"cheap" caving camera?
Posted: Aug 15, 2010 5:21 pm
I know there are other threads on caving cameras (I was reading through them!) but it seems most are about a year or more old actually, and a lot can change in a year.
I am a hobby photographer and I have a Nikon D60 with two lenses (18-200mm f/3.4-5.6, 50 mm f/1.8) but no way do I want to risk ruining this in a cave. I had an old point-and-shoot HP camera but it looks like that I busted in the last trip (it got really dirty and the mechanism for the lens is all jammed and the cover for it doesn't close either). Sooo now it seems I don't have a cave camera.
I really don't have much money, the D60 was a gift/years of savings (I"m still just a poor grad student!). And I don't think I really *want* to drag in a whole dSLR/lenses into caves, seems to be too much trouble plus I couldn't stand ruining it. I was looking at trying to get an old N-series (film) because those pop up cheap on craigslist often, but thing is, I can tell I still don't understand my camera enough yet because it will take me a few tries with the nice automatic feedback that digital offers to get settings right for different situations. So I don't want to go the film route after all.
Which goes back to digital, but a dSLR no matter what way you slice it, is a lot of $$ that I couldn't handle if I somehow ruined it. So that means no to the SLR part.
From what I've been reading of the old camera threads, I should want: no in-out lens thingie (so it doesn't jam up like mine did! ha!), waterproof, dropproof/shakeproof. Sounds good, makes sense! I looked up some of the cameras, and it seems they are still in the $300-$400 range which is still out of my budget. I'm looking for the $100 range here. But the thing is...I *enjoy* doing things manually. Auto stuff never seems to get me what *I* want in the image just what the camera thinks it should be. So I'll add to the standard good-for-caving-camera list: ability to manually adjust ISO, focus, f/stop, and shutter speed.
Also, please no Cannons. I have never been able to stand them from point and shoots to the SLR's. They just don't work with me, I don't know why, I just cant stand them nor ever seem to get them to do what I'm telling them to do. We don't communicate well I guess! I am used to Nikons and love them but I never saw a Nikon listed as a good cave camera. My second choice as far as cameras I tend to like would be Pentax. So far the closest to what I want from the archives seems to be the Pentax Optio W80. I can find it for $160 which is higher than I'd like but...a lot closer than these $300+ ones. Is that still the case that it may be my best bet?
I am a hobby photographer and I have a Nikon D60 with two lenses (18-200mm f/3.4-5.6, 50 mm f/1.8) but no way do I want to risk ruining this in a cave. I had an old point-and-shoot HP camera but it looks like that I busted in the last trip (it got really dirty and the mechanism for the lens is all jammed and the cover for it doesn't close either). Sooo now it seems I don't have a cave camera.
I really don't have much money, the D60 was a gift/years of savings (I"m still just a poor grad student!). And I don't think I really *want* to drag in a whole dSLR/lenses into caves, seems to be too much trouble plus I couldn't stand ruining it. I was looking at trying to get an old N-series (film) because those pop up cheap on craigslist often, but thing is, I can tell I still don't understand my camera enough yet because it will take me a few tries with the nice automatic feedback that digital offers to get settings right for different situations. So I don't want to go the film route after all.
Which goes back to digital, but a dSLR no matter what way you slice it, is a lot of $$ that I couldn't handle if I somehow ruined it. So that means no to the SLR part.
From what I've been reading of the old camera threads, I should want: no in-out lens thingie (so it doesn't jam up like mine did! ha!), waterproof, dropproof/shakeproof. Sounds good, makes sense! I looked up some of the cameras, and it seems they are still in the $300-$400 range which is still out of my budget. I'm looking for the $100 range here. But the thing is...I *enjoy* doing things manually. Auto stuff never seems to get me what *I* want in the image just what the camera thinks it should be. So I'll add to the standard good-for-caving-camera list: ability to manually adjust ISO, focus, f/stop, and shutter speed.
Also, please no Cannons. I have never been able to stand them from point and shoots to the SLR's. They just don't work with me, I don't know why, I just cant stand them nor ever seem to get them to do what I'm telling them to do. We don't communicate well I guess! I am used to Nikons and love them but I never saw a Nikon listed as a good cave camera. My second choice as far as cameras I tend to like would be Pentax. So far the closest to what I want from the archives seems to be the Pentax Optio W80. I can find it for $160 which is higher than I'd like but...a lot closer than these $300+ ones. Is that still the case that it may be my best bet?