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Photo Forum / General Photo Topics / UK Photography / March 2006Suitable camera?
In the Summer my son (lucky so and so) will be off on a school trip to Costa Rica for a month and will be 'out in the sticks' for most of the time. Naturally we'd like to see lots of photos of the trip and I'm sure he'll want to look back on the trip from the photos. He's 16 and never really done anything that hasn't involved point and click disposable cameras or my digital camera. I'm wondering waht would be a good caera for him to take. I'm asking now so he can have a good practice before going. He could stick with point and click disposable, but that's pretty bulky and limited (over the month there would be a lot of photos and a lot of cameras). We have an old XA2 kicking around, so that might be a candidate. I'm really nervous that camera/film will be ruinined by rain/heat/humidity and sheer mishandling by someone not used to having to take care with film. Any suggestions for a camera/strategy that stands the most chance of success. Money is tight! Thanks, Paul > In the Summer my son (lucky so and so) will be off on a school trip to Costa > Rica for a month and will be 'out in the sticks' for most of the time. [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Paul As good as anything - that or an Olympus Mju. Instruct him VERY carefully to keep his film dry and as cool as possible. Unexposed film can be kept in a fridge until it is needed but must be given time to warm up and for moisture to evaporate before use. Exposed film should be kept cool but away from moisture. If he is in a position to get the film processed (only) locally he should do so and then post it recorded delivery back to the UK for printing. If he can get it put on a CD at the same time so much the better. -- Woody harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com > > In the Summer my son (lucky so and so) will be off on a school trip > to Costa > > Rica for a month and will be 'out in the sticks' for most of the > time. snip > > We have an old XA2 kicking around, so that might be a candidate. > > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > printing. If he can get it put on a CD at the same time so much the > better. > -- > Woody Thanks Woody. It's an adventure type thing - no hotels, tourist spots etc. so facilities are going to very basic (basically trekking and tents). Paul > "harrogate2" wrote... >>"Paul Andrews" wrote... [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >>>Any suggestions for a camera/strategy that stands the most chance of >>>success. Money is tight! >>As good as anything - that or an Olympus Mju. >>Instruct him VERY carefully to keep his film dry and as cool as [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Thanks Woody. It's an adventure type thing - no hotels, tourist spots etc. > so facilities are going to very basic (basically trekking and tents). FWIW I took a Mju II 38-140 P&S zoom camera to a hot humid place, it did very well indeed. Take a spare battery, or two, just in case. They're easy to load, and easy to use, and you can get one second-hand for very little (test before he goes!). I took lots and lots of pictures, with good results, considering there was a complete novice (me!) behind the thing. Spare batteries are a *must*, and should be carried with the camera and spare film all the time. A roll of film to practice with and develop before he goes would be very worthwhile. > > "harrogate2" wrote... > >>"Paul Andrews" wrote... [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > and spare film all the time. A roll of film to practice with > and develop before he goes would be very worthwhile. My management has one of them and it is superb. Until I got my Nikon D70s DSLR she could take three pics in the time I took one - and they would ALL come out!! As a point of interest the Superzoom 140 (to give it it's correct title) uses (IMSMC) a single CR123 lithium cell which lasts about three years with 'average' use so there shouldn't really any problems in that area if a new battery were used from the start. Having said that, if you do have an XA2 then use it. It is small, light, and has a superb lens albeit not a zoom. It takes SR44 button cells so taking spares is no problem. Two things to watch out for; if the camera has not been used for a long time check that the sponge that provides the light seals around the back door are still good; show him how to change film speed as it is not DX equipped. Film is cheap at Asda if they have any left - £5 for five rolls of 27+3 200ASA Agfa, or £7.50 for the same in Fuji. Aldi have been doing Agfa 200-36 in twin packs at £1.99 for some time, or similar Kodak if not Agfa. My personal preference would be Agfa as it is much more tolerant of exposure errors - +/-2 stops is generally not a problem. -- Woody harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com > "Chris Bacon" wrote... >>>"harrogate2" wrote... [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > three years with 'average' use so there shouldn't really any problems > in that area if a new battery were used from the start. ISTR "average 15 rolls of film per battery", 'though ICBW. I liked the "water resistant" reputation of the camera (although I tried hard to take care of it, and it did