Choice of Camera

[Dinosaur]

@John - fancy kite rig! - but I don't think it would survive our normal crash landings. Most of what hangs off our kite (no idea what it is, probably cheap though) is a plastic box filled with foam, with a small camera in there somewhere, still a fairly l

[John Wells]

We are in West Lothian, Wild West Lothian as far as the wind is concerned, especially on the hills.
We use a wide range of kites for different wind speeds and loads, some of which are:

Jim's choice for general and lowish wind speeds and stability (Longbottom Delta Sled)
Jim has also used a night hawk delta fishing kite in extremely high winds and, although shredded along the lower edge after a continuous day of flight (tethered), it was still flying at the end of the day

Rosie with a general workhorse (Power Sleds 17 to 36 - we have an 81 but have not dared use it so far!)

Near indestructible HQ FlowForm (2.0 and 4.0) with fuzzy tail. I like these but they are brutes, especially the 4.0. Both are used with our thermal imager (>1kg), depending on wind speed.
We also have more compact, gentler Sutton FlowForm 16s, one becotized, but they are no longer available as far as I know.

Rosie with her HQ Flowform 2.0 in a bag with picavet suspension, near IR and visible spectrum cameras, tools, reel and gloves.

We only use a foam filled box with the thermal camera:

Sandwich box chic ;o)
http://www.armadale.org.uk/phototech06.htm
http://www.armadale.org.uk/phototech03.htm

Some of our rigs:
http://www.armadale.org.uk/kitebasic.htm
The ones used by Rosie and I are the most basic.

[Dinosaur]

Ooh, am jealous! Can't help having a nagging suspicion ours was a stunt-kite in an earlier incarnation....they refuse to get a better one despite all my nagging (maybe one that'll get the shot I want with less than 1400 exposures to wade through), but can dream.....

[John Wells]

1400 shots is more than an order of magnitude too high!

If I had to choose two standard kites, it would be a Power Sled 24 (~?50) or 36 (~?70) and a HQ Flowform 2.0 (~?80) for portability and ruggedness,
but you would get a different suggestion from every kite flyer:
http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/discuss...ries/kites

We fly the above kites on either a 110daN (240lb) or 260daN (570lb) Climax Dacron 100m or 200m line (http://www.armadale.org.uk/kitebasic.htm)
Flying above 60m requires CAA approval: http://www.zenoshrdlu.com/kapstuff/KAPUKLaw.html
Here is the Air Navigation Order 2000 FORM for downloading.

[monty]

However, 10 megapixels is meaningless out of context, as I mentioned on http://www.bajrfed.co.uk/showthread.php?...logy/page5
The number of megapixels that is 'satisfactory' is often also defined by camera magazines in relation to available cameras...primarily in relation to the magazine's function as an advertising medium, including articles!

Indeed......the curators need educating in mps !:face-approve:

[RHenry]

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For photographic work, do you have a preference of camera type (SLR, compact etc), make or model?
Is there an ideal archaeologists' camera, or is it a matter of horses for courses?
What is important, simplicity, waterproofing, resolution, dynamic range, low light capabilities, undistorted images, interchangeable lenses, ruggedness....etc?

I have a Canon Powershot G10 but the majority of work I do with it is macro based photograpghy and I have a very limited set up especially in relation to lighting. The key advantages I found was that it was cheap, lightweight, it has not broken yet even after being dropped and as compacts go, it has RAW and the macro and apature funtions are actually better than the SLR I was tried to upgrade to. It has struggled with some artefacts as the apature is its real drawback for me but it certainly fared better than the Nikkon SLR I had tried to upgrade to. In reality though the limitations of my setup mean that I can only do so much with any camera I have.

Ultimately though I have no budget to buy anything else so I am glad that I have something I am happy with. If I could I would consider an SLR but it is less practical than my G10.
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[John Wells]

Rosie at a History and Heritage Day with seven cameras.



Left to right:
Pentax WG1 GPS with Rosie's full kite aerial photography kit in a bag
Two Flir PathFindIR thermal imagers (one exposed and one in a sandwich box)
Sony Nex 5 with 16mm, F2.8 lens
Fuji F30 converted for near IR
Fuji F5600 converted for near [IR+UV]
Fuji F20 near UV, unconverted
http://www.armadale.org.uk/historyheritageday.htm
Camera number eight in a showcase (Pentax W60)


The Nex 5 (or cheaper 3) is one of the cheapest ways of having a reasonably priced 24mm (35mm camera equivalent) wide angle lens for an APS sensor.
The WG1 is conveniently light, rugged, waterproof and has an interval timer.
The thermal cameras are amongst the cheapest 320x240 pixel imagers available.
The other cameras were older ones that were appropriately sensitive for conversion, but UV is heavily absorbed by the lenses.
The W60 is just an older version of the WP1.

We prefer cameras with lenses that have no external moving parts, unlike the F20 and F30.
As a charitable trust we try to go for the most cost-effective options.