Walkography Equipment

What should you look for in a digital camera? Here are 4 basic parameters:

1) Resolution. The resolution of a digital camera determines how much detail it can squeeze into every part of the image. It is measured in megapixels (MP). I recommend at least a 5.0 MP camera for decent print quality, and increasing from there depending on the size of the print you want to make. CreativePro has a great visual reference guide for the MP rating you need for certain print sizes.

2) Shutter Speed. The length of time your camera spends recording a photograph, determined by the mechanical opening and closing of a shutter, is your shutter speed. It is measured in fractions of a second, ex. 1/125, 1/1700, etc. By lowering the shutter speed you can increase the amount of light gathered by the camera's image sensor, useful in low-light situations. At the other end of the scale, a very short shutter speed can "freeze" a fast-moving object. As a walkogger you will probably end up doing most of your photography in sunlit, "high noon" conditions where a low shutter speed may not be as important. However, you may want to consider a camera with a wide range of shutter speeds to deal with the different wildlife types (ex. fast-moving birds or insects) and habitats.

3) Aperture. This parameter is especially important if you do not intend to buy additional lenses for your camera/your camera cannot support additional lenses. The aperture is the size of the lens permitting light to reach the image sensor. It is measured by f-numbers, with f/1.4 being a large aperture and f/8 being a small aperture. Larger aperatures mean you can use faster shutter speeds because more light is permitted into the camera, while small apertures will increase the number of objects in focus in your image (also known as the "depth of field"). For more information on aperture and depth of field, click here.

4) Optical Zoom. Many digital cameras advertise the length of their "digital zoom," but the optical zoom is the only part you should be concerned with. I never go over to the "digital zoom" bar when using my camera, as it only crops the image and then enlarges the cropped portion. Optical zoom is fairly self-explanatory: it's how far your camera can zoom in on a subject.

Many parameters in cameras tie together to furnish the resulting image in terms of focus, lightness, and depth of field. ISO, focal length, and aspect ratio also play important roles in picture quality.

For more information on purchasing a digital camera, check out these guides:

Digital Cameras: a beginner's guide
Digital Camera Buying Guide
Digital Camera Buyer's Guide

My Dad and I have been photographers since well before either of us bought our first digital camera. We used to spend hours squinting at slides on lightboxes. Once we went digital, however, we tended toward the same brands over and over again. We upgrade our digital cameras about once every 2 years, and our favored brands are generally Canon and Kodak.

Currently we own 2 casual cameras that I use interchangeably (depends on if Dad steals the newer one or not!), as well as Dad's 10.1MP Canon camera used for long-term photography sessions and large format photo prints.

Because walkography is a time-dependent sport, I prefer not to lug around the 10.1 MP Canon camera for my daily trip. Instead I use the excellent 7.1MP Kodak EasyShare P712. It's light and it works hard for its size and "casual camera" status.

Here are some basic stats for the EasyShare P712:
Cost: About $300 on Amazon
Resolution: 7.1MP
Optical Zoom: 12x
Aperture: f/2.8 to f/3.7 on the included lens
Shutter Speeds: 1/1000 to 1/2 sec (auto), 1/1000 to 16 sec (manual)
White Balance: 8 modes, user-adjustable, and a complete manual setting

My Notes: I enjoy the point-and-shoot capacity of this camera for walkogging, but it is also flexible enough to do long-term shoots and precise photography. The manual abilities are a big plus, and are advanced over my previous camera (the Kodak Z650). The 12x optical zoom is incredibly fun, and the camera includes an image stabilizer for it. There is a bit of a learning curve for the unusual button placements on the camera, and sometimes "warm" sunlight can come across as harsher/harder than it really is. I have only started using the P712 as recently as a month ago, so I'm sure I still have a lot to discover.

Just for fun, I'll also include a rundown of my Dad's camera here. The 10.1 MP Canon Digital Rebel XTi would not make a good walkogging camera, but as far as photography goes it's a great choice. Here are some stats:

Cost: About $1000 for the camera alone on Amazon
Resolution: 10.1 MP
Optical Zoom: 5x on the standard lens
Aperture: f/4.0-f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/4000 to 30 sec

And here are the lenses used with it:
CANON: 18-55mm, 28-70mm, 80-200mm
SIGMA for CANON: 50mm MACRO

Polarizers, which can remove unwanted reflections, are also used with this camera, such as the TIFFEN 58mm Circular Polarizer Glass Filter.

