Digital camera or not?

[simonrjames]

I am going overland from UK to OZ and I am looking to take a Nikon coolpix 5700. I dont intend taking a laptop, instead I intend to take plenty of memory cards and email pics home when I get the chance.

Does anyone have any views on:-
1. The above idea as a whole i.e. taking just a digital camera with no laptop.
2. The camera in question.

Your views would as ever be appreciated.

[Chris Smith]

Hi

I've just converted to digital in the last 12 months and would say there are pluses and minuses with both but on ballence I'd go digital. There's often more to go wrong with digital but you get more options. If you search the site you'll find that a hell of a lot of people go with the Sony Mavica - which I did after reading peoples reviews here. The big plus of it is that it burns images strait to an 8cm CD in the back of the camara rather than needing a memory stick etc. Each CD will store upto 240 images depending on the resolution and then when its full just post it home, or if you'd rather, stick it in the CD drive at an internet cafe and e-mail the images home. Dead easey!! They are about £900 but I'd definately say its worth it for the quality, ease of use etc. over other camaras. Jessops have a deal on right now so you may get one cheeper. If I was using memory sticks etc. I'd take a laptop or 200 memory sticks!!

Chris

[AFrear]

Hej,

I've just bought a Canon G3 which is an excellent all round Digital camera. Instead of using CF cards you can also use a micro drive which are up to 1 GB (= a *lot* of photos and mini films)
The main reason I went with the G3 is that it has a swivel LCD screen (other cameras also have this feature eg. Nikon coolpix), I use this to take close up people shots without pointing the camera directly at them.

You also have to consider how to charge the cameras batteries. I have 12v charger that I want to wire to my bike so I'll always be charging whilst riding. Another thing which would also be the same with an SLR camera, is dust and vibrations - a pelican box is good for this along with your other sensitive gear.

[Danette]

I've got a Nikon cool pix 4500. I wanted to buy the Sony but the budget didn't cover it. I have just bought on the weekend a hand held device called a phototainer. It can store up to ten thousand pictures. So I don't have to buy the huge storage cards for the Nikon now. I can download the pictures to the Phototainer and then take the Phototainer into an internet cafe to download what I need onto the internet. The other bonus is the LED screen is much larger then the one on the camera, so I can view the pictures and get a much better idea if I want to keep them or delete them. THere is lots of info on the internet about the product and it is sold in Canada and the UK. They do sell it in the US but it's under a different name. As a bonus, you can also download MP3 music to it.........cool. In the end it was $759 Canadian and means that we don't need a lap top and don't have to worry about photo storage while we are gone (we are going for a year and leave on July 14th)........I think in the UK it is selling for about 400 pounds.
d

[dagjen]

The cheapest storage solution around must be the X-drive (http://www.vosonic.com/index.php?php...&php_itemid=11). I bought this unit a few days ago with 40GB harddisk for about 3-400 USD (in Norway - which has a very strong currency at the moment). Per MB price must be unbeatable.

------------------
Dag
http://www.RocinantesTravels.com

[JamesCo]

Definitely digital. My photo count after 10 months is 3,000 pictures - that would be a lot of film. I have a Canon G2 and love it; after a *very* rough time it just keeps on taking great pictures. Dropped on the Inca Trail yesterday and nothing broke. No problems under any conditions at all - including on top of Aconcagua - and excellent battery life. My next camera will absolutely postively be a (third) Canon digital; every man and his dog has a Sony - be a little different

Having a laptop is nice, but not essential. Burning onto CDs at internet cafes (or from someone else's laptop) works just fine. Microdrives don't work above 10,000 feet (not enough air) and have a somewhat flaky reputation - I wouldn't rely on them.

Check out www.dpreview.com for info and comparisons.

James

[epr64]

What I did is to take a Super Digibin with me. For not too much money(250 EUR), you have a 20Gb harddisk with you. You just put the card into it, press a button, and it's saved on the HD.
There are other systems available (I have one of the 1st super digibin, and it has a lot of battery probz. Have to take the power cable with you), but they are more expensive.
And definitely, the numeric is the best solution.. for point-n-shoot shots. If you want more, go for a MF argentic camera.. But that's a different story ;-)
CU
Y

Originally posted by simonrjames:
I am going overland from UK to OZ and I am looking to take a Nikon coolpix 5700. I dont intend taking a laptop, instead I intend to take plenty of memory cards and email pics home when I get the chance.

Does anyone have any views on:-
1. The above idea as a whole i.e. taking just a digital camera with no laptop.
2. The camera in question.

Your views would as ever be appreciated.

