li-ion
battery pack).

--
Brian

On 7 Jun 2004 06:37:03 GMT, Brian <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Hmmm, thats quite a lot of stuff. I'd need a mountain goat
to carry all that stuff + camping gear + food!

Actually, it's not bad! Always take dSLR, GPSr, Archos and
PowerRunner when hiking - I know where I am, can take a
picture of it, all to some great music! Don't need the iSun
on a day hike, but its v light. Water is *easily* the
heaviest thing I take.

Quoted message said:

I still think a film camera would be the simplest solution,
rather than faffing around with portable hard drive picture
banks and solar chargers. Would also be the most
lightweight solution too.

Don't disagree!

Quoted message said:

I'd be paying around £80 for a 256mb xD card, plus about
£30 each for a spare li-ion battery (as I'd said earlier my
camera doesn't use AA type batteries but a special li-ion
battery pack).

That's probably the compromise I'd come to - spending about
the same and you'll use the gear after your trip. And Li-Ion
will hold charge v well, unlike NiMH, tho' they do degrade,
in a general sense, with time (tho' measured in months
rather than days)

. Mark Cavendish Cardiff, Wales

Ok, this seems to have taken a twist. You want a film
camera? I don't know if it would be available in the UK, but
I _really_ like my Olympus Stylist Epic fixed focal length
(35 mm) camera. It is light (4 oz), small ( fits in my shirt
pocket) and weatherproof (rain, fog, mist and the like).
It's lens is optimized for the 35 mm fl. It takes wonderful
pictures as long as a zoom is not required. The price was
reasonable, about $100. When I started calling camera shops
and stated my requirements, the instant recommendation from
every shop was this camera.

Cons, It has almost nothing in the way of controls. You can
turn off the flash but that is it. It is an AUTO camera. It
does good tho'.

Ted

In article <[email hidden]>,

Brian said:

I'm hoping to get away camping for a few days - maybe even
a week - in August.

Will be planning on taking photographs on the trip. Power
hungry digital camera not really compatible with wild
camping away from power sources to charge the battery.

So I'm looking at investing in a reasonable film camera
which is light weight.

I currently have my dads old Fujifilm 100ix APS camera - it
takes good pictures, just it lacks a zoom lens.

I don't suppose there is such a thing as a compact film
camera with manual controls? or at least aperture
priority modes?

Any suggestions welcome - I'm looking to spend £120
maximum.

cheers

--
Brian

C L Imber said:

I've just spent two weeks away. A week in North Wales with
my class of 21 Year 6 children (11 years old), and a week
in Lochcarron with my mountaineering club. I took over 300
digital photos - and the battery didn't need recharging.
The trick is not to use the screen.

Not to use the screen? How do you set the camera up then?

I guess I could use the camera in P mode, and let it do
everything automatically without having to use the lcd
screen to set things up.

--
Brian

[email hidden] (ted kell) wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Ok, this seems to have taken a twist. You want a film
camera? I don't know if it would be available in the UK,
but I _really_ like my Olympus Stylist Epic fixed focal
length (35 mm) camera. It is light (4 oz), small ( fits in
my shirt pocket) and weatherproof (rain, fog, mist and the
like). It's lens is optimized for the 35 mm fl. It takes
wonderful pictures as long as a zoom is not required. The
price was reasonable, about $100. When I started calling
camera shops and stated my requirements, the instant
recommendation from every shop was this camera.

Isn't that known as the Olympus mju-II? According to
google, it is!

Looks a not bad camera, pretty cheap (40 UK pounds or
there about)

I'll certainly think about that camera (or the mju-iii with
zoom lens)

regards

--
Brian

Mark Cavendish said:

On Sun, 06 Jun 2004 22:29:17 +0100, Phil Cook <u-r-walk@p-t-

cook.RfErMeOeVsEeCrAvPeS.co.uk said:

You are imagining problems that aren't really there. A
spare battery and using storage as if it was film should
get you through a week. For longer ttrips take a look at
this page luminous-luminous-Open ↗
landscape.com/locations/wilderness.shtml

Eek! A CD-burner - hardly the most power/weight efficient
item (aside from the foibles of CDRs.

