Equipment Recommendations

1.2k · October 12, 2004

Now my summer of caching has drawn to a close I'm figuring that my equipment will be more than some shorts and gortex shoes.

Common sense says pop into Cotswold outdoor leisure and buy a torch and waterproofs.

Probably OK, but I would welcome any suggestions for brands and pitfalls learnt from more experienced night time and rain time cachers.

Also, to widen the topic, the wife has stopped me buying a digital camera saying she'll get me one for Christmas. I will need to tell her what to buy me - again your suggestions would be helpful, this is an area where I have no expertise.

Cheers

October 12, 2004

The big question is how much do you want to spend? I can't advise you on equipment such as torches but for clothing I'd recommend the Innovation outdoor jackets - they are superb. We also have Peter Storm raincoats - lightweight jobs for when it's not freezing cold - and they're pretty good. Waterproof trousers we picked up for a few quid at the local camping shop - they roll up really small and we've taken them all over the world. Not only are they waterproof but they keep the wind out too.

How much does your wife want to spend on a digital camera.. £50? £5000?? You can get something to take "snaps" very cheaply but if you want a professional SLR then expect to pay quite a bit more.

October 12, 2004

I think we need to know more about your digital camera needs. Budget? any background in photography?

Do you want something along the lines of an SLR that can do all the fancy tricks with manual overrides or a fairly automatic point and shoot.

Personally I have gone for a Fujifilm A203, which is probably discontinued now, but the reasons might help.

1, Fits in pocket

2, Has optical zoom but when switched off lens completely retracts and gets covered.

3. Optical zoom x3. Can I emphasise that enough. Optical zoom is much more important than digital zoom. If on a restricted budget try and get into the lower end of the optical zoom range if possible. You can use the computer software to crop and zoom, so long as you have good optics and enough pixels.

4. The megapixel problem. If you have a huge resolution, file size will be huge, take ages to download, take up disk space get less on the memory card. I'm really happy with 2 Megapixels. More is better if you are going to crop and zoom.

5. Battery type. Mine takes AA. If I'm out and can't get to a recharger, I can buy non rechargers anywhere. Same size as GPS so I can take a handful of recharged ones and they go in either. Previous camera had a built in rechargable and once the battery was dead that was it.

6. How to transfer pics to computer. I've gone for USB and that works for me. Previously I had a card reader but this was a pain.

I used a company called internetcamerasdirect and they were very helpful.

October 12, 2004

And don't forget a First Aid Kit, needed one on Saturday, placing a cache at 3983 ft, have carried one for 5 year and finally had to use on myself when i got hit by a rock which broke and lacerated my thumb, 3 stitches!. i would have been in some mess if i didn't have a first aid kit, with a 2 1/2 hour walk down in freezing temperatures. Oh and Spare Gloves ended up with a Sock on my hand!

:blink:

October 12, 2004

Check out your local TK Maxx for some good deals on Goretex kit at the moment, they have some jackets down to £50.

I personally recommend Nikwax Paramo waterproofs for performance but they are very pricey.

A good site for gear reviews is http://www.outdoorsmagic.com

3.8k · October 12, 2004

I recently bought a set of Berghaus waterproofs from my local Millets store. They're light and breathable so you don't end up as wet on the inside as you are on the outside. Not the cheapest but still excellent value.

Torches... My Mag-lites (in various sizes) have never let me down and while you're shopping... invest in a 'proper' compass. Electronic ones just aren't reliable enough to stake your life on. You might only ever need it once.....

Digital cameras... I use a Canon Powershot A60 for 'everyday' stuff. (Still use a Nikon F2 Photomic for serious stuff) Two mega-pixel, takes 4 AA batteries so they don't need changing every five minutes. It feels right and it's rugged. Mine's been bounced down a set of stone steps with no more damage than a few scratches on the case. You can pick them up for less than £100 now.

October 12, 2004

I just took possession of a very important piece of equipment from my vet today while taking my moggy for his booster jab!

'TICK REMOVERS'

All the time Angela and I were up in Morayshire we were getting slaughtered by all sorts of biting insects...not the least were the ticks...and not one chemist stocked them....apparently you can only get them from vets !!!

Ullium.

3.3k · October 12, 2004

Also, to widen the topic, the wife has stopped me buying a digital camera saying she'll get me one for Christmas.

