from the Washington Trails Association's magazine, Jan./Feb. 2008:

"It’s inevitable that people who hike become people who take photos of their hikes. Pictures are the guilt-free souvenirs you’re allowed to bring home with you, and often expected to bring home with you from the more adventuresome excursions"...

article continues:  http://www.wta.org/magazine/WA-TRAILS-01-08-GEAR.pdf

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Jane Garbisch - Site Sherpa

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"We are here on the planet only once.... might as well get a feel for the place."
- Annie Dillard

It's nice to read an article I can actually understand, for once. A must-read for beginners in the digital camera world!

The one item omitted (unless I missed it) is that a viewfinder is essential. In bright sunlight, most LED screens I have encountered (including the one on my own camera, the Canon A710IS) are useless. Better to turn them off and save battery power. Unfortunately, more and more digital cameras are made without viewfinders.

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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey

They didn't even list the camera I have, an Olympus Stylus 720 SW.  I think they now have a 770 which is basically the same camera.  I've had good results wtih it, and it is waterproof to 10 feet and shockproof to 5' (you can drop it onto concrete from 5' and it is warranted not to break).  It does not have a viewfinder, but the LED works well in sunlight.  I've had very good luck with it, and it is almost indestructible.

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Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW-What a ride!-Dean Karnazes-"Ultramarathon Man"

Many new cameras have flip & twist LCD screen which eliminate the glare factor

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Our hiking & photo website

    One of the big things to remeber is the zoom range.  For us hikers, we need the wide end of the zoom far more often than the long end so we can take in those gorgeous landscapes.  The difference between 35mm and 28mm on the wide end is quite shocking.

Compact cameras with zooms wider than 30mm are very rare, but panasonic seems to have just introduced an awesome looking hiking copmpact
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012918panasonicfx35.asp

25mm of zoom on the long end is absolutely unheard of in compacts like this, and 10 megapizels is a LOT of detail.

And speaking of megapizels, it is important to note that while the difference between 3 and 6 is huge, the difference between 6 and 9 is not as large.  The higher you go, the less you get for your megapixel.  Anything over 6 megapixels in a compact is more than enough to print  magnificent 8x10s.   With 8+ megapixels even 11x14s start looking like professional quality work.

One last thing about megapixels, the larger the camera generally means the larger the photo sensor chip, and the larger the sensor the better the quality of the data.  This essentially means that a 6 megapixel SLR camera will produce a much better image than an 8 megapixel compact.  It sounds funny, but it is true.  So keep that in mind if you are buying a big camera with less megapixel, you are probably still going to have more detail than a compact camera with a bit more.

Happy shooting!

Happy shooting!

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Andy