[pct-l] Camera

[David Money Harris]

Mark,

I got an A1200 through Amazon and it was dead on arrival with purple bands across the image.  Then I got a second one and it died 29 days later, just in time to return.  The higher-quality Canons with AA batteries are superzooms that are too heavy and won't fit in my pocket.  I've also burned through several more expensive Canons over the past 5 years from blowing dust in the lens or a drop.

I went for a Panasonic TS3 instead.  It's rated to survive a 6-foot drop and is waterproof.  It geotags the images, which I have come to love.  The image quality is good, it has image stabilization and HD video, and it's responsive and fits in my pocket.

Battery life is shorter than average, so I carry a second battery and will send a charger in the bounce box.  Interestingly, the GPS isn't the main cause of short battery life, and it appears the GPS performs better than competing models.

There's now a TS4 with a faster CCD imager, but I've heard mixed reviews of Panasonic's CCD image quality.

David

Message: 14
Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:28:26 -0700
From: "James Vesely"<JVesely at edmsupply.com>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Camera
To: "mark utzman"<blackbelthiker at gmail.com>,	<pct-l at backcountry.net>
Message-ID:
	<1B64CE751A7DE74FB3673AA17F6A154E5CC3BD at mail.local.edmsupply.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"


Take a look at the A1200 Canon, optical viewfinder, two double AA's,
long battery life.
The A1300 is coming out in May.

Jim

------------

Hello  Everybody,

      I wanted to ask for advice about what camera I should carry with me
on
my attempted thru-hike. I am not a photographer, so I don't need high
tech
gadgets, just something that will give me good pictures and maybe be
able
to record videos. I am looking at two cameras; Canon Sureshot  or the
Nikon
Quickpix. I'm not sure what model to get, there are several each has, or
how to keep them charged on trail, do i need multiple batteries, do I
need
several memory cards, etc. Any help and advice would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks,  Mark

-- 
Prof. David Money Harris
Associate Director, Engineering Clinic
Harvey S. Mudd Engineering Design Fellow
Department of Engineering
Harvey Mudd College
301 Platt Blvd.
Claremont, CA 91711
www3.hmc.edu/~harris
Ph:  (909) 607-3623
FAX: (909) 621-8967