[jim stanley]

Depends on how many pictures you intend to take.
You have to spend a lot of money to get a digital that takes as good pictures as a medium grade point and shoot 35mm. The difference in money could buy a heck of a lot of film and getting the pictures on CD from film is cheap to have someone else do it or free for yourself (with a scanner). You have to take a lot of digital pics to make up the difference. Plus getting pics to CD can be a pain in the 3rd world. (as opposed to mailing home rolls of film) That said, I still have gone digital.
Do some math and you'll have your answer.

[apattrick]

These people http://www.jobodigital.com/ make a CD writer that burns directly from a memory card. Check out the 'Disk Steno' and 'Visor', the Visor lets you copy back from a CD to a CF card. Not sure about the size / weight or price of these but it means you can have near-instant backup of your digital pics to CD and you can avoid microdrives / hard disk drives which are more fragile (although a much more compact way of carrying large amounts of data). I'm thinking of using a Visor to store digital maps and pictures as an alternative to a digi-bin style device. Any thoughts?

Andy.

[Kurt]

The Apacer which writes to CD's is 299 USD from a local (Chicago) dealer. It workes as an external CD writer from a laptop too. Also comes with a vehicle adapter for charging and operation. I think I'll keep my eye on this one....

[vilijam]

hello,

the best would be 3 cameras:

Canon EOS 10D (or 20D) (very heavy - stable pictures and no easy to damage)

SIGMA 105mm macro fixed - wonderful portraits due to limited focus
SIGMA 28 to 75mm for standard photos and wide angle landscapes
SIGAM 50 to 300mm for the rest
SIGAM 15 to 35mm wideangle if possible

with this you can cover 99% of all situations.

Canon EOS 300 or any analogue camera with a ISO 50 or ISO 100 dia film - makes the most beautiful colors on sunset or evening.

So I can use all lensed on both cameras - digi and analogue.

I make the photos for internet/screen and my VR photography with the digital SLR (less distortion) and only the most beautiful landscapes which will be develped to poster size with my analogue one (use the same settings as in the digital SLR).

And finally I have bought a Canon Powershot G6 (uses also CF cards). This is in my opinion the best compromise between flexibility and quality losses. It has a fair lens and the possibility to adjust aperture and time individually. Another big advantage is the fact that I can use my Canon EOS 550 flash on it as well (in combination with a flash extension cord the perfect thing).

Remember ... you will need more than 19mio px to get the same quality as a dia film and this is far away from the ideal color! So if you are planing to print your photos you will need analogue or a good resolution (do not panic, large printouts have the advantage that the people do not need to come to close to it).

So you need to decide, what is important for you and what kind of pictures you are planing to do - professional, for the web, etc.?

And do not forget - the best friend of a photographer is Adobe and its son Photoshop.

For all german speaking guys ... check this site out to learn photography:

http://home.datacomm.ch/fotografie/

Hope that I could help you a little bit with this info,

BR, Vilijam

one live - live it well!

[Redboots]

Originally Posted by simonrjames

..I am looking to take a Nikon coolpix 5700. Does anyone have any views on:-
2. The camera in question.

I'm taking a Coolpic 5700. Partly because the camera is up to spec for what I want. Partly because I bought a second-hand one on Ebay for €123 ;-)) and partly because it came with a 6 battery (AA) grip. This gives better balance to the unit and I can charge AA's on the bike.
AA's also fit everything else I'm taking that need batteries.
Got an 8 batt charger and a couple of dozen Ni-MH batteries... sorted.

Another little accessory is a small bean-bag to rest your camera on.
A girl makes them to pay for her singing lessons:-))
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/loweswood...e-support.html

John

[ArcticHarleyMan]

Those MajikBags work real well for putting your camera on. It is also good to throw inthe microwave to put on stiff/sore muscles. You can put it in the freezer, too.

[macfisto]

the Q was asked a long time ago.... but a crime scene photographer from cherwell police once gave me this site to visit. www.warehouseexpress.com pretty sure he knew what he was talking about... doing it for a living. someone might have mentioned this site before but its worth checking it out. there are some good info on various cameras to make a choice for oneself

happy shooting

[MarkLG]

Originally Posted by macfisto

the Q was asked a long time ago.... but a crime scene photographer from cherwell police once gave me this site to visit. www.warehouseexpress.com pretty sure he knew what he was talking about... doing it for a living. someone might have mentioned this site before but its worth checking it out. there are some good info on various cameras to make a choice for oneself

happy shooting

I've never ordered from warehouse express, but I regularly refer to their website to check prices, etc. They've been going for a few years and their prices are always competitive. The best site I've come across for camera reviews and info is this:

http://www.dpreview.com/