If you have a PDA with an SD card, you can get a half decent camera that slots in the SD card slot. That way it minimises the extra "baggage" you take with you out caching. I've got one on my Christman pressie list :blink:

1.2k · October 12, 2004

Yikes, thanks for the help so far

Camera

Well, I daresay I can get the wife up to about £200 - £250 on a camera. The priorities are

1. Pixelation does my head in so it's important that I think I'm looking at 'real' photo's. I imagine that on screen is more tolerant that printed, but for prints I think I'll e-mail them off to get them developed.

2. Easy to use, I don't have huge expertise, so one or two steps beyond point and snap is OK, but not much further than that.

- Until Pharisee said I hadn't considered ruggedness, but that's just made it onto the list, I've broken 2 cameras in the past. (Stuey - PDA's are a gadget I have to resist even though I'm aching for one. )

- Kbootb points all seem very sensible - 2 megapixel - does that tally with my point one? I have to admit that last time I looked into this 1 megapixel was a thing of the future and quality was worrying, these days though things have moved on.

3. USB connection is OK, actually, looking over my laptop it maybe essential - getting the photo's onto my computer is easy, right?

In summary so far I seem to want a compact camera that is easyish to use , rugged, has ?megapixel, has X x optical zoom, uses USB, has a retractable lens and takes AA batteries.

I have a proper compass (smug feeling). It's in my bedside cabinet (doh)

Torch - I thought Maglites, but only because I knew no other so I'm glad they're OK, Nice anodised colours as well, always important.

I'll go for a 1st aid kit, good advice. Ullium - tick removers ?? - I'm imagining some kind of medievil pincer gadget. How big are ticks? How scared should I be?

Clothes - Gortex in the ideal world - I'll check out TKmax (I'd have never thought)and Millets as well. Is "Innovation" that gadget catalogue?

Thnaks for your help so far, this is much better than buying hundreds of magazines :blink:

October 12, 2004

I use a Canon Powershot A60 for 'everyday' stuff. (Still use a Nikon F2 Photomic for serious stuff) Two mega-pixel, takes 4 AA batteries so they don't need changing every five minutes. It feels right and it's rugged. Mine's been bounced down a set of stone steps with no more damage than a few scratches on the case. You can pick them up for less than £100 now.

I have the A40 the one before the A60 A great range of cameras, I take the A40 on all my caching trips.

The A75 this is a 3.2 MP 3x zoom and ICD have it for £145 or the A95, 5MP 3x zoom for 238.

I paid 320 for the A40 3 year ago so 238 for a 5MP is a good price. I`ve printed picture up to A4 size with the A40 and no problems with the look of them.

The good thing I found with the A40 is that you can use it just as a P&S but when you get use to it you can use the maunal features on it.

A card reader is a good accessory, saves running down the batteries in the camera.

I normally take my pictures into Boots, at present they are doing 50 prints for £5 :blink:

Torch - I use one of the new LED headtorches by Petzl either the Tikka, Tikka+, or Zipka, Zipka+, keeps your hands free :blink: prices are between £25-30, they take AAA and last for about 100 hrs.

Clothes - Gortex in the ideal world

Goretex is well overrated :blink: I`ve had two Gortex jacket and both leaked at some stage, Paramo jackets are the bees wotsits :unsure: only need a quick reproof once a year and good to go.

Edited October 12, 2004 by harold1066

October 12, 2004

To work out how many megapixels you need, you first have to decide what size your largest prints will be.

Think 300 pixels per inch of that print size, and you can work out your resolution needs.

For example, a 10 x 8 print wants 3000 x 2400 pixels which is a little over 7 megapixels!

For a 6 x 4 "enprint" you need 1800 x 1200 or a bit over 2 megapixels... These are minimum resolutions for photo quality that you aren't going to take a magnifying glass to...

My perfect caching camera is a Pentax Optio S50 - really small and pocketable, and 5 megapixels, so 10 x 8 takes a bit of coaxing, but it's not too bad...

For viewing on the computer screen, think 100 pixels per inch of on screen size - a third of the printed needs. Few screens these days are over 1280 x 1024 which is 1.3 megapixels...

Oh, and just by way of a comparison, a 35mm frame is reckoned to hold about 4000 DPI or 6000 x 4000 roughly - a whopping 24 megapixels!

Bob Aldridge

October 12, 2004

Canon have a great range of easy to use compact cameras in your price range. I would suggest the A75. Not only are they easy to use, the software is very intuitive. I have it's older relation and never let me down after 10,000+ images.

