[Rhodes22-list] Digital Cameras Revisited

[Roger Pihlaja]

Hi Everybody,

About a month ago, there was a discussion on the Rhodes List re digital vs film cameras.  I was advocating my 35 mm Pentax film camera because of its class V water resistance & ruggedness.

As you probably know, I've gone back to school to get a BSME degree at Saginaw Valley State University.  I have two lab classes.  Labs in mechanical engineering are more like working in a small factory with machines like rolling mills, furnaces, lathes, milling machines, Instron tensile test machines, heat, dirt, grease, dust, strong magnetic & electrical fields, etc.  It's a pretty extreme environment for a digital camera.

For my lab reports, which are due every 1 -2 weeks,  I frequently need to show experimental setups.  This documentation could either be in the form of schematic diagrams or pictures.  With my class load, who has time to draw schematics?  I considered using my Pentax 35mm film camera.  But, the lab equipment is multipurpose, with many different classes using it.  By the time I got the film developed & saw there was a problem with a certain shot, the lab equipment setup would already have been changed for some other class.  No, I needed a digital camera wherein I could check the shot immediately in order to verify proper exposure, focus, lighting, & composition.

I ended up buying an Olympus Stylus 400 digital camera for about $425.  This thing is claimed weather resistant, not to class V standards like my Pentax, but better than no weather resistant rating.  It has a motorized 35, f3.1 - 105, f2.8 mm zoom lens (3X optical zoom, 35 mm film focal length, f-stop equivalent) plus 4X digital zoom, shutter speeds from 1/1000 sec - 1/2 sec, autofocus with manual override, day/date/time imprint, pretty good exposure compensation controls ( +/- 2.0 f-stops in 0.33 f-stop increments), a nice macro mode that focuses from 8" - 20" for those real close-ups, & several modes for the built-in flash.  It is also one of the few digital cameras with a metal body.  I like the sliding lens cap that covers up all the optical windows when the camera is not in use.  I've used it to illustrate five lab reports so far this semester.  The Olympus is working well & holding up against the nasty lab environment.  4 megapixels is plenty of resolution for my purposes.  The menu functions on the back of the camera & the LCD display are superb & very easy/intuitive to operate.  The Olympus CAMEDIA software for picture downloading to my PC was truely plug & play & works perfectly.  About the only thing I don't like about the package is the small size, only about 3.8" W X 2.2" H X 1.3" D.  If it were the size & weight of a standard 35 mm SLR film camera, it would be much easier to hand hold for some of the technical shots I have to take.  I've started mounting the little camera on a tripod, which helps a lot.  For taking pictures of shiny surfaces, I wish it had the capability of mounting filters on the objective lens, but that's a pretty unreasonable request for any point-&-shoot camera W/O interchangable lenses.  As far as I can tell, the Olympus Stylus series is the only digital camera model line currently available, which claims any sort of weather resistance and has a metal vs. plastic body.

The small physical size is a mixed blessing.  For outdoor use, like on on our R-22's or backpacking, the Stylus 400 doesn't take up much room in the backpack & it only weighs about 8 oz with lithium battery & memory card installed.  However, this small size & weight also make it somewhat difficult to hold steady on a pitching deck.  In addition, if you have large hands, this camera is approaching the miniaturization limit where it is still reasonable to hand hold.  As it is, you must be somewhat careful to hold it correctly or one of your fingers will accidently cover up one of the optical sensor windows, close the sliding lens cover, or pop the battery compartment open.  With time and familiarity, you get used to holding it correctly.

By the way, so far, I have a 100% average in Strength of Materials Lab and 98% in Solid Mechanics Lab.  Life is good!

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium