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  1. #21
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    The online manual for this Canon SX 610 HS says, the battery should be good for 270-400 pics.
    There is definitely something wrong, as the pic above does not fit in quality to a modern 20Mpx camera (which the Canon is).

    This Canon would be a perfect hiking companion, its small, lightweight and has a 18x zoom, which would be great for an occassional wildlife shot.
    The battery is replaceable and is to be charged in an external charger.
    But its not waterproof, so you would have to take extra care for it.

    For many years I carried a decent camera (Lumix with 18x zoom) on my hikes, but nowadays I just use the smartphone. Makes really great pics, is waterproof, and in my pocket all the time - the best camera is the one you have handy.
    Only downside is that it has no optical zoom, so in a way we are back to the 80ties when all you had was a Kodak Instamatic and you had to impress your buddies back home by storytelling more than by pics.

  2. #22
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    In backpacking you want 1 item that does many things. Last November I bought an iPhone 7 and took 10 pix w/ a very good camera and 10 pix w/ the iPhone 7. In the 10 pix, the iPhone was the same or better. I dumped the camera. iPhone 7 plus is better and Galaxy might even be better than that.
    Be Prepared

  3. #23
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    That photograph is a photograph of a photograph. My intention was to capture documents as fast as possible and not submit something to National Geographic. My low battery life may be due to running the video at the same time as taking a picture.

    Another happy snap taken when I was testing it out


    IMG_0019.JPG

  4. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    CJ,
    I hope you bought a waterproof camera.
    Olympus, Pentax, Nikon, etc.
    Or a neck strap.
    And waterproof cards.
    Good luck.
    Wayne


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    It's not...I'll just stay out of the water!!! Ironically the pictures from that cheap drowned camera were worse than the ones from my Galaxy S7!
    Quote Originally Posted by swisscross View Post
    Grave Lake, where cameras go to die.
    Yup. Although hopefully that's all that dies up there. I'm not missing it since the photos weren't great. I'll be taking better care of the new one!

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by pickle View Post
    wanting to get some input on camera equipment for the trail - ✌
    What are you going to do with the photos? Are you a serious photo enthusiast, or a normal person who wants decent memories? Are these for social media uploads, for an album when you get home, or for prints on the wall? Each of these will require a different camera.

    An iPhone or one of the better Android phones will give you decent quality photos, instant upload to social media (where you have service), and the easiest possible user interface. It's possible to get very high quality images with some work: my wife takes her iPhone on our hikes, and I have made large prints and an excellent book out of her photos -- though it did take quite a bit of post-production work to get the best possible image quality (I do photography for a living, so this is not difficult for me).

    The downside to an iPhone is the limited lens - no real zoom (though the newer ones have two lenses, one a short telephoto, that mitigates this). The "point and shoot" market is a *lot* smaller in the last five years, as everyone just uses their iPhone, but there are still plenty of choices. All of them will make good photos. Choose based on price and features. I would definitely want "optical image stabilization" which is on most p+s cameras now. I also want it to have a decent wide angle on the zoom. Again, any camera like this will be fine. You won't be doing immediate uploads to Facebook from the camera, but many of them have a wifi mode so you can transfer images to your phone for upload.

    If you have the interest in working with the best possible "raw" files (unprocessed files that you would process back home), then the Sony RX100 series is a great choice - it has a larger sensor but still a very compact form factor. The version III and later have a nifty little pop-up viewfinder so you can hold it up to your eye rather than at arm's length (where I can't see the thing without my glasses). These are much more expensive than the typical p+s camera. This is the starting point for making very high quality large prints when you get home.

    For a general purpose travel camera that might be of interest to some hiker/photo enthusiasts, Sony makes the RX10 model, with several variants. These look more like a small DSLR, so they are larger and heavier, but pack in a long telephoto zoom to go along with the excellent image quality. If I were told I could take only one camera on vacation and no spare lenses, I'd buy an RX10 mark II (I think they are up to the Mark IV). These cameras are definitely not cheap.

    Hope this helps.
    Ken B
    'Big Cranky'
    Our Long Trail journal

  6. #26
    Hiker bigcranky's Avatar
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    double post, sorry
    Ken B
    'Big Cranky'
    Our Long Trail journal

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cheyou View Post
    Sony rx100 3

    thom
    I have an old original RX-100. I love it when it works, but it has failed me on the trail more than once due to moisture issues. It has already been sent back for repair once for this issue, but is now well out of warranty. When it works, the images are amazing. It is a superb match-up of sensor and lens.

    I just got back from a four day outing on the Grafton Loop with SloGo'en. The camera failed this morning... and is sitting in a bag of rice now, hopefully to sober up some time soon.

  8. #28
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    Scene from Baldpate shelter, two nights ago, shot with RX-100 @ ISO 3200.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  9. #29

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    Post duplicated when I edited it for some reason.

  10. #30

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    The problem with this thread is the OP didn't specify what type of camera they wanted.

    As for breaking a camera, that depends on the individual not the trail. I've carried SLRs and mirrorless cameras with an extra lense or two for 25 years on backpacking trips including the PCT and AT without issue. I'd like to say. Then last year on the Condor Trail, I dropped a 4 year old micro 4/3s mirrorless camera on the only rock around me and cracked the touchscreen. Still worked, but you could only see 1/3 of the screen. I wanted an excuse to replace it anyway due to it's age. Replaced it with a Sony A6300. Other than the mid zoom lens it came with, I usually take a small fast wide angle pancake lens for low light. Sometimes also bring a longer zoom lens, though not often on longer hikes. Given that some spend up to a $1k on a new smartphone, that's more than I paid for my current camera. Who is risking an expensive item on the trail again?

    Cell phone cameras can work if you mainly just want photos in bright light and use the flash for close objects in low light. Too many pixels on a small sensor found on all cell phones means less light reaching each pixel, meaning more noise in low light than a camera with a larger sensor with the same number of pixels. As someone who likes taking photos near dawn and sunset and star-scapes, the quality is unacceptable. Others are happy enough with what they get. Another issue is you are putting all your eggs in 1 basket. If you break or dunk your phone, you'll have no camera for your hike til you replace it; missing some moments of your hike. If you have a real camera and break it, you have your cellphone as a backup. And yes, I know people who have broken their phone or lost it on a hike. And I drown one. Forgot it was in my shirt pocket and bent over to fill a bottle. It fell in, went over a small Cascade and ended up in a 2ft deep pool. Found it, but it needed replacement.

    So to answer the OP, define what you want to get a relevant answer.

  11. #31
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    If you are a serious photographer, it will cost you weight and cash. I just did a challenging 5 day trip in the Eagle Cap wilderness with a new OM-D Micro 4/3 camera and 12-100 zoom. It's all weather sealed and I got great results. Weight, 3 lbs. . Photography was a major goal for the trip. On the Wonderland Trail last year I used my old point and shoot (Olympus SP 500 UZ) for under a pound that now costs about $40 used on Ebay. Not weather sealed but not too delicate either. It has a very good lens and would be cheap to replace. No cell service so no phone.
    OM-D P9120576.jpg SP 500 UZ P1010110.JPG

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  12. #32
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    I'm not sure a serious photographer asks people in a hiking chat room what camera to use...
    Be Prepared

  13. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by BlackCloud View Post
    I'm not sure a serious photographer asks people in a hiking chat room what camera to use...
    Goodness gracious, why not?

    You could ask that question in a photo/gear forum and hope someone knows a thing or two about hiking and backpacking.

    Or you could ask that question here and expect that some of us know a thing or two about taking photos.

  14. #34

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    I have a Nikon Coolpix A. It has an APS-C sensor but is a compact camera with a very good fixed lens. I recommend getting something like that. It was not cheap. But, it's small and light weight. The wide aperture gives nice blurry backgrounds on close ups. The fixed lens forces you to be creative on the trail.

  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by pickle View Post
    wanting to get some input on camera equipment for the trail - ✌
    Quote Originally Posted by BlackCloud View Post
    I'm not sure a serious photographer asks people in a hiking chat room what camera to use...
    I could write pages on all this. It's taking some self control not to.

