Lowepro. One of these for shooting surf...it's a backpack.
Small LowePro for the camera body and a short zoom.
I have a really big Tenba for all the junk. But that won't fit on the
bike....
Lowepro. One of these for shooting surf...it's a backpack.
Small LowePro for the camera body and a short zoom.
I have a really big Tenba for all the junk. But that won't fit on the
bike....
Just another piece of bling...
Ultra pod (7" long). Great mini tripod to set on tankbag. It comes with velcro strap to affix P&S on pole or branch.
Rags
04 R1150RS, 07 HD XR883R
IBA #17225
Thanks! I've been thinking about a tripod that's a bit more robust than what I have the velcro thing sounds neat.Originally Posted by torags
Where's our man bluestune? He does this stuff for a living.
Dave Swider
Marin County, CA
Some bikes. Some with motors, some without.
The 7 megapixel Olympus Stylus 710 (same thing as the 720 but not as weatherproof) is the best one I've seen. We have two of them. The camera geeks at the local pro store just rave about them. I put it in one of those little Lowe packs. On your hip, you hardly know it's there. The things are incredible; only about a centimetre thick, and super light.
The Leica D Lux 2 is also tempting, but I haven't been able to determine whether it has a Leica lens or a Leica spec lens. Anyhow, they're expensive.
Rinty
And for those that want a full sized tripod that is both compact and sturdy...Manfrotto 715SHB.
I have the Manfrotto 714SHB without quick release. Truly excellent.
Just got mine. It has 35 to 420 optical zoom. It is slightly smaller than Canon digital rebel but quite a bit smaller than Rebel with zoom lens. Viewfinder is pretty clear for a lcd. Nice features are manual zoom, available manual focus. It operates like an slr. My results so far are mixed. I couldn't resist using the 2x digital zoom on bird watching trip on very overcast day and was a little disappointed in the results. Staying with the 12x optical zoom results were very clear. It is small enough to easily fit in tankbag and offers a good compromise between digital point and shoot and slr camera.
Last edited by 99691; 12-12-2006 at 02:09 PM. Reason: include picture
This is an interesting thread because I also have been shopping for a small digital camera. It seems that each camera has a "unique" feature.
What is the consensus of the group if one is looking for a small, functional, durable, easy to use, (read: IDIOT-PROOF), digital camera for the amateur photographer who will basically "point and shoot"? In your opinion, which one has the least amount of shutter delay which was a factor a couple of years ago?
An SLR would be beyond my level of expertise, and I really do not want to carry all that stuff. My sister is a professional photagrapher and has an SLR system with equipment and lenses to knock your socks off. She admonished me to keep it simple, and that the basic point and shoots by the big names are all close to eachother in "basic" picture quality. She also said "buy what you will use immediately, not what you think you will need in a spcial situation, because how many special situations will you realsitically encounter?"
I am leaning toward the Olympus 720.
So, sum it up...inquiring minds want to know. Thanks in advance for your help!
"What is beautiful is simple, and what is simple always works"....Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47.
Current Bike: '73 R75/5 "Center yourself in the vertizontal. Ride a motorcycle...namaste' "
Well I look for cameras that don't use any proprietary items...that means they should runs on AA batteries if at all possible. I have a very compact Panasonic charger that will charge 4 AA NiMH batteries....also used in my Garmin GPS...get the idea...component commonality which is of primary importance for the travelling motorcyclist.
The Casio EX-Z110 is such a camera and well rated. Cheap to buy also. Of course, as with any sub compact camera, the lens is a bit limiting, although it takes great pictures.
As for an upper end point and shoot, I have an Olympus C 5060 Wide Zoom (no longer available). A big plus is the 27 mm wide angle lens, great for on-the-road landscape shots. Just what a motorcycle traveller needs. Downside is the proprietary battery and bulkier charger. Still a great camera...there hasn't been one with the features like it.
So narrow down what is important to YOU and then search out a camera with those features.
I've been using a Canon P&S for about three years now. First, an S400 and for the last couple years, an S500.
When I was looking for an SLR, I asked fish what he thought. He gave me some pretty good advice. Go down and try a bunch of them and buy what feels right in your hand. The quality differences are going to be fairly minor, I think, but the operation is what you'll need to be comfortable with.
