Cameras 
What camera is a good choice for hiking? There are as many choices as opinions to answer this question. Bottomline, what camera you use backpacking is largely matter of experience, background and expectations. There are two basic ways to go -- a point and shoot automatic camera and a full camera system. Below are some points on both choices and some basics on their use and limitations. 

Recommended Camera Features 

Lightweight -- Look for the lightest weight and most compact camera system with the features you desire. 
Zoom cameras allow for a wider variety of photos than a fixed lens one size fits all camera. 
Zooming in on an object can bring its beauty into focus. A one size fits all lens will miss capturing these pictures. 
Most everyone quickly understands how to best use the zoom to get better pictures. 
If the option is there, always go for the widest zoom range you can afford. 
Range -- 35 to 90 is ok, 35 to 135 is good, 28 to 200 best. You'll need a tripod or other tricks to take good photos zooming in above 135 mm. 
The low number (35) is the wide angle shot. The lower the number, the more scenery you can capture in a single picture. 
The high number (135) is the telephoto shot that brings objects closer to you. 
Macro capability allows you to take up close pictures of flowers. 
Small Camcorders can be a great option to carrying a camera, particularly for point and shooters. 


Point and Shoot Simplicity 

If all you want is a few snapshots for a scrap book of your hike, most any point and shoot (zoom) camera will probably do. The better ones take excellent pictures. 

Digital zoom cameras are an excellent choice as you can take and discard pictures until you get what you want. If you are taking pictures for web pages or email, this is the way to go. 

If you don't know or care to know what an f-stop is and how it (and other photo techniques) can be used to your advantage, it's probably best to stick with a simple point and shoot (zoom) camera. 

Braindead full featured P&S systems typically yield brain dead photos, at least in my hands. You can take good pictures with point and shoot cameras, but you've typically got to spend some time thinking about composition of your picture more than you're probably used to.. 
Some point and shoot cameras have ways of overriding some of the automatic features to give you a bit more control of your camera. If you know what you are doing, this can allow a good point and shoot camera to take pictures that rival more robust camera systems. 

You've got to be aware that your mind does all kinds of image enhancements to what your eyes see so that you can see in the shadows and bright of day at the same time. No camera system is capable of making these adjustments to take some pictures. 

Know how to set your camera's self-timer so you can run around and get in an occasional picture! 

If you want to do some higher quality 'artsy' photography with the idea of making blow ups (like 16x20) for others to look at as a centerpiece of a living room, family room or office decor, you'll probably need a bit more camera coupled with some modest photography and composition background to get results worthy of the modest extra weight and cost of the equipment. Below are noted some basics for good backcountry photography. There's more, but this covers some of the basics. 

Equipment -- You'll need a Single Lens Reflex camera (SLR) with a zoom/macro lens and polarizer filter. Most SLRs come with autofocus, some come as a complete package with built in zoom. 

Just carrying an expensive auto everything camera doesn't mean you'll a necessarily take great pictures. You really should take a class in photography to learn something of the power and limitations of your photographic tool(s). 

A polarized lens filter is a must in high altitude hikes to get a dark sky and to accent color and/or reflections. 

It's use typically interferes with the autofocus system a bit and may cause batteries to be used up faster. Set the camera focus to manual when using a polarizer. 

Adjust the polarizer after you've chosen your zoom. Most zoom systems rotate the filter when zooming in and out. 

Take the polarizer off for darker shots. 

Washed out colors and sky. At higher elevations, the intensely bright colors and the sky tend to wash out. A polarizer filter helps but doesn't always do the trick. 

It's usually best to set your film speed forward 1/2 stop to get deeper blues and colors when you are at high elevations. This also makes for slightly sharper hand held pictures because the shutter speeds are faster. 

Use the deep blue sky (or bright grey granite) as your nuetral background setting for the camera speed or f-stop. This requires you to know how to 'manually' set and hold your camera's metering as you move from your metering object back to your picture. 

Carry your SLR around your neck and strap it to your body by the hooking the lens under the sterum strap. This takes the weight of the camera off your neck and allows the camera to be ready for a quick shot. 
Carry a light tripod if you want to make big blowups of your pictures. Have a means to attach a daypack to give the tripod added stability. 



Shit happens, good shit takes a bit of focused work.