I've schlepped a wide variety of cameras around the world, from the point and shoot
Olympus Stylus Infinity (a great camera), to SLR's with a bag of lenses, to the Polaroid and now,
the all digital Canon G2. Making a camera decision is primarily a tradeoff between
convenience and quality. I don't think of myself as a photographer, but I do care about
the quality of the pictures I take, and the ability to archive and reprint my negatives,
so taking a digital camera to asia was a bit of a leap for me.
As a quick sample, here's the same photo, first in it's web size, then in all it's glory.
The quality of the full resolution photo (slightly compressed from its original 2MB form) is
really amazing. My trips to burning man and
asia were both shot on my Canon G2 4MP camera (the latest
equivalent model would be the Canon G5).
45K
346K
450x600
1704x2272
Cost
Digital cameras can represent a significant cost savings over time, especially if you shoot
a lot of pictures. In addition to the camera, you'll want to buy more memory, and I strongly
recommend a portable image storage device of some kind. Total cost of these three things
could run $1,000 for a decent camera, a portable hard drive and 2 memory cards.
However, when you consider that film costs about $15 per roll to buy, develop and print,
you can see that over the long term, you'll spend more on film than your camera, whereas your
digital costs are essentially fixed. If you don't shoot that many pictures, a few large
memory cards and no portable hard drive will cost even less.
There's also a two "hidden" cost savings. The first is that with digital, since there's
no real film cost, you can shoot more pictures - as many as you have storage for. The second
is that you can see what you've already shot, which means that 1) you can eliminate bad
photos instantly, and 2) you can re-shoot things that didn't turn out.
A special note on buying a digital camera. Presumably, you'll shop around on
the web to find the best deal (see links). But not all vendors are
the same. Services like Pricescan and others will rate the vendors - be sure and read
the negative reviews to find out about specific vendor problems. One big issue is that
vendors will try and get you to buy a package deal - the camera, plus a set of accessories.
In virtually every case, you'll be better off buying each item from a different vendor.
Some will have the cheapest camera, others the least expensive batteries, etc. etc. Also, buying
things separately allows you to get the best battery life, the fastest memory, etc. Despite this
being more work, you'll get a better deal.
Image quality and archiving
With any camera, the quality of the image is primarily
a function of the quality of the lens and the quality of the film. Digital cameras are no
different; the "film quality" equates to the number of megapixels on your camera. Two MP
is good enough for a 4x6 print; 4 MP is good enough for an 8.5 x 11 print; and 8MP is enough
for a 20x24 print. The key difference comes with the size of the lens. You can buy 4MP
cameras the size of a pack of cigarettes, or in full SLR format. Generally, bigger is better,
though some makers have better lenses than others. Nikon makes about the best, and Canon is a
close second.
For high quality shots, I recommend a 4 MP camera. It's good enough to print about as
large as you're likely to want, and the cameras are moderately priced at this point.
The size of the lens is the biggest factor in image quality, but larger lenses tend to
be on larger cameras with more features. I use the Canon G2, which has all the features
of a traditional SLR (full auto, aperture preferred, shutter preferred, etc. etc.), as
well as the ability to take sound and video recordings, and a plethora of other features
too lengthy to mention. The screen flips out from the
camera, which allows you to hold the camera in a variety of positions and still take pictures.
It's a bigger camera, but not unwieldy, and it takes great shots.
If you're
a photographer, get a digital SLR. A digital SLR is a mostly conventional back with a CCD
for image capture, and takes standard SLR lenses. Presently, the Nikon D70 is the best
amateur digital SLR on the market. Thus it has a physical shutter, the ability to look
through the lens, and all the rest.
If you're worried about archiving your pictures, you should know that CD's and DVD's
degrade over time, and are not a permanent way to store digital photos. Your best bet is
to simply keep them on your hard drive, and copy them from drive to drive over time. Using
a CD/DVD as a backup is OK, but you should burn new copies every few years. Better still
in my opinion is to have an external hard drive on which you duplicate all your
important data, including your digital photos. As a rule, the best way to protect digital
data is to have multiple copies. Keep in mind that hard drives do fail, and I recommend
replacing them every 4 years to be safe.
Also, standard inkjet printers do not produce archival prints - they'll fade over time.
You can buy an archival printer, or pay to have your photos printed on special paper from
someplace like Imagers.
Focus and shooting speed
Taking a picture on a digital camera takes time. The camera has to focus, and it takes
more time still to write the image to the storage medium. This can be a very frustrating
discovery when you really want to capture a moment, and you're stuck waiting for the camera.
Be sure and read reviews and the specs on any camera you buy, and find out how long it
takes to auto-focus, and how long to write to disk. Note that writing to disk or flash
card can vary dramatically according to the speed of the flash card.
Most cameras these days have complex menus that allow you a variety of options.
This means reading the manual, but especially with a digital camera, it's worth it.
You can typically change how many times your camera tries to focus before it shoots,
as well as what area in the lens it focuses on.
It's worth learning how to turn your flash off as well. I can't tell you how many
times I've seen people shooting flash pictures in low light, and I can tell you how they'll
turn out - black. Digital Cameras can capture images in much lower light, and it's worth
shooting without a flash whenever possible. Moreover, most cameras let you set the ISO,
which is the film speed. The numbers usually range from 50 (bright daylight) to 400
(evening and nighttime). The graininess goes up with the ISO number, but higher ISO numbers
will allow you to shoot without a flash in less well lit environments.
One little trick the manual never tells you: when you depress the shutter button
halfway, the camera will focus on whatever is in its field of vision, that is, at a
specific distance. Once the camera focuses, IF you keep the button halfway depressed, the camera will take
a picture instantly when you push the button. If you're in a moving vehicle for
instance, you can pick out something large along the side of the road, and get the
camera to focus on that distance, then instantly take a picture when something rolls
into your viewfinder.
