Re: [Paddlewise] Waterproof digital cameras

Just a note on other things to consider with a digital camera.

If you want a camera for nothing more than a weekend kayak trip,  just 
about any one will do.  If, on the other hand, you want to have a camera 
that will provide for a two or three week trip away from civilization, there 
are a few things to consider:

Memory:

There are several types of memory and these are basically your "film".
Most cameras use memory cards.  Some cards, like the Sony Memory Stick,
are proprietary and are available from one company only.  Sony's product
tends to lag the others in capacity and is slightly higher in price.  This adds
up when you consider how many memory cards you need to last a couple
of weeks.  Smart media and Compact flash cards are more common and
a tad cheaper.

There are disk based storage solutions as well.  They can be cheaper than
memory cards.  CD-R cameras are available.  But my concern with CD-R is
that the overall market is driven by computers and entertainment and not 
by cameras.  Since recordable DVD is breaking out and will likely take over,
CD-R may not have a future.  IBM's Microdrive is cool and is cheaper than
memory cards if you want high capacity (up to 1GB of storage).  Not all cameras
can use this, however.  The downside is that it contains moving parts and is more
fragile than a memory card - something to consider if you're kayaking.

You can save memory on a long trip by editing your photos every night.  However, you
need a good sized display to winnow out the bad stuff and the 2 inch display on the
back of the camera isn't good enough (bring a high-end, color PDA? laptop? yeesh!)
This technique will also consume more battery power.

Power:

There are two classes of batteries: proprietary and generic.  Proprietary batteries are 
more expensive and only available from a single company.  Generics include both 
standard battery packs (oddball container, but shared by several companies) and the 
good old AA.  The best, IMNSHO, is a camera that uses AA batteries.  You can get
high energy alkaline, NiCd, NiMH, Lithium ($$$) and in the near future (I hope), 
rechargable Li ion.  For a long trip, just run down to the local big-box shopping club and
buy a chest full of AAs and you're off.  Since these fit your VHF, flashlight etc, you can 
trade them from one to the other as need arises.

You can get a recharger that is solar powered to help with the power, but you won't want it
on deck (corrosion of the recharger and batteries), so it'll only be useful on land.  It's an 
option, but not extremely reliable (unless you rest on sunny days at noon and paddle 
evenings and in the rain).

One of the main reasons I haven't bought a digital camera is that I haven't found one with 
the features I want and that uses regular AA and memory cards.  Sony, Nikon and many
others all use proprietary stuff.  HP, Kodak and others do use generic batteries and memory,
but tend to lack the other features.  Sigh...  In time...

Mike

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