‘Topographical’ Camera?

[ian wright]

I overheard a conversation in a camera store where the salesman was telling the would-be customer (who may have been into backpacking) how it's possible to take photos of your maps and leave them on the memory card and use the cameras screen to read the map by zooming in to see the detail.

I've thought of this but would you actually do it ?

[Rick Dreher]

Hi Ian,

As some of the newest P&S cameras are fitted with 3-inch screens, the idea is becoming a bit more practical. I'd only consider it as a backup to a paper map though, because it's difficult to navigate from such a small screen (it can be challenging even on a GPS) plus zoom-and-scroll to the wanted location would be time-consuming.

If you lost your map, it would certainly be nice to have as a backup.

[Brett .]

Ian,
I do that on every trip, but only as a backup, and only with section maps. Frequently here in Japan there are very nice map billboards at the trail head, showing info not found on my large scale paper maps. The scale of these billboards is much smaller than that of a paper map. So I take one or two pictures, and usually refer to it during my hike.
Here's one example; of course greatly reduced. The originals are about 3000×2300 and show up fine in daylite on my Casio EX-Z750. Second picture is how detail from the same .jpg would look on the camera screen after zooming in on a section of that .jpg.
When my camera powers off and on again in play mode, it returns to the last viewed picture, and does not extend the lens.

[ian wright]

I just got my Panasonic TZ2 this weekend so will learn how to use it and one day dabble with photoing maps. Yeah, good idea as a back up only and something to fiddle with for the fun of it.

It would be an idea to have a separate memory card and fill it full of maps. I will also be buying a second battery as they are so small and light it makes sense to me to carry one.

[Author]

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