I'll confess that I spent some time at www.dpreview.com before I bought, just to make sure what fit my hand fit my expectations.
Dave Swider
Marin County, CA
Some bikes. Some with motors, some without.
Another consideration is the size of the memory card in the camera. Nothing worse than needing to edit in the camera to make room for new shots. The 1 gigabyte card in my Sony Cybershot camera holds about 300 high quality photos. It came with a 32 megabyte card which holds 9 of the same quality. If I go to "web" quality photo's I can shoot 6000 pictures.
ride what you've got; enjoy the road you're on!
Reid - Stone Ridge, NY - MOA #69187 - Turbo Fluffy Motoclub - IBA #50182
I'll preface my remarks by saying that I've owned six digital cameras and sold camera equipment retail and wholesale for about 10 years--though I'm now retired from that pursuit. I don't think you can hope for consensus from such an ecclectic group, but here are my thoughts on what you should strongly consider, listed in their order of importance:
Canon
I've said it before: Other P&S cameras are very good, but Canon's got a lock on the market and they consistently make great stuff. If you buy one, you can't go wrong.
Image Stablization
This is a newer technology that will radically improve your pictures, all but eliminating the dreaded "motion blur." It is simply a must-have.
Wide Angle Zoom
None of these cameras has a great telephoto. You can crop your image a bit if you want to get closer; HOWEVER, a wide angle lens (28mm in 35mm equivalent) is really important for taking pictures in small rooms, of motorcycles, of landscapes, etc. This feature is very high on my list of must-haves. If you want to see what I mean, check my website. I have a few thousand examples.
Small
You want it small, but not so small that it doesn't fit your hand. You want it to fit in your jacket pocket, but you need to be able to take a quick snapshot with gloves on. I suggest you ride to the store and take your gloves in with you. Seriously.
LARGE Screen
The bigger the better; it's one of the features that makes a P&S digital camera great. I don't feel that battery consumption based on screen size is an issue. You need to have two or three batteries anyway.
On a related note, in my experience, AA battery compatibility has never been of importance; however, if you may be away from electricity for more than 72 hours, then it becomes important. I go on four-day primitive camping trips every year, take 150-200 photos, and have yet to run out of batteries, FWIW.
Flash Over-Ride
Because the flash exposure in these cameras is determined by disatance (it reads the distance from focusing information) they take great outdoor flash pictures to fill in shadows. Make sure the camera you select has this feature.
Macro
Most of these cameras has a macro, or close-up, feature. Close up photos are interesting and fun. It's great to be able to take a picture of an obscure part or a problem with your bike and be able to post it on a website. It's not a deal-breaker, but it is nice to have.
Manual Control
If you are knowledgable about photography, an experimenter, or technically adept, you'll want this. There are circumstances in which the camera's meter will be fooled, and it's nice to make exposure changes as well changes to the shutter speed or the aperature to vary the depth-of-field.
Two great sources for learning more about camers, as others have already pointed out. If you want to learn about features and compare models, go to Digital Photography Review (a.k.a dPreview). If you want to learn more about digital photography, go to Digital Grin. Bizrate is a nice site, but when you compare prices, beware of Brooklyn retailers. I don't know why, but that's where the sharks circle.
Good luck with your decision, and let us know what you decide.
Tom Moran
On the Road with SNC 1923
There goes the thread
After that post there is not much left to say.
Extraordinary summation. Have not seen it said quite so succinctly before.
For my use I can live without those LCD screens. I rarely use mine. They are a ubiquitous feature of digital cameras but I rarely use them.
Used to do some professional sports photography and work for a college newspaper and yearbook. Optical viewfinders allow you to compose and shot several shots in short order. The LCD viewfinders wash out in sunshine and don't show very much in dim light. They are very fine indoors.
What now? Guess we can go back to discussing tires, oil changes and charging batteries.
Automatic focus is wonderful although manual focus is great when you want to blur out the background or foreground.
Thanks again for a great summation.
Paul you will have to admit, that this thread has been more civilized than some tire or oil threads....
Rags
04 R1150RS, 07 HD XR883R
IBA #17225
Gotta love website templates. For a brief second I thought I accidentally went to ADVRider!
Nice photo site though, and not one I'd seen before. Thanks for the tip.
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