There's Goretex and there's Goretex. Like all things in life, you get what you pay for. If you go for cheap you will be let down and disappointed. Goretex is just a membrane bonded to other materials. Frequently, the bonded material hampers the way Goretex works. I have two jackets, one very light weight for normal use and one heavy weight, I use winter mountaineering. The light weight one is 8 years old and never let me down. It did cost over £250 quid but still going strong. If it lasts me another two years, then it's £25 quid a year. As the the mountaineering version, that's 5 years old and cost £300. You might not think you need something so robust and indeed you may not. But as someone who knows a thing or two about kit, it's the one you see most reporters wearing. The reason is, it won't let you down and it's tough enough to take a few knocks. Amongst my outdoor friends there is one individual who keeps buying cheap, keeps replacing and is wet most of the time. I'm pretty sure, he's also spent more than I have on jackets. From personal experience, Goretex is king. Cotswold are a great place for kit.

As for torch, I'd go for an LED head mounted. Keeps your hands free and batteries last for a very long time. Something like the Petzl Tikka.

What about foot ware? Get some good boots and gaiters.

I hate ticks.

October 12, 2004

Oh, and just by way of a comparison, a 35mm frame is reckoned to hold about 4000 DPI or 6000 x 4000 roughly - a whopping 24 megapixels!

You can't compare mega pixels from a digital camera and a film camera - they may sound like the same thing but their not. The Canon 20d will produce an 8MP image that when knock spots of a 35mm shot when printed at A2, I've seen a fair few. And you won't have to clean the neg or touch up either.

You are right about 300 dpi's - you can actually push 240 dpi's for normal prints. Unless you're a picture editor or work in a stock library, it's unlikely you'll spot the difference.

October 12, 2004

Also, to widen the topic, the wife has stopped me buying a digital camera saying she'll get me one for Christmas.

If you have a PDA with an SD card, you can get a half decent camera that slots in the SD card slot. That way it minimises the extra "baggage" you take with you out caching. I've got one on my Christman pressie list

Do you mean you take the sd card out of your camara and plug it into your pda? or you actually plug a camera into your pda? if so where do you get such a gadget? I like gadgets Just wish I had more money :blink: to buy them

1.2k · October 13, 2004

I'm not sure about what a card reader is and how it would save me battery.

Does it store the pictures rather than the physical camera store them. If so, how do you transfer the picture to your laptop?

- Head torch - fantastic idea.

- I've got a variety of walking boots/shoes that are decent. What do gaitors do? I'v eseen hikers wearing them, presumably they keep the bottoms of your trousers dry?

- I should have guessed that decent jackets came in at £100's. I've followed the same principle for my skiing gear and never regretted it.

Thanks so far

Edited October 13, 2004 by Kitty Hawk

October 13, 2004

<<Stuey - PDA's are a gadget I have to resist even though I'm aching for one.>>

Why? For what you propose to pay for a pretty basic camera you'd get a very reasonable PDA, which would be of infinitely more use geocaching than a camera.

October 13, 2004

Gaiters will keep your trousers dry, stop mud spreading up you legs from your boots and help keep rain out of the tops of your boots. They are normally made of tough fabric, which will help when tackling forest undergrowth. They should be thorn proof protecting you and the plants. Personally, I think they are better than waterproof trousers. With a descent length jacket and knee-high gaiters most of your leg is covered and the bit that isn’t is where most of the work is being done and body heat alone normally keeps me pretty dry. I know it’s more kit . . . but you asked!

3.8k · October 13, 2004

Gaiters will keep your trousers dry, stop mud spreading up you legs from your boots and help keep rain out of the tops of your boots. They are normally made of tough fabric, which will help when tackling forest undergrowth. They should be thorn proof protecting you and the plants. Personally, I think they are better than waterproof trousers. With a descent length jacket and knee-high gaiters most of your leg is covered and the bit that isn’t is where most of the work is being done and body heat alone normally keeps me pretty dry. I know it’s more kit . . . but you asked!

On top of that, when you're walking through heather and bracken they stop bits of foliage getting into the top of your boots. Before I bought a pair, I was stopping evry few minutes to clear out the bits of twig and stuff.