    Blackcloud's question has some merit. There really are a host of questions that we need to ask of the OP: How serious are you about your photos? What would you most like to capture? How much weight or bulk are you willing to schlep? How much are you willing to spend?

    If the camera's meant for a thru hike, I'll just say this... keep it small and light, so that it can be handy at a moment's notice, for example, attached to the shoulder strap of your pack. "Weatherproof" is nice, but you generally pay a premium for that designation. Alas, that's a category of cameras I know very little about.

    Considering the sort of cameras I've carried in the past, it galls me to admit that most modern smart phones can take fabulous photos. Nowadays that's a perfectly reasonable camera option for many thru hikers. As to cameras and thru hikes: Every ounce counts. You probably won't have the time or energy to devote to photos as you would, say, reaching the same vista or summit on a day hike. You may find that memories of people are as important as scenic vistas. On any given thru hike, many of those vistas will be shrouded in cloud, or a colorless void -- what you see, the light you're granted, are often beyond your control. (Though some of the best scenic photos are taken in less-than-perfect weather.)

    Cameras come in a million shapes, weights and sizes but image quality generally tracks size and weight. That's just physics: photography is all about gathering light. Smartphones can't match a dedicated camera like the RX-100, but are you willing to carry those extra eight ounces from Georgia to Maine? (Or pay the price? Or keep the camera intact?) The RX-100 can be beat by an SLR or mirrorless camera, etc. and ad infinitum.

    When shopping around -- if you care about image quality -- one hint of a camera's "seriousness" is the ability to shoot RAW files. In fact, if you even know or care about RAW files, you'll want to consider something better than a smartphone.

    Bottom line, the OP's question is too broad. But I'll roll with it anyway.

  16. #36

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    I use a little Samsung 16.1 mega pixels camera with 5X optical zoom. It has served me well for the last few years. I did get it a little wet last year in Vermont and that caused some trouble, but I found a bag of rice in a shelter the next day which I used to help dry it out with. Got to remember to put the camera away in a plastic bag before it starts to rain and not leave it in the belt pouch!

    Anyway, there are a number of shirt pocket cameras available in the $100-150 range which would be fine.
    This picture is from the Samsung taken a few days ago on the Grafton Loop trail. I'm happy with the quality.
    SAM_3316.JPG
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  17. #37
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    Guess iPhone 8/X will be enough for the high quality photos But for now I use iPhone 7

  18. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by BlackCloud View Post
    I'm not sure a serious photographer asks people in a hiking chat room what camera to use...
    Quite the contrary. I've been serious about photography since I was 13 years old and got my first SLR. I've got tens of thousands tied up in film and digital gear, but I'm not going to haul my Hasselblad down the trail.

    I'm not willing to buy every ruggedized camera on the market to to a side-by-side comparison, I'm going to start by asking others for their input. I did the same thing when I started looking at dive cameras and housings. There's something to be said about learning from the experience of others.

    If it helps narrow my search then I'm better off.

  19. #39
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    I'm looking at the Canon Powershot D30 (or whatever the model number happens to be at the moment.)

    Reasons for considering this camera:
    • I've had several generations of Powershot and all have been excellent in every respect. Friends who are equally serious photographers also carry the Powershot as a pocket camera.
    • You can go "idiot box" (fully automatic) and get good photos in nearly every environment
    • You can manipulate just about everything about the exposure and focus and get amazing photos if you want to.
    • It shoots pretty nice video.
    • Optical zoom is good enough to rarely need digital zoom.
    • The 4 generations I've had over the past ~15 years have performed well and the last two are still in regular use. The first one fell victim to a drop on a tile floor and the second fell out of a bag on a train. (I haven't purchased a ruggedized Canon yet - but I do have a waterproof Olympus that has done well.)
    • All other things being equal, I like to maintain brand loyalty. Most of the time this streamlines the different types of chargers and cables I need to keep around. It also means that, in many cases, I can share a common pool of batteries across a couple of cameras, so it doesn't matter if we're going to the zoo or the beach, we've got extra batteries.

    Good luck!

  20. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by KCNC View Post
    I've got tens of thousands tied up in film and digital gear, but I'm not going to haul my Hasselblad down the trail.
    Why not? You could do worse.
    Wayne


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