Well given the location the user didn't want to risk a hard-
drive based device that depends on air for the bearings. The
CD-R problems are mostly to do with longevity and making two
copies of each CF card builds in some redundancy. A plus
point is that a burned CD-R isn't going to become unusable
if you drop it.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the
"Westminster Gasworks"
95/284 5/219 c.100/300 (>900m with drop>100m )

Paul Saunders said:

Phil Cook said:

You are imagining problems that aren't really there. A
spare battery and using storage as if it was film should
get you through a week.

I tend to agree. These lithium batteries last for ages if
you take care to conserve them. For what he'd spend on a
new camera he could buy one or two spare batteries and a
decent sized memory card, or one of those image banks which
store about 40 gig and weigh only 8 ounces (more reliable
than a CD writer I'd guess).

Swings and roundabouts. All your egs in one basket with a
HD based storage device or several CD-Rs? I think I would
chose the latter. The CD's aren't going to be for
permanent storage,
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the
"Westminster Gasworks"
95/284 5/219 c.100/300 (>900m with drop>100m ) rather
disposable backup.

Phil Cook said:

Quoted message said:

one of those image banks which store about 40 gig and
weigh only 8 ounces (more reliable than a CD writer I'd
guess).

Swings and roundabouts. All your egs in one basket with a
HD based storage device or several CD-Rs? I think I would
chose the latter. The CD's aren't going to be for
permanent storage,

At the rate I shoot I'd prefer the large hard disk option.
On a particularly good day in the snow a few months back I
used up half of my 512 meg card in the first half hour. I
had to be extremely sparing for the rest of the day, but I
didn't want to be. I could have shot quite a few gig that
day. I dread to think how many CDs I'd go through if I used
that option, and how long does it take to write a CD, or
two? I think an Image Bank would be more convenient, more
compact and probably faster. When I'm in the middle of a
shoot I don't want to have to wait too long to empty the
card so that I can continue.

And I would take a lot of care with it, probably wrapping it
up in some clothing or a padded case and storing it safely
in the middle of my rucksack.

Paul
--
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Brian said:

Hmmm, thats quite a lot of stuff. I'd need a mountain goat
to carry all that stuff + camping gear + food!

He used a yak.

Quoted message said:

I still think a film camera would be the simplest
solution, rather than faffing around with portable hard
drive picture banks

Faffing around? You have to faff around with film every time
your camera runs out. No difference really.

Quoted message said:

and solar chargers.

I wouldn't bother with one of those unless you were on a
really long trip. For a week 2 li-ion batteries should be
quite sufficient.

Quoted message said:

Would also be the most lightweight solution too.

Yes, but more expensive for the film, and more hassle later
for the processing and the scanning. I've done the same on
recent long trips, taking digital and film cameras, and I've
hated it. I've gotten so used to the convenience of digital
now that I resent having to drive to town to buy film, I
resent having to drive to town again to have it processed, I
resent having to wait a week or two before even seeing the
photos, I resent having to pay for them and I hate the
hassle of having to scan them. I used to take all these
things for granted but not anymore. Film is a major hassle,
and an expensive one.

Quoted message said:

I'd be paying around £80 for a 256mb xD card,

You wouldn't have to buy any more cards if you bought an
Image Bank, and you could take as many photos as you liked
and be unlikely to fill it up.

Quoted message said:

plus about £30 each for a spare li-ion battery (as I'd
said earlier my camera doesn't use AA type batteries but a
special li-ion battery pack).

£30? That's cheap, buy one straight away, you'd probably
only need one. These li-ion batteries are great. I don't
know about yours, but my Canon battery is estimated to last
for 450 shots, and that's with the LCD on! They estimate
over 1000 with the LCD off. I've read reports of people
going away for a week and the battery never running out.
People have bought spares and never needed them. In a link
that Phil gave the guy took about 7 batteries for a
fortnight (I think) but only used 3 of them.

If I were you I'd find out just how long your battery can
last. Take a bunch of shots every day (any old rubbish will
do) and see how many days it takes for the battery to run
out, and how many shots you can take altogether. I tend to
get somewhat less than Canon estimate because I use the LCD
a lot, I also like to take long exposures which drains it
more than usual.

How many shots do you typically take per day?

If you want ultralight and good quality, I'd recommend a
second hand Olympus XA. Tiny in size and weight, literally
fits in a shirt pocket. Decent quality lens, better quality
than APS. Only a fixed lens but that's ultralight for you.

Paul
--
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