Hi All,
I learned a lesson last weekend when out with my other half. It was primarily a walking trip, not photography, so when we came across something interesting that she wanted recording for posterity, I said "No problem!" and whipped out of my rucksack the Konica P & S that lives there for such occasions. I do occasionally check the 3v lithium battery and all had been well with it a couple of weeks before. However, on this occasion the camera was totally dead, wouldn't switch on let alone anything else, and the battery state was shown as "empty" (to use a polite expression, which I didn't at the time). Well, of course the problem was that the ambient temperature was hovering around freezing, and after ten minutes nestling in my armpit (not something I'd recommend) the battery was re-inserted and the indicator showed it as being 100%, so I did what I needed to.
I've been caught out by batteries dying in cold conditions before, but with most of my elderly SLRs that only loses the metering and the full range of mechanical shutter speeds can still be selected. Even with my electronic shuttered Pentax K2, there is a default shutter speed of 1/100th which could be used in the event of a once in a lifetime event such as the ever-hoped-for flying saucer putting down on the A38 in front of me. With the P & S, I would have been completely scuppered had the battery just been totally dead or reached the end of its life through terminal neglect on my part.
All of which raises the question of what is the optimum camera to keep in the glove compartment/rucksack or wherever "just in case". I'd suggest that it needs to be fairly small and light, it could have a meter, but must have a shutter that's not dependent on the meter or on batteries, and with a reasonably fast lens. Next question is what to keep it loaded with? The film might be in there for a long time, in extremes of temperature, should be fairly fast but not so fast that 'goes off' too quickly. Colour or b/w? B/w is my preferred medium, but a "grab shot" might be to one side of my normal material and might demand colour, but then again if I was forced to photograph my flying saucer in poor light, I'd probably appreciate the flexibility of my own processing in b/w.
Apologies if this has been discussed before, although my search didn't find it, but perhaps it's food for thought and a few interesting suggestions.
Best wishes,
Steve
I learned a lesson last weekend when out with my other half. It was primarily a walking trip, not photography, so when we came across something interesting that she wanted recording for posterity, I said "No problem!" and whipped out of my rucksack the Konica P & S that lives there for such occasions. I do occasionally check the 3v lithium battery and all had been well with it a couple of weeks before. However, on this occasion the camera was totally dead, wouldn't switch on let alone anything else, and the battery state was shown as "empty" (to use a polite expression, which I didn't at the time). Well, of course the problem was that the ambient temperature was hovering around freezing, and after ten minutes nestling in my armpit (not something I'd recommend) the battery was re-inserted and the indicator showed it as being 100%, so I did what I needed to.
I've been caught out by batteries dying in cold conditions before, but with most of my elderly SLRs that only loses the metering and the full range of mechanical shutter speeds can still be selected. Even with my electronic shuttered Pentax K2, there is a default shutter speed of 1/100th which could be used in the event of a once in a lifetime event such as the ever-hoped-for flying saucer putting down on the A38 in front of me. With the P & S, I would have been completely scuppered had the battery just been totally dead or reached the end of its life through terminal neglect on my part.
All of which raises the question of what is the optimum camera to keep in the glove compartment/rucksack or wherever "just in case". I'd suggest that it needs to be fairly small and light, it could have a meter, but must have a shutter that's not dependent on the meter or on batteries, and with a reasonably fast lens. Next question is what to keep it loaded with? The film might be in there for a long time, in extremes of temperature, should be fairly fast but not so fast that 'goes off' too quickly. Colour or b/w? B/w is my preferred medium, but a "grab shot" might be to one side of my normal material and might demand colour, but then again if I was forced to photograph my flying saucer in poor light, I'd probably appreciate the flexibility of my own processing in b/w.
Apologies if this has been discussed before, although my search didn't find it, but perhaps it's food for thought and a few interesting suggestions.
Best wishes,
Steve