1.2k · October 13, 2004

Why? For what you propose to pay for a pretty basic camera you'd get a very reasonable PDA, which would be of infinitely more use geocaching than a camera

Brother in law has a PDA and he's more antisocial with it than the worst mobile phones user can get. I don't need more addictions, especially caching related. Digital cameras are a crossover product with minor caching use but quite decent real life use. Plus, I'm not paying.

2.9k · October 13, 2004

We use a 1.3 magapixel camera for photos that we post to the site. Cost £20 second hand and came with all the extras the guy had bought for it. I confirmed the price by tracking the same camera on Ebay and they went for £20 -£25. We then use an APS camera and get a CD for an extra £1 when the photos are processed. Kit we take depends on the walk but this list makes a good starting point. Walkie talkies are our next treat :lol:

October 13, 2004

.

Double post

Edited October 13, 2004 by harold1066

October 13, 2004

I'm not sure about what a card reader is and how it would save me battery.

Does it store the pictures rather than the physical camera store them. If so, how do you transfer the picture to your laptop?

Most modern Digital cameras don`t have an external power source so when downloading the pictures from the camera; the camera needs to be on and drains the batteries.

A card reader plugs into a USB port and the card from the camer goes into it and you download the pictures from there, a bit like an external mini HD.

Geo

1.2k · October 13, 2004

Ah, got it. :blink:

1.9k · October 13, 2004

:blink: A rope & bucket may also be useful .

What do you say Mady ? :lol:

October 13, 2004

There's a good article on ticks here :blink:

1.2k · October 13, 2004

Thanks Inukshuk, I'm not sure I want to come across the 30mm variety. - Do you know that you are a cache? Inukshuk

1.3k · October 13, 2004

Everyone should carry those essential items in their boot if not in their backpacks :blink:

1.2k · October 13, 2004

Some of them would cause blisters though wouldn't they? :blink:

2k · November 2, 2004

I used to use a double D cell maglite for caching at night. The problem was, trying to open a cache, take photos and sign the log book etc with one hand. I decided to buy a head torch (Petzl Duobelt LED 8). It has 2 lamps, one halogen spot lamp for distance and a LED lamp with 3 brightness settings. The batteries fit in a pack which attaches to your belt so it makes the head torch very light. It was quite a pricey torch but cheaper ones are available (wouldn't be without mine though )

I also bought an in-car battery charger that charges AA batteries. The torch uses C cell batteries, but the charger came with a set of "converters" to enable the AA's to be used in the torches battery pack. The charger is by Uniross.

By the way, I still take the maglite as back up :lol: .

November 2, 2004

You are right about 300 dpi's - you can actually push 240 dpi's for normal prints. Unless you're a picture editor or work in a stock library, it's unlikely you'll spot the difference.

Well, actually, I can see the difference!

You see, I write my files back to film with a film recorder. At about 2890 DPI. And then I view them under magnification.

A 5 megapixel image still looks grainy after that process - rather like the older 400 ASA films...

But, if all you want are prints that are viewed at an appropriate distance then the digital cameras are just fine...

Bob Aldridge

November 3, 2004

You are right about 300 dpi's - you can actually push 240 dpi's for normal prints. Unless you're a picture editor or work in a stock library, it's unlikely you'll spot the difference.

Well, actually, I can see the difference!

You see, I write my files back to film with a film recorder. At about 2890 DPI. And then I view them under magnification.

A 5 megapixel image still looks grainy after that process - rather like the older 400 ASA films...

But, if all you want are prints that are viewed at an appropriate distance then the digital cameras are just fine...

Bob Aldridge

Sure you can see a difference under magnification but put a 6MP image from a modern DSLR against an image produced from a film and at A3 under normal viewing conditions 99% of people won't notice the difference. You get more tonal range from a good digital so, most people will prefer the digital image. Anyway, I spend way too much time debating this in photography forums to carry on here!

1.2k · November 3, 2004

Following Kitmonsters photo revelations I have just got a Finepix with 6m pixels. It's got adjustments for 3m, 1m & 300K and they all look pretty good on the screen although I think I can tell at 300k, although it might be my imagination. I've not printed any yet though. -

What do ISO's do? I've got settings for 200, 400 & 800.

Also now have a Petzl, miles lighter than the headlamps and batteries I use for potholing. Not compatible with a Hard Hat though, so I still need both.

I've just upgraded the lights on my mountain bike, so I am using a halogen bike light at the moment as well, it has wide and narrow beam settings so it's pretty useful and combined with the petzl it all works well.

