Compact/single-use cameras

HOW MANY times have you hesitated to dig your camera

out of the pack for a single quick landscape shot?

How often have you passed on
grabbing a trailside candid of a
companion?

Want to travel lighter and leave
that expensive, full-sized, weighty
35mm SLR and lenses home, but
bring back great photos of your
trip?

I’s time to take a look at the
world of point-and-shoot com-
pacts. These plastic-bodied, fix-
ed-lens cameras have taken the
photo mass-market by storm by
cramming more and more into
smaller and smaller packages.

They offer such features as:

@ Sophisticated programmed
autoexposure systems,

@ Automated built-in flash,
and even intelligent flash systems
that automatically compensate for
backlighting.

@ Compatibility with DX-
coded films so you don’t have to
remember to set the film speed.

@ Weatherproof (and some-
times even waterproof) bodies.

@ Tele-wide dual lenses or
zoom lenses. More and more
point-and-shoot models are offer-
ing a combination of autofocus
telephoto and wide angle lenses.

@ Autowind and autorewind.

_' @ Avtoloading film — just
open the back and drop in the
film cassette — a real boon to
fumble-fingers.

But do these high-tech handfuls
have anything to offer those of us
who put image quality before
convenience? They do, indeed.

From the user’s end, these
compact, lightweight cameras are
simple but sophisticated and pro-
duce images of a surprisingly high
quality.

Tips for the
back country

All of these microelectronic
cameras have one thing in com-
mon: a total dependence on bat-
teries.

To avoid cold-weather battery

By J. Michael! Wyatt
Contributing Writer

lockups, use fresh batteries and
keep an extra set in a warin place
like an accessible interior pocket.

If you plan to do a lot of
cold-weather shooting, make sure
the camera accepts lithium bat-
teries.

Dual, telephoto and wide-angle
autofocus lens cameras offer the
greatest versatility for back coun-
try use. .

If you canoe, kayak or hike in
wet conditions, consider a
weatherproof model; it will resist
the entry of dust, grit, condensa-
tion, fog and light rain.

Cardboard and disposable:
Single-use cameras

Have you ever wanted to haul
your SLR out in a downpour or
expose your point-and-shoot to a
40-mph sandblasting, just to go
get a few exposures of how well
your tent was holding up (and
your tentmate wasn’t)?

How about letting the kids
loose with a lens for a while?

Now there’s an answer: the new
single-use cameras.

These lightweight and inexpen-
sive one-way cameras are con-

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structed of a cardboard box with
a plastic interior.

They come already loaded with
film and produce surprisingly
good-quality images with a plastic
fixed-focal length lens and fixed-
speed shutter.

Two members of Kodak’s fami-
ly of single-use cameras are of
particular interest to backpackers.
They’re each priced under $14,
weigh around three ounces and
offer features previously available
only in expensive specialty cam-
eras,

A favorite is the panoramic
Stretch 35. This camera comes
with 12 exposures of Kodak Gold
200 and uses a 25mm f12 lens to
produce 3%-by-10 pictures —
twice the width of the standard
negative.

A great backup for stormy
weather is the Weekend 35. This
waterproof camera comes with 24
exposures of Kodak Gold 400 and
is wrapped in a durable plastic
cover that will keep things dry to
a depth of 10 feet.

The obvious question in this
time of overflowing landfills is
why plug a throwaway product?

Kodak has established a pro-
gram to help photo finishers recy-
cle 35min cassettes and plastic
film canisters, and there are plans
to recycle the plastic interiors of
their single-use cameras.

Reprinted with permission of
Backpacker Magazine. Distributed
by Los Angeles Times Syndicate.

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SINGLE-USE cameras can be useful in circumstances where your
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