|
 |
|
|
| |
 |
GADGET BAG |
 |
Pocket Digital Cameras
These little marvels can help your outdoor work, and they’re fun, too
By Zachary Singer
The miniature digital camera
is usually promoted as the camera of choice for the amateur
point-and-shoot crowd, but it has much to offer the dedicated
landscape photographer as well. A miniature digital makes a
wonderful tool for scouting locations and for breaking the ice
with strangers in travel photography. Unlike a 35mm or digital
SLR, and the medium- and large-format film cameras often used
in landscape work, a miniature digital camera slips as easily
into your pocket as into your gadget bag.
Scout locations with a mini-digital camera instead of your usual
bulky camera gear. If you’re used to shooting film for
scouting photos, your note-taking will be simpler, too. Each
digital image file already contains information about the time
and date your photo was taken, along with the lens’ 35mm-equivalent
focal length and other data. Many of the miniature digital cameras
featured here record voice memos as well. Even better, you can
see yesterday’s scouting shots without going into the city
to process your film. 
If you shoot travel photos,
you already understand how important it is to put people at
ease in front of your lens. An informal snapshot shown on the
LCD monitor of a small digital camera can break the ice. Once
people see how good they’ll look, they’ll be happy
to appear in your images. They may even make suggestions for
poses or compositions that might not have occurred to you. A
promise of a picture sent afterward encourages this cooperation—if
your subject has e-mail, sharing a photo from your miniature
digital camera is simplicity itself.
Even the pros love to take a quick photo of their traveling
buddies when they come along on a trip. Quite often though,
the only camera available is the medium-format or 4x5 camera
they’ve brought for serious work. While these cameras offer
awesome image quality, they take time to set up, and their film
is needed for the landscape work. In contrast, a mini-digital
camera is ready immediately and allows you to take as many pictures
as you like without concern about burning up precious film.
Ultimately, the best reason to get a mini-digital is that it’s
everything a “serious” camera isn’t. A mini-camera
is small, light and fun. Because it’s so easy to carry,
you’ll take it everywhere, capturing shots you’d likely
have missed if it meant carrying an SLR.
Mini-Digital Cameras
The 5-megapixel Kyocera Finecam S5R can capture full-resolution images at an amazing three frames
per second until your memory card is full. The camera has six
Scene modes, and weighs about six ounces. Dimensions: 3.6x2.2x1.3-inches.
Estimated Price: $399.
Fujifilm’s FinePix F410 features Fuji’s 3-megapixel SuperCCD HR sensor that records
six million pixels in the final image. The 5.8-ounce camera
offers manual exposure in addition to its automatic setting.
Dimensions: 3.3x2.7x1.1-inches. Estimated Price: $410.
Featuring program-, shutter- and aperture-priority automatic
exposure, the 5-megapixel Toshiba
PDR-5300 also has full manual exposure control. Weighing
in at 6.3 ounces, the camera offers center-weighted and spot
metering. Dimensions: 3.7x2.3x1.3-inches. Estimated Price: $349.
With a good range of exposure control modes, Samsung’s
Digimax V4 boasts a 3x Schneider zoom lens with macro-focusing
capability. The camera weighs 5.8 ounces. Dimensions: 4.2x2.1x1.5-inches.
Estimated Price: $359.
The rugged Sony Cyber-shot DSC-U60 shoots 2-megapixel images as much as five feet underwater with
its 33mm (35mm-equivalent) lens. It offers six Scene modes and
weighs 6.7 ounces with batteries, memory and wrist strap. Dimensions:
2.4x4.4x1.8-inches. Estimated Price: $249.
The Olympus Stylus 400 Digital’s all-weather metal design lends itself to going wherever you
care to go. With 4 megapixels and multiple Scene modes, it will
do a great job once you get there. The camera weighs 5.8 ounces.
Dimensions: 3.8x2.2x1.3-inches. Estimated Price: $449.
Weighing 3.5 ounces, the feather-light Pentax
Optio S4 nonetheless packs a 35-105mm (35mm-equivalent)
zoom lens with both seven-point and spot autofocus into its
tiny frame. The 4.2-megapixel camera features eight Scene modes,
as well as multi-segment, center-weighted and spot metering.
Dimensions: 3.3x2.0x0.8-inches. Estimated Price: $400.
Nikon’s Coolpix SQ features
Nikon’s swiveling-lens design in a compact, 6.3-ounce package.
The 3-megapixel camera has 15 Scene modes for control over your
images. Dimensions: 3.2x3.2x1.0-inches. Estimated Price: $449.
At less than three-quarters of an inch thick, Canon’s
PowerShot SD10 is also among the lightest cameras here.
Its 39mm (35mm-equivalent) lens provides a useful single focal
length for the camera’s 4-megapixel imager. It weighs 3.5
ounces. Dimensions: 3.6x1.9x0.7-inches. Estimated Price: $349.
Looking like a fat credit card with a zoom lens, the 4-megapixel Casio EX-Z4U features no less
than 21 Scene modes for maximum versatility. The 4.6-ounce camera
has a two-inch LCD monitor. Dimensions: 3.4x2.2x0.9-inches.
Estimated Price: $399.
The 3-megapixel, credit-card-sized Minolta
DiMAGE Xt boasts a fast start-up time and a periscoping-lens
design that keeps the 3x zoom from protruding outside the camera
body. The camera weighs 4.2 ounces. Dimensions: 3.4x2.6x0.8-inches.
Estimated Price: $299.
|
PAST GADGETS
|
|
|
Gadget Bag: The Long View
May 2007
Compact super-zoom cameras offer tremendous telephotos in portable packages
By William Sawalich
|
|
Gadget Bag: Multimedia Storage Viewers
April 2007
Back up and review your images in the field with handheld media devices
By Jon Sienkiewicz
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gadget Bag: Have A Ballhead!
August 2006
Prized for solid construction and ease of use, ballheads are the choice of professional landscape photographers the world over
By Ted Alan Stedman |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gadget Bag: Sharpness Is Easy
May 2006
Tripods are indispensable, and new, exotic materials and construction make them better, lighter and stronger than ever
By Jon Sienkiewicz
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gadget Bag: Power Hungry
July 2005
Today's batteries help satisfy our insatiable electronic gear
By Ibarionex R. Perello
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