November 3, 2004

What do ISO's do? I've got settings for 200, 400 & 800.

ISO is a legacy from film and a standard to how sensitive the film / sensor is to light. The lower the number, the finer the detail and the longer the exposure. You will find that high higher ISO films will be grainy - like the tabloid paparazzi images from half a mile away, where as the low ISO films will have a much finer grain that should be invisible to the human eye. On digital you get a similar effect although it is referred to as noise. High ISO digital images will not be as sharp and have a lot of random blue and red pixels. The advantage of high ISO is you can shoot in lower light. Here's some examples:

You take a shot at ISO 100 with a fixed aperture. The exposure is 1/20 of a second. This is quite slow and without a tripod, you are likely to get some camera shake.

At ISO 200 and the same fixed aperture you will get the same shot at 1/40 of a second, 400 at 1/80 second and 800 at 1/160 second. So as you can see from the maths, it's a balance.

With a film camera, once the film is loaded you have two variables, exposure and aperture. With digital variable ISO is a third variable!

I always try and shoot with as low an ISO setting as I can. But if a shot is hand held in low light, I will shoot at a higher ISO. I then use Noise Ninja software to reduce the noise. It's a very good piece of software. Here are two examples:

This is a full crop of a photo of a heron taken at ISO 400. Each pixel you see here is straight from the camera. You will notice the background is a bit speckled.

This is the same image after being cleaned by noise ninja. The background speckling has gone.

This isn't a perfect example but hopefully demonstrates what noise is and how it relates to ISO. The 10d I use has very low noise up to ISO 400. I'm not sure how your camera behaves. It's digital, so go play!

If you want more, then go to Luminous Landscape and read more about ISO and noise!

1.2k · November 3, 2004

Cor - well done, I understood what you said and the photo's illustrated noise very effectively so I know what that is as well now.

So a rule of thumb could be - use the lowest ISO setting you can, but if light levels are low it might pay to go for a higher setting to shorten the shutter speed and reduce the chance of camera shake.

Software? Can't be dealing with that just yet.

Cheers

November 3, 2004

You got it! Phew. Now, back to my photography forum to talk about caching . . .

November 3, 2004

...and you must remember to buy a dictionary too...

Sorry, couldn't resist!

...but you could help me by telling me how you include the pictures in the posting. Each time I have tried, it has failed.

Ta!

1.8k · November 3, 2004

Sue & Bernie wrote:
...but you could help me by telling me how you include the pictures in the posting. Each time I have tried, it has failed.

The image you want to show has to be on the web somewhere. Just right click on the image, choose 'Properties', and copy the url. Then, in your post, click on 'IMG' above the text box and paste the url into the dialog box that comes up.

So http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/avatar/23330_300.jpg produces:

Edited November 3, 2004 by Bill D (wwh)

3.8k · November 3, 2004

Nice choice Kitty Hawk. I am very impressed with my Fuji.

found this little fellow near a cache early in the year :huh: (ok I took it in a ZOO) But the quality is good, even though as it was behind a wire mesh.

Mine has an auto ISO setting (it is an S5000) I find this will normaly shoot around the 160 to 200 iso. but as the light drops it will use 400 when needed.

November 4, 2004

OK, here we go:

...and hopefully it worked!

November 4, 2004

Thank you BillD - it was the having to be on the web bit that was throwing me!

Sorry about the big pic folks, I didn't realise it would come across that large.

Ta!

November 4, 2004

As they say Sue....

"There is no extra charge for having it large" !!!

Ullium.

November 4, 2004

A piece of kit that I would recommend after an incident yesterday is rubber soled boots! Decided to take our rough collies out for a reccy on a potential cache spot. This is in a place not far from us and somewhere I haven't been to before. It involved crossing a couple of stiles and following a fence line. Now if any of you haven't met rough collies before they are utimately bred for their beauty and not brains so at the stiles I had to encourage them to join me on the opposite side. This involved either pulling up a strand of the fence so they could slink under or on the last fence holding down the middle of a rabbit fence so they could go over. At the last fence Cali jumped the fence, there was a loud crack and the pair of us looked stunned. In fact she looked at me as if I had kicked her a**e through the fence. I was left feeling as sick as a pig. Yeah we had had an encounter with an electric fence run from the mains and there was no warning about it being there. Neddless to say it has put me off the idea of setting a cache there. Oh and we had to return the same way!!

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