Compared to the 1-lb Kodak EasyShare P712, the Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1 weighs 5 lbs (not including the lenses). Again, probably not your best walkogging choice but still very cool.

Most cameras use CompactFlash memory cards, and that's what I use. When I first got into digital photography, a 128MB Memorex CompactFlash card was my staple and I considered it to be very impressive.

Today the Memorex CompactFlash cards do not even fit in my new cameras like the Kodak P712 or the Canon Digital Rebel XTi. My current chip-of-choice is the SanDisk UltraII 2.0 GB card. I recommend a 256MB card at minimum. Always save your photos in RAW or TIFF format, not JPEGs! JPEG images are compressed and you lose detail-- they're suitable for web images, but not for photos you want to print.

NOTE: Check your camera's writing speed BEFORE you splurge on an extremely fast card: if the camera isn't designed to write as fast as the card can accept new data, you're wasting your money.

Most digital cameras come with some form of free photo processing software. Windows XP and Vista also come with their own versions (ex. "Windows Photo Gallery"). What do these programs do? In addition to helping you view, sort, and download photos from your memory chip, software can edit your pictures either automatically or under your manual control.

At the very minimum, you should have the following in your photo processing software:

Cropping
Levels (Lighting) Adjustment
Saturation Adjustment
Ability to Save in Common Image Formats (TIFF, RAW, JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, etc.)

You do not need an expensive program to do any of these things. A lot of photographs will only need a little cropping before they can be sent on their way. You can adjust photos as much as you like, but remember that contests and other public exhibitions have rules about the amount of digital tampering you can do to your images. Also, beginning photomanipulators tend to go a little crazy with settings as simple as Saturation or Levels. Remember: if you go too extreme with these settings your photograph will look very fake and unappealing.

Of the programs I have used recently, Kodak's EasyShare software strikes me as the clunkiest. Windows Photo Gallery is good for previewing images, but I prefer something like Adobe Photoshop Elements or even the discontinued Microsoft PictureIt! for actual editing. You can also try OpenSource image editing software like GIMP if you're looking for something as powerful as Adobe Photoshop-- without the cost.

My family didn't actually start buying specific photo printers until about 5 years ago. Until then we kept trying to do our best with high-resolution color printers, but if you are really committed to your amateur photography than there really is nothing better than a specific printer used just for your photos.

Our original photo paper was HP's Premium Plus due to the quality and the range of sizes. More recently when we bought a Canon Pixma iP6600D we also experimented with Ilford Galerie Professional Inkjet Smooth Gloss Paper (quite the mouthful) and RoyalBrites High Gloss Photo Paper, but for your average walkogger I would recommend HP Premium or Premium Plus.

The Canon Pixma iP6600D is a solid (and rather big) photo printer that runs at about 0.68 pages/minute. This is a greater speed than comparable Epson and Lexmark printers, but the Pixma is not very good for traditional applications (i.e. printing text). It really is a specialist's printer, but the newer MP610 has reformed somewhat from that point while maintaining excellent picture quality.

My Dad's professional photo printer is the HP Photosmart Pro B9180, which is extremely powerful for the price. If you ever consider competing in photography contests, decorative photography (involving matting and framing your own photos), or want to get started in professional photography, this is the printer for you.

Camera bags are pretty simple for most people: choose an adequate size (how big is your camera, are you bringing extra lenses?), select the most handsome shade of black or gray that you can find, and you're off!

However, as a walkogger you want to pay special attention to the size, sturdiness, and padding of your camera bag. Believe it or not, having a heavy camera and bag dragging on your collarbone and shoulder for 60 minutes doesn't really help your exercise routine. You will want a decent-sized pad on the shoulder strap since you will be on the move most of the time. Don't splurge on a 7-compartment bag the size of a hiking backpack when a 2 to 3-compartment small bag will do.

Many high-end digital cameras come with rechargeable batteries, but when Dad and I are caught in situations without the rechargeables we prefer Energizer Lithium AA batteries. The Kodak P712 is a slightly odd camera in that the viewfinder is actually electronic, i.e. you get the same lag looking through it as you do on the LCD screen. Unlike most cameras I tend to use the LCD screen on the P712 a lot for composing images, yet the Energizer Lithiums last longer in that camera than they did in my old Z650!

Lens wipes are an important part of camera care. Bring a few with you on every trip, and always wipe off your lenses when you're done. I use Berkley&Jensen Lens Wipes.