not get more than a drop or two on it), and the simplicity, coupled, as you say, with good results. I'd still take at least one extra battery, though, as the cost is not huge, and if you're just about to take a picture of something *really* interesting, for instance a huge spider on the wall of a cave, and the battery packs up at that very instant, it's proper vexing. The only thing I disliked is that it was "long", rather than "wide", so I might perhaps consider the 28-105 or whatever the thing is. You can tell that my grasp of the intricacies of pracktickal photography isn't the best, can't you? Suffice to say, I'd sometimes rather have got more in the picture at close range rather than being able to zoom in to some vague smudge a long way off. Whatever is taken buy more batteries anyway, some people do a lot of fiddling about and zooming in and out using battery power to see what I can see (!), and a camera of this sort with a flat battery is worse than useless. > Aldi have been doing Agfa 200-36 > in twin packs at £1.99 for some time, or similar Kodak if not Agfa. My > personal preference would be Agfa as it is much more tolerant of > exposure errors - +/-2 stops is generally not a problem. Aldi still have some film of this nature, although no "stops", whatever they may be. :? Stops are the exposure settings. For the benefit of the non-knowing:- Photographic exposure can be equated to a bucket and a water hose. For any given size of bucket it needs a fixed quantity of water to fill it. Use a small bore hose and it will take a long time to fill, use a large hose and it will fill much more quickly. The speed rating of the film (in ASA) is the reciprocal size of the bucket, i.e. the higher the ASA the smaller the bucket. The size of the hose is the aperture setting of the iris. The time for which the hose must be on is the exposure time. The capacity of the bucket is the quantity of light required to correctly expose the film The steps of exposure time and aperture are the opposite of each other and are called 'stops.' Increase the aperture by one stop (actually halve the area of the hole through which the light passes) and you will have to double the time that the shutter is open - remember a fixed quantity of light/water is required for correct exposure. Some films, especially slide film, needs to be accurately exposed, usually within 1/3 of a stop. Print film however is much more tolerant, which is what I was saying when I stated that you should be able to get a useable picture off a film frame that has been incorrectly exposed by 2 stops or a factor of 4 - that is it has been exposed to anything from one quarter to four times the correct quantity of light. If the whole film has been exposed at the wrong speed setting then it can be corrected in the processing PROVIDED the person developing it has been told. -- Woody harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com > The speed rating of the film (in ASA) is the reciprocal size of the > bucket, i.e. the higher the ASA the smaller the bucket If you instead make the speed rating equivalent to the rate at which the water is being supplied, all the items of the analogy work in same the logical direction as their analogues.  SignatureRoger >> Naturally we'd like to see lots of photos of the trip and I'm sure he'll >> want to look back on the trip from the photos. Maybe a left-field suggestion but I'd say don't worry too much about the photos, just take the pressure off and let him have a good time. If he was already skilled in photography and has a good working knowledge of the equipment and care of film - fine.. then he'd probably be going there on a photography expidition. As it is, I assume he's going for other reasons, so a bunch of great memories and 'ok' snapshots will be much better than parental pressure, and a holiday potentially ruined just because of some photos. Cheers, Stu > >> Naturally we'd like to see lots of photos of the trip and I'm sure he'll > >> want to look back on the trip from the photos. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > memories and 'ok' snapshots will be much better than parental pressure, > and a holiday potentially ruined just because of some photos. Stu, you needn't worry. there is *no* parental pressure. I just want to try and make sure he comes home with the photos he want's to take rather than nothing. If he takes a couple of pictures a day, he'll still have filled two rolls of 35mm. Paul > Cheers, > > Stu PA> PA> Stu, you needn't worry. there is *no* parental pressure. I just want to try PA> and make sure he comes home with the photos he want's to take rather than PA> nothing. If he takes a couple of pictures a day, he'll still have filled two PA> rolls of 35mm. PA> In that case, get on line and buy him a small digital. Now! If it is small enough, he'll be able to carry it around with him all the time. If he breaks it, he breaks it. But that's OK because there is *no* parental pressure. See, for example, an Olympus Mju mini at fotosense for 130 pounds http://www.fotosense.co.uk/shop_details.asp?productID=758 SignatureAlan ( If replying by mail, please note that all "sardines" are canned. There is also a password autoresponder but, unless this a very old message, a "tuna" will swim right through. ) |
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