Cheap Digital Camera

I recently looked at used cameras on craigslist and saw several that would fit the bill. I haven't looked at inexpensive new cameras recently though.

check out the nikon coolpix collection. great battery life when using lithium batteries and no flash, and very lightweight too. you should be able to find a 7mp coolpix in the $100 range.

i use a coolpix L12 that i got for about $120 a year ago, and the picture quality is great outdoors. i can't say that it performs very well indoors though, but that's not what i got it for anyway.

here's a picture of an AT shelter in the smokies that i took with the camera

Richard – I asked James Shortt about the camera he used when he started his sub-5 lb thread a few months ago. I was able to buy a rebuilt version of his recommendation on eBay at the Olympus outlet site for $75 (retail almost $200). It comes with a battery, but you do need to buy a card at your local Target or online from Olympus. It works great, and the quality of pictures is excellent.
Here's what James said:

The camera is an Olympus FE-230 7.1 Megapixel. I purchased it because it was about the lightest I could find, but have been happy with it. I must have mistyped because the weight is 4.35 oz. The weight includes the rechargeable battery and a 1 gig card. I am really impressed how long the battery lasts. My guess is it lasts as long as 3 sets of double A batteries would last in my old camera.

Thanks everyone.

Richard,

Try to pick something with an optical view finder if possible. (ie a viewfinder you look THROUGH, as opposed to only an LCD screen on the back of the camera)

This will make it much easier to compose your shot in bright sunlight, when the LCD can be REALLY hard to see.

More importantly for LW hiking, it will allow you to use less than half as many batteries. You may find it worth considering a slightly heavier camera to allow this weight saving in batteries.

I would also stick with AAs for an extended hike. Consider the precharged rechargeables, which seem to last about three times as long as alkalines in my son's Kodak. (i'm not sure why this is. Any one know?)

Rod

Rod
The reason why those pre-charged (Sanyo Eneloop and clones) Ni Mh batteries last longer is that they keep their voltage for longer than a standard disposable or other Ni Mh type batteries. So whilst you can start with a higher amperage , as soon as the voltage drops below 1 v , most compact digital cameras will not work. Apart from the longer life with cameras, my 750 mAh Eneloop last about twice as long as my Sony 800mAh (AAA) inside my MP3 player and amplified speakers.
Franco

I got my 9 year-old artsy daughter a Kodak EasyShare C613 camera at BestBuy for Christmas for ~$90. It takes 2 AA batteries but there is no viewfinder. After these 9 months, I have to say it's a great value. Check it out.

Canon EOS 40D camera is best for you because, this is really a good camera i ever used. it has 135 mm lens & very nice optical zoom with 4.8 x. furthermore, it also supports microdrive. i have read digital camera reviews from http://alatest.com/reviews/digital-compact-camera-reviews/c3-147/ this link. it's very good site providing online reviews for free.

For about $100 with lens, the Canon 40D would be a really good buy …..
Franco

I MUST put a plug in for the Canon PowerShot SD-1000. The model I have is last year's and has the following features:

–actual weight w/ battery and sd card: 5.0 oz
–view finder (the new ones no longer have this)
–Can be purchased for around $150
–7.1 megapixels
–sleek simple design, very compact

Camera allows tons of manual options, more than any point-and-shoot I've used. You can manually adjust ISO, white balance, exposure, night-time shutter speed, and color saturation. Takes great shots in macro mode. Takes video with sound playback and a bit of in-camera editing. There are also a few manual options for video capture as well.

I LOVE how fast it turns on and off. This is a huge plus for backpacking. It is lightning fast!

I've used both Kodak and sony cameras and this one comes out way on top in terms of picture quality and versitility. I suggest this camera to everyone. It won't replace a digital SLR, but it's my favorite in the cheap/lightweight category.

Two things: Get a high capacity card so you can take as many pictures at the highest quality as you want and still have space for lots of short videos (I suggest 4GB). Does not use AA batteries. With a power save option, using no flash, using viewfinder rather than LCD screen, limiting lens retracting time, and turning off auto-focus beam, the provided battery will last a very long time. Mine lasted 9 days on a bike trip without any taking extra power-saving measures. The battery pack is remarkably lightweight (.5 oz), so an extra pack is an option.

From my recent research to purchase a point-and-shoot digital camera, I found the following camera which seems to fit the criteria that you set out — about $100, uses AA batteries, and takes good pictures:

Canon PowerShot A590 IS 8.0 MP 4X Zoom Digital Camera

The above camera is currently on sale at Dell's website for $114.99 — look for the one identified as a "Dell Only" deal since the very same camera appears in two locations at Dell's website — but the "sale" price is shown for only one of the two.

The PowerShot A590 has very good reviews which you can find if you google its name. The review of the A590 at the digicams.com website is one of the most exhaustive reviews I found in my research. The conclusion reached by that review is at the following link:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2008_reviews/canon_a590is_pg5.html

The review itself starts at the following link:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2008_reviews/canon_a590is.html

There are a lot of user reviews (about 200 or so) to be found for the camera the following Amazon link (as well as elsewhere as you'll find if you google the camera, or go to websites for circuit city or best buy):

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-A590IS-Digital-Stabilized/dp/B0011ZCDKS/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1223785037&sr=8-2

I see that, for the moment, Amazon has the A590 on sale for about $119 with free "supersaver" shipping available.

At about 6.2 oz, the A590 isn't as light as most other cameras in Canon's PowerShot line, but it ain't exactly a heavyweight either. I imagine that it's as light as most any other camera that's built to use AA batteries.

I didn't end up buying the A590, but was very tempted to do so after reading many reviews extolling its qualities and considering the sale price at Dell. I instead chose one of Canon's more recent cameras also using AA batteries (PowerShot SX110) because it had a couple of features fitting my criteria at this time (10x optical zoom, for example, compared to the 4x optical zoom of the A590).

If I could have found the A590's big brother (called an A720), I might have purchased that instead of the sx110 since the A720 has a 6x optical zoom and had a retail price that was about $200, or less than the SX110.

Seems the A720 must have been very popular and it is now long gone as it seems, at least for it original retail price of about $200. I see the A720 listed currently by one seller at Amazon, but the price is more than $300!!

Since the A720 and A590 appear to have identical features, except for the A720's 6x optical zoom compared to 4x for the A590, the A590 would likewise appear to be a great deal with Dell's pricing of about $114.

Good luck with your search.

JRS

I wish the A720is was still available. It does everything I want a small camera to do. It takes good pictures, it's affordable, it gets tons of pictures on a good set of rechargeable batteries (>700), has full manual features, and can zoom in video with a common firmware hack.