Camera for LW hiker question…

[Andrew :-)]

I like taking nice photos but am not a camera bugff per-se. I have a Canon G5 which i'm happy with as a camera. It has enough flexibility for me to play, except that is a fairly hefty piece in terms of gram counting ultralight hiking (533g).

My partner was mentioning a pocket size point-and-shoot type camera for christmas.
Not wanting to break the bank but looking at something small/LIGHT and with a reasonable feature set to be able to capture outdoor pursuits, as well as do duty as the 'social party and family picnic camera'.
I would like something that can zoom out to a slight wideangle setting <35mm to capture a vista if possible.

Can you please suggest some cameras?
Thanks.

[David Noll]

I've got a Panasonic LZ-3 which has a 6x zoom and 5 megapixels. I stopped by a camera store and saw 4 or 5
cameras with 4-6 zoom and 6-7 megapixels from aprx $179
US to about $239. My avatar was taken with the Panasonic.

[Joseph Jacaruso]

I use a Pentax Optio WPi. It's a 6 Megapixel camera that is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. It's also waterproof so I don't have to worry about it getting wet. Camera weight is 135 grams.

It has taken a while for me to get use to the smaller size. Its harder to hold steady. But as I gain more skill the pictures are pretty good for a point and shoot. It also allows for manual settings but the auto stuff works so well I have not taken the time to learn all the features.

I'm out of town right now and do not have a way to down load pictures but when I get back on Thursday I'll send a couple. I have a few on this site under MYOG. They are pictures I made of a gravity filter. Its probably backed up to page 4 by now. The thread is Light and Easy Water Filtration for the Lazy Backpacker.

[Roger Caffin]

> My partner was mentioning a pocket size point-and-shoot type camera for christmas.
One thing to watch out for. The small thin light cameras take custom and expensive lithium batteries. For a long trip you would need to carry spare batteries ($$$) or a heavy mains recharger.
The slightly heavier cameras take AA batteries, including the lithium e2 ones.

> except that is a fairly hefty piece in terms of gram counting ultralight hiking (533g).
That is NOT a good reason for rejecting it. Sure, go UL, but remember why you are out there. If photography is your thing (I do a LOT of it on trips), then take a suitable camera.

Cheers

[Sam Haraldson]

I've been extremely pleased with my Canon Powershot SD400. Everyone I've known to use any of the cameras in Canon's Powershot and Digital Elph lines of cameras have been extremely pleased.

[Rick Dreher]

The state of the art at present for subcompact backpacking cameras is the Ricoh GX100, but it's quite expensive. If you can forgo a viewfinder, the Canon SD 870 is worth a look.

[Andrew :-)]

The Pantax OptioWPi is a great size/weight but the lens is stated at more than 35mm in wide angle as are the others except the GX100 and the SD870. These are possibly the sort of thing for me to look at. The GX100 is a nice camera – looking at the specs anyway. Maybe its too much camera for this application. The 24-28mm wide angle would be good though.

Roger I hear what you are saying and I don’t wish to throw the baby out with the bathwater regarding taking photos but, NOT a good reason – for who???
I think for some people weight is a perfect reason for rejecting a piece of equipment especially when discussing on a forum like backpackinglight.
Why am I out there? To hike – and usually to do so with a nod to minimizing weight carried. For me the camera is simply to record the trip, and do a good job of it, but it doesn’t have to make commercial quality images. Some hikes are ‘big camera’ worthy, on some I won’t take one at all. I am looking for a suitable camera, whilst possibly saving almost ¾ of a pound and a bit of pack volume. We may soon have a second camera in the family and I was looking for suggestions of one to suit, sorry if this wasn’t clear in my first post. Of course I can still take the G5 for certain hikes.
Thanks for the tip about the batteries I didn’t think of that. If a suitable camera with standard batteries doesn’t exist then I’ll certainly consider battery life and cost of a backup before buying.

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