[at-l] Digital Photos

[l_parker at cacaphony.net (L. Clayton Parker)]

Ken makes a couple of good points that I want to expand upon. I am by no
means aprofessional photographer, but I used to sell the high end stuff
($20,000 Digital Cameras, etc.)

1)	UNLESS you are planning on publishing to National Geographic, you don't
need a 6 megapixel camera (or bigger) on a hike. Cameras with only 4 or even
2 megapixels are quite adequate for normal 5x7 photos. For example, the
Canon Elph S110 is a 2.1 megapixel digital camera with an all metal body and
is still very lightweight. I have printed 8 x 10 pictures from this camera
that were perfectly adequate for framing, BUT, they were not "photo
quality".

2)	At maximum resolution with JPEG settings at highest quality, I can
usually get 225 to 250 pictures on a 256 MB card, the equivalent of 8 rolls
of film, for a lot less weight. As was already pointed out, the price of
htese cards is about half of what it used to be. I carry two of them and
have never filled even one of them in a week, depite taking far more
pictures than I would have taken with film.

3)	Reformatting...a card that is formatted by a Canon camera and is readable
in a computer reader WILL NOT be readable in (for instance) an HP camera,
and vice versa. Ken is right, assume nothing, reformat the card IN THE
CAMERA before using it or risk losing some great pictures.

Lee I Joe


Once I knew where I was going, but now I have  forgotten.  Sometimes my mind
wanders.  Sometimes it goes alone, and other times it takes me along...this
isn't one of those times...



> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-l-bounces@backcountry.net
> [mailto:at-l-bounces@backcountry.net]On Behalf Of ken bennett
> Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 9:13 AM
> To: 'AT-L listserv'
> Subject: Re: [at-l] Digital Photos
>
>
> On 2/18/04 > Pro-photographers out in the field have had to deal
> with things
> like this
> > for years (i.e. determining how to get their shots back home in
> one piece),
> > so this isn't a new issue.  National Geographic's even begun
> some digital
> > work.  I've not heard how the supply chain works when they're out there
> > shooting digitally away from all known civilization, but I'd
> definitely like
> > to know.  It would shed some light on our discussion.
>
>
> I can't help you with the National Geo workflow, but as a professional
> digital photographer, maybe I can shed some light. It's not going
> to be any
> help at all for backpacking, though <g>.
>
> Professionals take a laptop computer and at least one external hard drvie
> for redundancy. They download their take after each shoot, burn
> CDs or DVDs,
> and back stuff up to the external HD. If they are in a remote area with
> limited access to power, they can take solar battery chargers for the
> computer batteries and all the rechargeable camera batteries.
> Otherwise they
> just hook up to the local power grid or the generator or whatever (need
> chargers that operate on various voltage.)
>
> Yes, a laptop and a charger and the external HD and all those CDs
> are heavy,
> but then so is all the camera gear. Several bodies, a bunch of lenses,
> various lighting equipment -- it can add up into the hundreds of pounds.
>
> The recent National Geographic story on the future of flying was shot
> all-digital by Joe McNally (a great photographer, BTW) and appeared in the
> December 2003 issue. As far as I can tell, he had normal access to power
> every day, so this wasn't an issue. He also had several assistants to help
> carry and use all the gear.
>
> When I am at work, I carry everything listed above. When I am hiking, I
> carry a Nikon Coolpix 3100 digital camera and two 1-gig compact
> flash cards.
> I don't worry about having everything on two cards (but then I am section
> hiking 1-2 week stretches.)
>
> One thing I will suggest is to NEVER delete pictures from the
> card while it
> is in the camera, and to *always* re-format the card in the camera (not in
> the computer) when every time install it in the camera after
> downloading the
> pictures (and backing them up a couple of times.)
>
> The only time I have ever had serious card problems is when I
> have failed to
> follow this advice (which is generally followed by
> professionals). So I make
> it an obsession to reformat every time the card goes in the camera.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Ken
>
>
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