Help? I need a new Camera for specific tasks...
 

Hi there! I am a newbie, both to this forum and to this site. I am very much an amateur photographer with limited experience beyond point and shoot, but I want to learn. I hope I can ask for some advice.

I am hillwalker, backpacker and traveller. I am also writing a blog on backpacking. Have a look at my blog to see the sort of pictures I have taken. I am looking for a new camera which must fit the following criteria:

Take really sharp, pin-sharp, pictures usually of landscapes, in varying lighting conditions;
As light as possible; and
Will allow me to get better and learn more about photography without me needing a new camera as I get better and take advantage of my learning and progression.

What else should I be thinking about?

Thank you in advance...

Hi Journeyman, welcome to the forum

You're going to have to answer one major question before we can give you a proper answer. How much money do you want to (or have to) spend?
The other thing to think about is your learning and progression. Somewhere along the line (if you want to learn more about photography) you're going to have to come to a compromise between size and features. There are compacts with big zooms and manual exposure controls but they are a relatively limited set of controls.
There are slightly bigger cameras which have even bigger zooms and full manual controls (as well as the fully automatic point and shoot modes) which would be better cameras to grow into, but they are larger and, hence, will weigh a little more.

Just to give you an idea, here are some of the most popular compacts and bridge cameras that would fit your bill. These all feature some sort of manual control, big zoom ranges and a whole host of other fancy trickery...

Compacts include the [url=http://www.warehouseexpress.com/digital-cameras-canon-powershot-sx210-is/b3064-m37-r2372#first]Canon Powershot SX210 IS[/url], [url=http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-fuji-finepix-f300exr-black-digital-camera/p1521831]Fuji F300 EXR[/url] and the [url=http://www.warehouseexpress.com/digital-cameras-panasonic-tz10/b3064-m182-r2389#first]Panasonic TZ10[/url].

Bridge cameras would include the [url=http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-canon-powershot-sx20-is-black-digital-camera/p1033071]Canon Powershot SX20 IS[/url], the [url=http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-fuji-finepix-s2800hd-black-digital-camera/p1521830]Fuji S2800HD[/url], the [url=http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-panasonic-lumix-dmc-fz45-black-digital-camera/p1521800]Panasonic FZ45[/url] or the [url=http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-olympus-sp-800-uz-classic-black-digital-camera/p1519255]Olympus SP 800 UZ[/url].

Perhaps the most important things to look at here aren't the individual camera specifications (at the moment anyway) but the style and sizes of these cameras. Oh, and the prices!

A tripod? Lightweight yet steady - I won't recommend one particular one but the top-end Velbons are good value and the Giottos and Manfrottos are top quality.
Eventually, you'll want a Full-Frame camera that really does justice to the great views, but they're still very expensive so look at equipment reviews for cameras with:
Low (digital) noise.
Decent weatherproofing.
Good battery life.
Experiment with two or three frame panoramas - you can end up with really top quality shots by combining shots and doubling or tripling the amount of pixels.

I assume you're well equipped with backpacks etc - some extra weatherproofing, like an inner lining, can help even more.

Price not really the issue - for the right camera, I'll probably pay whatever the cost except for some of the Leica cameras I have seen (£1300+).

Chris: thanks for your advice. I currently have a Canon Ixus 850 IS but I find that the picture noise can be a little too much - although I am not using it at its best resolution so will do some landscape work at 3072x2304 and see if that helps any. Just seems to me that if I am going to start moving on, I could do well to start with a 10mp camera. The Panasonic Lumix TZ10 looks good to me so might be worth considering.

Geoff: I have a cheap Jessops tripod which is pretty lightweight but I'll take a look at others you mention. As for other hillwalking kit - you could say I have quite a lot, yes! I even get sent kit by manufacturers to test for them.

[QUOTE=Journeyman Traveller;20300]Chris: thanks for your advice. I currently have a Canon Ixus 850 IS but I find that the picture noise can be a little too much - although I am not using it at its best resolution so will do some landscape work at 3072x2304 and see if that helps any. Just seems to me that if I am going to start moving on, I could do well to start with a 10mp camera. The Panasonic Lumix TZ10 looks good to me so might be worth considering.[/quote]

No digital camera is immune to noise, but (generally) the more you spend, the better the noise control gets. It's always a problem with compacts though thanks the the small sensors and high pixel density.

I wouldn't worry too much about pixel count - it's not the most important thing (although the manufacturers would like you to think it was the only thing that mattered). Geoff has made a good suggestion though, with stitching some panoramas together. It's very easy to take a series of photos and you can stitch them with free software on your PC (which will, of course, do a much better job than your camera ever could).

If you fancy giving it a try, I would suggest shooting in portrait format and overlapping your shots by about 1/3rd. That gives the software loads of info to go on and gives you lots of space at the top and bottom to crop out (the edges will be messy).
Oh, and if you want the free software, try [url=http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/ivm/ICE/]Microsoft ICE[/url]. Although it's Microsoft, its actually very simple and very effective. Here's one I shot at Newgale in Pembrokeshire - it's 7 shots stitched using ICE and the edges trimmed out.

[url=http://www.photoradar.com/files/imagecache/original_large/photos/users/chris-p/4507854470-50fe5cd243-o.jpg][img]http://www.photoradar.com/files/imagecache/original_large/photos/users/chris-p/4507854470-50fe5cd243-o.jpg[/img][/url]

Going back to the tripod question.... a cheap and lightweight tripod is great when you're walking - but not great when you want it to stand still and not be blown about by the wind when you're on top of a hill! That's the trick - finding one that more or less combines both your needs - light but sturdy - and for that I'd suggest one of those carbon fibre jobs.... more expensive but worthwhile for you outdoor types!

Carbon fibre eh? I'm always seduced by ultralight materials. Which would you go for if price were not an issue and small/compact/light was the primary issue...? Bear in mind, long and thin would not be a problem as I could strap it to the outside of the sack.

Carbon fibre aren't the lightest - the basalt/carbon composites are. The best (and most expensive) easily available tripods are made by Gitzo but I think they're all massive overkill for a camera like a TZ10.

Blimey - basalt/carbon - what will they think of next?

Just rewinding a little, I missed the bit about using a TZ10 - and perhaps, for the ultimate portability, a beanbag in the backpack would cover a lot of opportunities. Bound to be some rocks, gates, fences, walls to put it on.

I still occasionally get the 'Outdoor Photographer' magazine which, as well as its good photography, is full of reviews of all kinds of walking gear, clothes, gadgets etc. It also points out some great locations, complete with how to get there, time to go, nearby attractions and..... nearest pub! Great! (There's a similar publication here in Canada which gives nothing like that and only vaguely covers locations).

I love Canada. It's fairly high on my list of places to shrug on a pack and hike up some hills. Thanks chaps.