As I was busy spending money just prior to the start of the 2003 Elk Season, one of the things I was trying to work into the budget was a digital camera -- didn' t happen, so I pondered how to " make lemonade out of lemons" . My strategy ended up going just the opposite direction....

I bought three of these:



27 shots, about $10, okay --- cheap, so what is good about it?

The problem when elk hunting is NOT having a " good enough" camera. The problem is ever stopping to take a photo in what " feels ordinary at the time" situations which are really quite special (having something quick and very handy is key here) AND being at the right place at the right time (having a bunch of people with cameras is the key here).

This camera wins on almost all counts.
(1) It is " good enough" (especially with 800 film) -- we had 2 out of 81 that were dark and we threw away [Especially since many websites will not allow you to upload pictures that are " too good" i.e. too much memory space required].
(2) It is disposable so you can be " fearless" with it. Now, it is likely to be in your " easy access" pocket along with your loose ammo, two candy bars, and God knows what else (would you stick a nice digital camera " in there" ? [Nope, probably put away in a safe place -- hard to get to -- that is a problem]).
(3) It is cheap enough that you can buy three of them, keep one, and give two to others in your party and constantly ask them, " Taken any pictures this morning?"
(4) Towards the end of the hunt, collect the cameras from your friends " burn off" any remaining shots [don' t forget the " unimportant" shots like your camp]
(5) Develop the film with extra prints for each hunter in camp.
(6) Take all the photos and put them into some sort of " story order" before you give them to your hunting partners.
(7) Use a simple flat bed scanner and PhotoShop to pull the good shots into your computer for upload to embellish any threads/posts you write. (If you know someone who has the scanner, you can upload everything to Hunting101.com in an evening.)

Two shortfalls I can see are: (1) you cannot review your photos right after taking them to make sure it is what you want (as with a digital) and, (2) memory sticks (digital again) hold more total photos (but at 27 x3 = 81 we were hard pressed to shoot enough) -- other than that they are a win-win, especially if the budget is running low at the finish line! Try it! Especially the " buy a camera for everyone" --- Hollywood don' t shoot just from one perspective and you can' t be everywhere at once!

Never Go Undergunned, Always Check The Sight In, Perform At Showtime,
EKM