Good ol' 35mm Cameras...

http://www.luminous-landscape.com …ws/cameras/G9-Japan.shtml

René Damkot wrote in post #7768856
http://www.luminous-landscape.com …ws/cameras/G9-Japan.shtml

Wow, reading right now.
Thanks for taking the time to find this link, greatly appreciated

Agnu wrote in post #7759766
Canonet QL17 GIII. Period.

I got the QL19 for free, Love it, the meter kind of stinks, but when it does work its accurate. The lens on it is outstanding though, really adds something.

PhotoJourno wrote in post #7768648
I have an Elan sitting here by me, with a 17-85mm that works fine with it. My only problem with that particular rig, is the fact that if I forget to turn off the camera (sounds silly, but after years of digital auto shutoff, I have grown used to leave it on), the Batteries C123 (stubby AA type) go to waste. I have already used three pairs while testing the camera, in the span of a week.

I have an Elan 7E that have had the same batteries in it for 1 year, Ive put maybe 50 rolls through it, in hot humid summer, rain, dead of winter, and the batteries still show as having a full charge. Ive left it in AV over a few days a couple of times now, and still a full charge. I think something might be wrong with your Elan.

You guys are nuts. The guy is going to be hoboing around the country with people who would probably just as happily knife him in his sleep, and you want him to carry a big, clunky SLR that says "steal me" and that can't be hidden? Nuts.

And you want him to use a camera that requires special batteries? Nuts.

Film? Nuts. Can't carry it. Ruined if it gets wet. The only hope is to mail it somewhere at frequent intervals.

And the Canonet doesn't meet the requirements in that it has only one lens, however good it is.

I own just about all of the above. I have an F-1, which needs no batteries except for the meter, a T90 which runs on AA batteries but still says "steal me", a nicely lightweight but still stealable and clunky Elan II, a Canonet 28, etc.

If you really want to use film, take a Fed 5 with 35mm and 85mm Russian lenses. It's cheap so you won't mind sanding all the chrome off it before you go. Gray house paint works, too. If you remove the lenses, you can hide the bits to some extent, and certainly more easily than any SLR. It will look like a piece of junk because it is, but it still works. The shutter is pretty quiet, too.

But for me the only camera that fulfills all the requirements is a Canon A-series compact digital. It has a decent wide-range zoom lens, runs on AA batteries, and will take photos more than good enough for journalistic purposes (i.e. smallish images in magazines and largish images in newspapers). It's compact and can be hidden on your person. It can be made to look cheap. It has a built-in flash. It has an optical viewfinder so you can turn off that bright and power-hungry LCD. It has decent manual controls. And you can put a big honking memory card in it, with spare memory cards small enough to store with your press credentials and ID.

RIck "who wouldn't want to bring anything unhidden that could be traded for a beer" Denney

rdenney wrote in post #7779691
But for me the only camera that fulfills all the requirements is a Canon A-series compact digital. It has a decent wide-range zoom lens, runs on AA batteries, and will take photos more than good enough for journalistic purposes (i.e. smallish images in magazines and largish images in newspapers). It's compact and can be hidden on your person. It can be made to look cheap. It has a built-in flash. It has an optical viewfinder so you can turn off that bright and power-hungry LCD. It has decent manual controls. And you can put a big honking memory card in it, with spare memory cards small enough to store with your press credentials and ID.

RIck "who wouldn't want to bring anything unhidden that could be traded for a beer" Denney

Also, for the A-series, load 'em with lithium primary (non-rechargeable) batteries. Last much longer than ordinary alkalines, for real. Ordinary alkalines will hit the ground in less than 2 rolls of film worth of exposures.

Of course if you run out and you have no choice then go ahead and refill with the ordinary alkies, but start your journey on the right foot.

Film's got nice cans that seem to fit it exactly and that seem to be pretty watertight too