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anykineclimb
Feb 9, 2005, 1:39 PM
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I currently own a Kodak LS753 and love the thing. Its compact and shoots good pics.
Now the problem. This summer I'll be in Pakistan for 2 months and will be getting a solar charger to charge AA batteries. Due to the size of the camera, it uses a slim Li-ion battery that needs a special charger.
So now I'm thinking on getting another camera that uses AA bateries instead of trying to rig the solar cells to the charger or to the camera.
Any ideas on cameras? or other options?
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mccarthykm
Feb 9, 2005, 2:58 PM
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I just got one of those Kodak EZShare cameras and I love it. It is a 5 megapixle with optical zoom. Great pictures. It takes 2 AA batteries, but as with all digital cameras if you use the view screen, it burns through batteries quick. I use it without the view screen and the batteries last quite a bit longer.
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photojosh
Feb 9, 2005, 5:46 PM
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If you felt like dropping $350, the Canon S1 IS = a very cool camera that uses AA batteries. The IS feature alone is enough to make you want it. Plus is has a very good movie mode (though you would need a lot of CF card space to make much use of it).
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melekzek
Feb 9, 2005, 11:03 PM
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canon a-series. 4AA batteries, excellent battery use
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pico23
Feb 9, 2005, 11:33 PM
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In reply to: If you felt like dropping $350, the Canon S1 IS = a very cool camera that uses AA batteries. The IS feature alone is enough to make you want it. Plus is has a very good movie mode (though you would need a lot of CF card space to make much use of it).
If you search my post, you'll find photojosh is a thief. :wink: I personally think, and have thought even since this camera hit the market, that it is the best value for the money. You are getting about $500-600 worth of camera for under $350 (I've seen it for as little as $300). All because it's ONLY a 3MP. I think the fast lens and the IS will give you more sharp keepers with better image quality than a 4MP of 5MP Kodak Easy Share (or similar camera).
It's a fast 2.8 lens with 10X optical, image stabilizer, and an USM motor. The AF is fast and doesn't hunt under normal lighting conditions. i never tested it in low EV but it should do OK. Plus, it has all the control of the A series cameras and then a lot more. This thing is really sweet. But like the A-Series, it lacks off camera flash capability. Probably not a big deal to 99% of the people but for such a well spec'd camera it should have a hot shoe. Just look the specs up, it's great camera. And yeah, it has a P&S mode on it plus selectable scene modes if you don't really want to mess with user control.
Oh, and yeah, it takes AA batteries. 4 AA. The only downside of the battery situation is that it doesn't take CR-3V batteries which now come rechargeable. This would be an awesome setup.
And alternately, if mega pixels are more important, the A-series is excellent as well. You can get the 4MP A85 for about $250. The 5MP A95 uses a different lens. It has LESS wide angle. You can add on a 7.5x optical zoom and wide angle (24mm). Plus, underwater housing. to any of the A-series
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thegreytradster
Feb 10, 2005, 12:34 AM
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Almost all the Fuji's except for a couple of uber thin models use either two or four AA's. You ought to be able to pick up a 6mo old model (new) from Half.com etc. for less than $150. They seem to introduce new models on about a six month cycle and the price on the older ones drops like a rock. That may be true of other brands also.
Never been impressed much with the results from the Kodaks and Sonys. Some of that is personal preference on color balance. The Cannons, Minoltas and Fujis all seem to produce consistently better results The Fujis are tough, simple and the Cannons seem to be on the fragile side (at least the small pocket ones). That's all just from what people I've climbed with have experienced. Not a large sample.
You might want to pick up some Lithium AA's. They weigh less than half as much as alkalines or rechargeables, have even higher energy density than rechargeables and don't freeze till -40f. A twelve pack is about $20 at Sams Club. That's about a years worth for The Fuji with judicious use of the display, (and not forgeting to turn it off :? ) Your mileage may vary.
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pico23
Feb 10, 2005, 1:05 AM
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In reply to: Almost all the Fuji's except for a couple of uber thin models use either two or four AA's. You ought to be able to pick up a 6mo old model (new) from Half.com etc. for less than $150. They seem to introduce new models on about a six month cycle and the price on the older ones drops like a rock. That may be true of other brands also. Never been impressed much with the results from the Kodaks and Sonys. Some of that is personal preference on color balance. The Cannons, Minoltas and Fujis all seem to produce consistently better results The Fujis are tough, simple and the Cannons seem to be on the fragile side (at least the small pocket ones). That's all just from what people I've climbed with have experienced. Not a large sample. You might want to pick up some Lithium AA's. They weigh less than half as much as alkalines or rechargeables, have even higher energy density than rechargeables and don't freeze till -40f. A twelve pack is about $20 at Sams Club. That's about a years worth for The Fuji with judicious use of the display, (and not forgeting to turn it off :? ) Your mileage may vary.
I agree. the finish on canons budget models looks/feels cheap but you can't have it all. superior interface, addon capabilities and quality optics, something has to give to give you all that for $X. Really, most of this stuff is tougher than it looks. When it comes to abuse it's the daily wear and tear that kills a lot of these consumer cameras. For instance, the kodaks are built ok but the battery compartment falls off almost all of them. Just under engineered.
For batteries Lithiums do excel in digital (or any time it's cold) But I'd use NiMh with a solar charger with Lithiums as a back up for general shooting. The exception being in extreme cold. Or if you can hook up the solar panel to a outlet, the CR-V3's are a great way to go.
The link has the Delkin CR-V3 charger. It's $29 for the charger and 1 battery. Saving you hundreds of dollars on Lithium batteries but giving you lithium benefits in a aftermarket battery. To me this is one of the best things to happen to digital camera owners. A lot of people (myself) didn't want a propiertary Li-ion battery but like the performance of lithium. Now you can can get both.
http://thomas-distributing.com/delkin-rcr-v3.htm
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kabir
Mar 12, 2005, 3:21 AM
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WOW HIGH PRECISION IMAGING TO CAPTURE EVERY DETAIL BEAUTIFULLY!
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rongoodman
Mar 12, 2005, 3:13 PM
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Batteries aside, how are you going to store and carry around two months worth of digital images? For a trip like that, I'd take a flim camera and mail the exposed slides home on a regular basis.
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anykineclimb
Mar 12, 2005, 3:20 PM
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I'll probably be taking 2- 3 memory cards. 256 or 512mb
I'm still looking around. Would like one that uses secure digital cards just for the fact I've got a bunch of those already.
Not a bad idea on mailing film home other than the fact that there not many postmen in the Karakoram. :)
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rongoodman
Mar 12, 2005, 3:43 PM
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Those cards are going to fill up pretty fast. iPods are nice for storm days in the tent, and you can set them up to use part of their disk space for storage of your images. (I still think film would be cheaper, more compact, and less subject to electonic snafus. You could scan some or all of the slides on your return if you need digital images.)
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pico23
Mar 12, 2005, 10:14 PM
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In reply to: Those cards are going to fill up pretty fast. iPods are nice for storm days in the tent, and you can set them up to use part of their disk space for storage of your images. (I still think film would be cheaper, more compact, and less subject to electonic snafus. You could scan some or all of the slides on your return if you need digital images.)
this problem has already been solved with portable hard drives and portable standalone cd burners. both can be had for under 250$. ipod photo is also out. bottom line is as long as you have the time to power/recharge you can store infinte images but snafus will be an issue.
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