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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5
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CaT,
Hey, this is Lisa, you had posted a message re: my wedding on top of Whitney... I love photography, it was my favorite part of my trip (besides the wedding)
I hauled all my bulky camera gear and took all my wide angle shots with my expensive digital SLR, but could only do this when I was not on the move, which as you know on the trail you are mostly moving.
For my on the move snapshots I kept an Olympus Stylus 790, clipped to the shoulder strap on my bag, and it actually took just as great of pictures as my large camera.
My favorite website for camera gear is Adorama, here is a link to the camera I recommend...ITS SHOCKPROOF, WATERPROOF, AND FREEZEPROOF! I have tested this camera to the fullest, the instructions for cleaning the lense actually say to submerge the camera in water while repeatedly pressing the shutter button! It also takes movies, even under water (I bought this mainly for next summer rafting in the Grand Canyon):
check it out here: olympus digital camera
This is a link to the pics I took on my trip with that camera:
my snapshots
also, I recommend getting an extra battery. Two fully charged batteries lasted me 9 days and I took a lot of pics and videos everyday.
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,309
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Joined: Jul 2003
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CaT, In particular I liked the technical review of the Canon A570IS. The review gave the camera a high rating for value. I did not see the Olympus Stylus 790 in the store, but as noted earlier, I liked the less rugged (but weatherproof) 820 for its 5x zoom. Nonetheless, I did not see the xD cards listed on my computer's media reader list, but SD cards were listed. When I saw a price drop on the A570, I decided to buy it. I like seeing the exposure information in the display when I take indoor pictures. I also am used to having a viewfinder and using rechargeable AA batteries (with my Olympus D-550).
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 961
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Lisa - Someone's discovered color coding, I see!  I looked at your Olympus Stylus 790 SW on both the Adorama site, and then on the side-by-side comparison site I referenced above. I did a side-by-side comparison between the Olympus and my demised Casio Exilim EX-Z770. There are many similarities, but I saw enough advantages with the Casio that I think I'll stick with that one when getting my camera replaced. On the side-by-side site, there were also several user reviews for the Olympus, and more than one of those led me to believe that the Olympus is not nearly as waterproof as it is supposed to be (particularly "card errors" from water leaking into the memory card compartment -- not good). It's also a bit smaller than my Casio, and my Casio was small enough. However, if water isn't an issue, and you no doubt have smaller hands than I do for handling the smaller camera, then the Olympus strikes me as a good value overall. VFred - I looked at the features of the Canon you mentioned, and was impressed, esp. for the price. However, the LCD screen only having 115,000 pixels instead of 230,000 would, by itself, keep me from buying this camera, despite its other many great features. This one thing is also why the camera is priced at around $200 and not closer to $300. Personally, I'd pay the extra to get a camera with which I don't have to constantly struggle with LCD glare and/or image noise in order to clearly and easily see exactly what I'm trying to take, especially in bright outdoor environments like the Sierra. In my experience, a 115,000-pixel LCD is not worth the hassle. I was getting excited about the camera until I came to the LCD pixelation feature near the end. CaT
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,309
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,309 |
Personally, I'd pay the extra to get a camera with which I don't have to constantly struggle with LCD glare and/or image noise in order to clearly and easily see exactly what I'm trying to take, especially in bright outdoor environments like the Sierra. In my experience, a 115,000-pixel LCD is not worth the hassle. I was getting excited about the camera until I came to the LCD pixelation feature near the end.
CaT, I agree that the LCD display is the weakest part of the camera. Nonetheless, I normally like to use the optical viewfinder for outdoor shots. As a test, I took the A570 out to a bright area and played with the stitch assist mode to take some informal panoramic shots. The pictures came out looking reasonable, as you can see here. I used both the viewfinder and the LCD display. Oh yes, there is another fire in Malibu: 
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 961
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 961 |
The camera I had (and hope to replace it with) was (will be) small enough that it only had space for an LCD but not an optical viewfinder. While I do like both (and would probably use a viewfinder more frequently if both were available on a camera I'm using), yet because I prefer a small camera, having only an LCD is fine with me. However, that being the case, the pixelation of the LCD then becomes a very important item on my feature checklist since there would be no viewfinder to fall back on.
It isn't that pictures don't come out well, it's just that when using a low pixelation LCD outdoors in non-dark conditions, I have a hard time telling exactly what I am actually taking when I am trying to compose the picture, due to the glare and high level of image noise. Whatever it is I'm taking will probably turn out fine; I just don't know what I'm taking until after the fact.
Sorry about the new fire in Malibu. Heard about it out here, too, including that a number of homes have been lost. Very sad...
CaT
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