Flash card media, size and speed
There are a variety of memory types out there. I prefer compact flash, as there
are a wide variety of devices and many cameras that take it, it comes in extremely
large sizes (up to 8G), it's fast, and unlike other memory types, it doesn't seem as
though it's being phased out. It's extremely important
to consider the camera's memory type before buying. Different media record and
retrieve at different speeds, which can range from
1x (very slow) to as much as 40x these days (fast). Obviously, faster is better.
Equally important is power consumption - some memory types draw more power, and eat
your camera's batteries faster. Battery life is a big issue - digital cameras can easily
run down a set of batteries in a day. Some cameras are even worse than that. So it's
important check on the battery life of the camera, and the power consumption of the
media type before you buy.
And finally, size. First, I recommend two cards. This way, one is in the camera,
and the other can be used to back up photos while you're still shooting. I found on
a 4MP camera that I could shoot roughly 120 pictures a day, and that filled a 256MB
card. In general, I think buying lots of memory cards for a trip is a bad idea - they
add up dollar-wise, make for more things to carry, and when they're full, they're full.
portable image storage
Better in my opinion is to buy a portable storage device that accepts the type of
memory you decide on. These come in all sorts of sizes, with a variety of features.
On the simple end, you merely back up all your photos when the card is full, and download
your pictures to a computer at a later date.
Some devices have screens that allow you to review your photos, and put on mini slide
shows. We took a Flashtrax to Asia, and it also plays movies, and allows you to store
and play mp3's - meaning you can take your music along as well. I strongly recommend
a firewire or USB 2.0 device - USB 1.0 is too slow. Of course, you're computer needs to
also support the same connectivity speeds. I'd actually recommend USB over firewire if
you plan on using the device overseas, as virtually every computer has a USB port, only some
have firewire. If you plan on using internet cafes to access or post your pictures, USB
is a safer bet.
The drives range from 10G to 80G in size, and from about $200 - $800 in terms of cost.
To determine the size you need, decide how many pictures you're likely to take a day, times
the number of days, plus a margin of error. I took 120 4MB photos a day, so over a month,
I needed 15G of storage. I also took 10G of music along. Unless you're going to be gone
six months, or you're a rabid photographer, I think 40G is ample space. Obviously, if your
camera shoots more than 4MB pictures, adjust accordingly.
I noticed many people along the way using internet cafes to offload their photos
onto a CD. This is time-consuming and expensive (relatively speaking), and requires
you to burn a CD every time your cards are full. It is an option, but I think a
portable hard drive is the better choice.
As with camera batteries below, finding a hard drive that comes with multiple
batteries, or making certain you can buy extra batteries is a big plus. Also, rechargeable
batteries are the way to go, as they only require an outlet. If they use AA batteries,
you'll be buying a lot of batteries along the way.
lens variability
Some cameras have fixed lenses, others have zoom capabilities. Although zoom lenses
cost more, and tend to come with bulkier cameras, they also allow you to shoot a much
wider range of photos. I definitely recommend a zoom if you want to do anything more
than point and shoot (and don't plan on using a DSLR).
Many cameras have a digital zoom as well. My experience suggests that the photo
quality of digital zooming is poor, and recommend not using it, or at least not
counting on good photos. More importantly, be
sure and note the zoom range of the actual lens, vs. the digital zoom factor, which is
higher, when looking for a camera.
batteries and recharging
Digital cameras eat batteries. Thor and I both ran down our batteries every single
day. My camera used rechargeable batteries, where's as Thor's required 6 double-AA's.
You definitely want a camera with rechargeables, or you'll be buying AA batteries over
your entire trip, and the cost can really add up.
Generally, your battery is rated in mAH, or milli-amp hours. More is better. Typically
you can buy after market batteries with much higher maH ratings than the battery that came
with the camera. Every additional maH is that many more photos you can take before the
battery runs out. I found that 1200 maH equated to 120 full resolution photos; your
mileage may vary.
I strongly recommend at least two of the largest maH batteries you can buy for your
camera. Not only does it extend the number of photos you can take, but it also allows
you to charge one battery while using the other. Otherwise, you're forced to wait hours
or a day before you can use your camera again. Further, you may not always be someplace
that you can plug your camera in and recharge it. Also, it's best to buy an external
charger, or you can only charge the batteries in the camera.
So before you buy a camera, make certain you can buy brand name or after market
rechargeable batteries for your camera, and find out what an external charger will
cost.
Electricity
Voltage varies from one country to another. So far as I know, every country
is either 120 or 240, some actually have both. Many modern adaptors (chargers
for your camera, hard drive and batteries) will actually work at both 120 and 240
volts. It's very much worth check the adaptors before you buy - this will save
having to carry a voltage transformer.
Some adaptors will happily plug into either voltage, others have a switch.
Some of course only work at a single specified voltage (typically 120 in the U.S).
If the adaptor works on multiple voltages, it will say "120-240V 60Hz" or
something similar.
Getting multi-voltage adaptors means you then need to buy an adaptor plug
kit - something that allows the prongs of your charge to plug into whatever
configuration a particular country uses. You can get these at Radio Shack,
and they're very small.
digital photo links
- dpreview - great digital camera and equipment reviews, lots of specs and equipment info.
- Steve'w Digicams - another great camera review site, with nice comparison charts for the "big picture."
- Digicam HQ - good review site, lots of background articles on cameras, batteries, features, terms, etc.
- factory direct - good source for after market batteries.
- Pricescan - shows current prices of many vendors on a given item, as well as rates the vendors.
- Amazon - of course, they have everything, so it's convenient.
I hope this overview has been helpful. Thoughts, comments, rants and raves are welcome
as I try and keep this accurate, up to date and useful.
