Re: [at-l] photography equipment...

[Tim Hewitt <thewitt@fairchildsemi.com>]

Ken Bennett wrote:
> 
> >Regarding a couple of posts about photography equipment.
> >
> 
> I occasionally use one of the small point-and-shoot megapixel digital
> cameras at work, and though it has some advantages for getting images onto
> the web in a hurry, the overall picture quality is pretty poor. This is
> especially true if you ever want prints. (But, I do this for a living, so
> my standards may be unreasonable high.)

I would agree with that. Professional photographers are not generally
impressed with low end anything cameras, digital even less so.
 
> The problems with using a digital camera on a long hike include the limited
> number of photos per memory card, downloading the images (you need a
> computer), the overall fragility of the equipment, and the difficulty in
> getting any sort of hard copy of good quality. Then there is the difficulty
> with long-term storage media.

In medium resolution mode, my Epson will store 125 images on a
mini-flash card. I'll carry two to start. I'll send the full card home
and my wife will transfer this to a zip drive, then return the card in
my next maildrop. At most, I'll have two weeks to shoot 125 pictures.
Since I'm hiking and taking the occasional picture, not taking pictures
while I happen to be hiking, this seems about right.

I can also take 10 shots of that "perfect" sunset, review them on the
built in screen on the camera, and delete all but the one I want. Cool.
The camera takes 4 standard AA batteries and with judicious use of the
onscreen viewer, this will easily last 500 pictures or more.

I have not found the camera to be any more fragile than other point and
shoot cameras. I dropped it about 10 feet from a ledge onto hard ground
and it still workd fine. I've broken other cameras with less effort.
There are very few moving parts in a digital camera. - many fewer than
in any SLR.

I don't understand what you mean my long term storage problems. The
digitally stored image will not degrade, ever, and can be copied without
ill effect any number of times. If you mean you will copy the images to
magnetic tape and try to store the tapes forever, yes there are storage
problems. Solid state media does not generally have this problem.
 
> (BTW, the really expensive ($15K and up) digital cameras have the same
> chips in them as the megapixel consumer models, so the image size is the
> same. But they use a professional camera body as the base, so they take
> interchangeable lenses, flash, etc., and they have better image processing
> and larger memory cards. But they are heavy as all get out and use
> rechargeable batteries.)

I don't use interchangable lenses so this is all overkill to me. I am a
point-and-shoot photographer. The rest of what you do is not my cup of tea.

> In all, if all I ever wanted was images to put up on my web site, and I
> didn't need to worry about long-term storage, and I was really careful with
> equipment, I would look at digital cameras. But I'm not all that careful
> with stuff <grin>, and I want to be able to print this stuff in 20 years,
> so I would probably recommend a 35mm point-and-shoot (not a disposable) and
> shoot 200-speed color neg film. When I have to put stuff up on the web
> site, I can simply scan either the negs or the prints.

Again, I don't understand the reference to loss of data. My digital
images will be 100% available for printing again in 100 years - unlike
any images ever taken on film.

As for printing them, I can print the medium resolution images on my
color printer on photographic paper and they are fine. They are not art
quality, but I'm not into that. If I'm going to print photos for an
album for my friends to look at around a coffee table, this mode is just fine.

I don't plan to print them however. I recently went to a presentation on
a trip to Philmont Scout Ranch, where the pictures were all taken with a
digital camera, and the presentation was done with a projector and a
small computer. It was great. The presentation had music and
occasionally a text slide, was all automated but could be interrupted
easily, and was displayed on a 30 foot screen with no problems.

This is how I'll be making my post-trip presentations. No slide
projectors, no prints, all electronic.

YMMV.

-Paddler
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