Best Cameras (a lightweight alternative)

[Frank Metcalf and Mary Doherty]

Hello,

I completely agree with Pieter that a throwaway camera makes pictures
which I don't want to keep. I've tried them, but even a long
experience with cameras cannot overcome the inherent limitations
which Pieter alludes to. However, I'm sure there are many like myself
who want to take good, sharp  pictures on the camino but with little
weight, cost, and bother.

I chose the Olympus Stylus Epic DLX 35 mm (use Google to research
these), based partly on 25 trouble-free years of using an Olympus
OM-1 in camera-challenging environments. These included  ocean
kayaking, whitewater rivers like the Colorado, outback trekking in
the dust of the Red Centre, and years in the Arctic bush. Yes, that
was a different camera, but it made me love Olympus. That camera even
survived being hurled aside while I fled from a charging grizzly,
which I first saw charging at me through its lens!

Sorry to digress. I wanted a much lighter camera for the camino, and
chose the lightest model "full-featured" Olympus, which weighs ".29
lb" (137 grams?!?) in one set of specs on the internet. Call it
around 200 grams, to be conservative. Other models in that line have
zoom lenses and are a little heavier, but not by much. The cost is
about $100 US.

Results?  Perfect for our use on the camino. It was tiny, tough,
"waterproof" (resistant), sleek-shaped, with a lens that made very
sharp pictures, and with a versatility and ease of capturing those
many indoor, people-related pilgrim events, as well as buildings and
landscapes. From the standpoint of "keeper" quality photos made
easily while one is rushed or tired, along with ultralight weight and
fairly low cost, I don't know what could beat it. Check out the many
reviews on the internet. However, my model was not digital, did not
have a zoom lens, and probably was not what serious amateurs would
choose if weight, size, and ease were not big issues.

It will certainly be our camera again when we begin walking from Le
Puy in exactly two months!

Frank Metcalf, Vancouver BC

PS  On this pilgrimage, our combined pack sack, sleep sack, rain
poncho, and camera weights will be on the order of 1.2 kg or 2.7
pounds.  I'll post about the 6.3 oz silk sleep sack later.


Dear all,
  I do respect William's idea, but keep in mind that:
* Plastic lenses do not perform well
* What you see in the view finder is not what you get on film
* Fix focus is a bad thing and only works at about 5 metres
* There is no exposure control which will result in underexposed or
overexposed photos and bad results
* An optional flash will not work outside the 3 metres range
* Enlargement due to the above mentioned facts are more than bad
* Due to the one time camera idea it's a bad thing for the environment in a
way of recycling.

Even the most modest (non-) digital camera performs better on your precious
moments at the camino

It's a waste of money and energy. Even if your eye is attracted to make a
certain capture; the camera spoils it !
So please take heed!

Pieter