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pbcowboy77
Jun 26, 2002, 1:00 AM
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So I want to start taking photos while I climb. I need to buy a camera but only have about $200 to spend. So what are the pros and cons of digital and SLR while climbing. I know a little about SLR cameras cause I took some classes in school but I've never used or owned a digital. I know this is a stupid question but I would appreciate any info on this topic to get me headed in the right direction Thanks -Zac
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ktwo
Jun 26, 2002, 6:44 PM
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Well, I just bought a new SLR, and I would definantally say SLR. For a digital about the same quality as a $300 SLR you would have to fork over about $700. A better choice if you ask me is to buy an SLR and a good photo scanner.
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cygnus
Jun 26, 2002, 7:39 PM
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I totally agree with ktwo. SLR you'll get a much better and high res picture.
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sparky
Jun 29, 2002, 11:27 PM
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i love my SLR, but my digital is nice too. I'd say SLR because it is more fun to take pics, but a digital is simpler to get your pics. It depends, do you want simplicity or a fun time.
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saltspringer
Jun 30, 2002, 12:14 AM
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do you know what SLR means? Single Lens Reflex which can mean digital, 35mm or medium format analog. An SLR has a mirror/prism setup so that when you look throught the viewfinder you're looking through the lens. There are also Twin Lens Reflex and Rangefinder cameras. So, I guess what you're really asking is whether you should buy digital or analog equipment: if you don't want to shoot slides & you don't want many prints (or big prints) go digital and Adobe everything
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apollodorus
Jun 30, 2002, 1:58 AM
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The digital camera uses batteries up faster, so you have to make sure to bring plenty. Also, you'd want to bring some memory cards. The best scans of 35mm film are made off the negatives, not from prints. Photo shops are the place to have this done. One place near my charges $8.00 to scan any size roll and put five different size images onto a CD.
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katywhitman
Jun 30, 2002, 3:21 AM
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When you say SLR do you mean manual control or "point and shoot"? When I say "point and shoot" I literaly mean point the camera at the subject and shoot to have an image. This would be the easiest route by far but it would also be the most limiting. A manual control camera would let you experiment with all sorts of effects, and some cameras are interchangable between automatic (point and shoot) and manual. Digital cameras have been coming down in price recently and can be very cool as well. BUT you may also want to have a computer to do all the cool stuff. An advantage with the digital cameras is that on some models you can see your picture immediately. (A very cool thing.) BUT they chew up batteries like mad. Once you know what you want I recommend going to any large bookstore (Borders, Barns and Noble) and picking up copy of "B & G magazine". It has listings of many companies that offer whole-sale and used camera equipment. I always go that route and have never been sorry. I do this photography stuff for a living so e-mail me if you want to talk! Kat. [ This Message was edited by: katywhitman on 2002-06-29 20:25 ] [ This Message was edited by: katywhitman on 2002-06-29 20:26 ]
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mpbro
Jun 30, 2002, 3:30 AM
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Once you go to the convenience of a good digicam, you'll never go back... ...unless of course the $*&*$# LCD screen cracks on your month-old Canon S-30 Power Shot. On a climbing trip, no less. These LCD screen appear to be the achilles' heel of the digicams...beware of those which rely on the screens to do most everything. Someone else was using the camera when the fatal break probably occur. There was no obvious damage to the camera body, and everything works fine...except the damn screen.
OK, on to SLR versus digicam. Scanned "point-and-shoot" versus my 3.2 Mpixel camera...no comparison, digicam wins hands down. Compare a good SLR to my digicam and the SLR wins, but only if you're looking to print the images at huge size (at 8x10 prints you really see the difference). Batteries: not a huge problem. I did two days of shooting (60 frames plus about ten minutes of movies) and I didn't go through a single battery. This depends strongly on the type of digicam you get; I can't give a general rule. Good idea to buy a spare battery. Memory: Flash cards are cheap, more durable than spent film canisters, and hold a load of images. I recorded about 60 images (highest resolution, highest quality JPG) + 10 minutes of low-res movies, and I had room to spare on my 96 MB flash card. If you take 256 MB of memory on a weeklong backpacking trip, I'd be surprised if you ran out. You can buy 256 MB cards for fairly cheap. Digicam versus Film+Scan: Yeah, you can get pretty nice scans from SOME negative scanners. I paid $400 for a HP 5490C, which has a half-assed negative scanner, and I was so pissed off with the poor results that I bought the digicam. Do you really want to pay $X + the inconvenience of getting film developed, plus $500+ for a DEDICATED film scanner? I don't! Oh, did I mention how tough it is to remove every last speck of dust from a 35mm negative? Summary: Get a digicam. Forget about those three camalots you need and spend $400 on the cam instead of $200. For $400 you'll get a good one. YOu'll never go back, my friend! Good luck, Morgan
Pardon this ramble...I believe I've had too much to drink! [ This Message was edited by: mpbro on 2002-06-29 20:48 ]
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k9rocko
Jun 30, 2002, 3:48 AM
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I still like the "warm and fuzzy" of film... and with a scanner, you can always have the best of both worlds...
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sauron
Jun 30, 2002, 4:35 AM
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I've seem what digital cameras can do nowadays, and I know what film cameras can do nowadays.. I'd definitely stick to a film-based SLR.. (You forget, there _are_ 35mm SLR digital cameras out there (Canon D-30 and D-60 come to mind) - if you spend the extra couple bucks and have them do negative scans of your images onto CD when you have the film developed, you get the best of both worlds - prints (or slides), and digital high-res images... - d, REALLY wanting a D-60
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pbcowboy77
Jul 1, 2002, 4:27 AM
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Hey guys thanks for all the help. Guess what... I didn't have a choice, my kickass Dad gave me his SLR (he went digital). But it's a Minolta Maxxum 7000(at least thats what it says on it) with a telephoto lens and a flash. Well it looks cool and I used it today for the first time when I went out with rrradam and the crew from AZ. Now I have to figure out how to use the scanner that is on my pops computer that is networked to mine, then how to post the pics. Thanks for all the help again, you guys kickass, but not as much as my Old man (gotta love the Dad). Climb safe and don't drive angry -Zac
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