bringing camera to the fields for recon
 

ok i hope i dont sound like a noob asking this (or maybe i do?)

i've been assigned the role of recon with my buddy, and while he's got a sniper rifle(SR), im his spotter pretty much

im a rifleman by default, and immediately i came up with 3 things im gonna use:
1. binoculars
2. acog
3. a camera

im planning to bring a digital camera to catch photos (of course flash off), and im curious if any of you have this experience.. of snapping photos during recon

as for binoculars i have trouble finding something with lower magnification as the lowest range i have is 400m and thats still way too far for area of focus

What's the point of snapping photos?

you would want a pretty good quality camera with a relatively large screen so you can zoom in and it not be distorted and be able to see a reasonable amount on the screen at one time.

recon and enemy numbers
also whos guarding and what weapon
also the terrain

You'll have a hard time finding binocs with enough eye relief to be used with goggles.

Consider a variable power scope instead.

As for camera, unless its part of your mission objectives you're basically just snapping game pics. Remember you need to carry whatever you bring. While a 12mp dSRL with a 400mm f/2.8 lens would be awesome for recon photos it's not exactly convenient to lug around, specially for game pics when you're also playing (i.e. not a dedicated event photographer)

what happen if you camera getting shot ? you will be just like WTF !! and run yelling to the guy. It's not good idea to bring something like that on the field unless you plan to be photographer.

Like Drake said, unless it's a DSLR with a good lense, you won't have much success snapping pictures that are usable, recon wise.

If you want to carry such a large camera setup, you will need a specialised bag. And it's cumbersome and slow to setup in the field. I know, I tried lugging around my D200 with a 70-300mm objective.

I'd say it's only viable in a milsim, if you are posted on a fixed defence post, behind hard cover and concealement and you will be spending a lot of time there. That way you have the luxury of brigning a lot of crap and having people to distribute it to, if you need to move.

As for binos, I carry a small pair in my "heavy" sniper kit. But I have to take off my gogles to use them. When I do, I'm pretty sure that I won't get shot and I use my hands to cup my eyes to the bino, so if I do get shot, the BBs have no angles to my eyes. Switching back to the gogles is crutial and need to be fast, looking down, to minimise risks. I use ESS ice ballistic glasses, so it's fast.

I use bino when I need a bread FOV and magnification, mainly for survalence or spotting for another sniper. It make seeking his BBs flight easyer.

How about just a topo map, in a plastic cover along with a grease pencil to mark intel on?

Unless you're in some sort of spy game where one of the objectives is to photo the opfor up to no good taking pictures really sounds like overthinking the task.

thanks guys for the opinions
it really helps:)
originally i was tihnknig just a simple digital camear(typical ones we snap photos with) then use the zoom function in it
but in this case then that will be unnecessary

Grab a D3 with a 200-400mm f4 VR. You'll have the best recon pics ever :)

So what's that 6K for the lens and a 1.5K for the body?

The more you spend the more you (come on folks help me fill in this blank).

The more you spend the more you end up being owned by the things you buy? </fightclub>

7k-8k for the lens 4k-5k for the body :)

I think that line is from fightclub? Dunno the rest haven't watched it in awhile.

You dont own your shit.... Your shit owns you!

Fuckk i love fight club

Not to hijack the thread but I've have a concern to raise about photographers on the field. Do they usually have some marker like a flag designating them as "do not shoot, I'm taking you f**king picture" I'd imagine they would but that won't necessarily stop them from being shot. You are putting (especially for those of us who have DSLRs) quite a bit of money in harms way to get some nice shots. Any suggestions on protecting your camera equipment while as a field photographer? I've seen some "armor" like cases for DSLRs bodies and I'm sure some nice thick filters would probably provide some protection for the lenses.