Touring - Digital Camera

My search for a digital camera (to frame my tours) has started. Any suggestions?

chris

I love our Digital Elph (http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/BikeCameras.html).

It is small enough to fit into a handbar bag, battery is rechargable, takes high quality photos and video clips. It survived well on our very wet tour down the west coast and is now headed to asia.

http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/images/BikeCameraCanonS500.jpg

Earlier this year I was searching for the "perfect" bike camera and it came down to a Canon Elph or the Sony T7. I ended up getting the T7 and unfortunately it was the wrong choice. The Sony is incredibly small and easily slips into the rear pocket of a cycling jersey. It takes great pictures but it doesn't have a view finder and outside on a sunny day it is very difficult to frame a picture using the LCD screen. Under the right conditions it's still a great camera but not outside on a sunny day.
So my suggestion is to make sure you get a camera with a viewfinder, it's worth the little extra size.

I have an old Minolta DiMage X. It was the first of the new breed of ultracompact digital cameras that offerred non-protruding optical zoom lens. Minolta no longer makes digital cameras though. The Sony T-series is a good choice as is the Nikon Coolpix S-series and the Olympus Stylus 720SW. The Nikon S6 has built-in Wi-Fi and that might be a nice feature to have when touring since it will let you upload your pictures to a hosting site while in the middle of the tour just by visiting some place with a hotspot (such as Starbucks). The Olympus S720SW also seems like a good choice since it's waterproof and shockproof.

All of these cameras would be my recommendation because they're slim, compact, don't have protruding lenses (yet still have optical zoom) and can be operated with one hand so you can shoot on the move. they also have features that should come in useful for taking pictures quickly such as burst or continuous-shoot mode and fast startup times.

I think any one of a number of Canon Powershots would be an excellent choice. For touring, I have a bias towards cameras that use AA batteries, as opposed to proprietary rechargeables. In an emergency, or in an area without electricity, you can always use AA alkaline batteries, which are readily found all over the world. The downside of these cameras is they tend to be somewhat larger. Having said that, I have a number of Olympus Stylus cameras that I am happy with, although they take the proprietary rechargeables. They are water resistant, which is important to me up here in the very wet part of the Pacific Northwest.

i have a kodak v530 that i bought specifically for use on the bike! takes great pics... uses AA batteries and and SD card... even takes little movies!

AND it's small... small enough for my handlebar bag or even small enough for a jersey pocket or bento bag!

I just got the Canon PowerShot A700. I like it so far. I got it for the macro capabilities, for a camera that size, but also the 6x optical lens.

Fujifilm FinePix F30 is a good choice. For travel, battery life is at least as important as compactness (picture quality and lens quality aside). There are a few that take AA alkalines, which if your charge runs down is a nice option, and cheaper than buying a second battery with a charger.

A BIG yes on the need for a viewfinder. Way too frustrating when shooting in bright sun trying to view shot on a lcd screen. Batteries: the convenience of using AA's for me are overshadowed by their short life. I prefer to keep a fully charged spare (non AA). Most proprietary batteries have a substantially longer shoot life then AA. Lense: buy the best lense you can afford. I really like the Leica lenses used by Panasonic...the clarity is awesome.

+1 on the Canon A700, the 6x optical zoom is nice. AA batteries and light too.

I used to recommend a camera that uses AA batteries but now, most use a Lithium-Ion battery that lasts very long. AAs are more expensive inthe long run. Bring a second battery and should be ok for a good while. Bring the charger and when the first battery dies, start looking for a place where you can recharge it (campground office or take a electrified site for one night, garage, restaurant, motel, etc). The best is a camera with an adapter that allows the use of AAs but I doubt many P&S have this.

I just picked up a Panasonic FX01. The nicest feature of this camera besides the Leica lens is that it's optical zoom starts off with a wide angle. (28mm equiv)
Although it does not have an optical viewfinder, I find its large 2.5" monitor reasonably sufficient even in bright sunlight.

What about the aas in nickle whatever? They are rechargeable and some of them claim 500 shots per charge. I have to say the rechargeable battery in my Sony looks just like two plastic clad AAs with external contacts...

What about the aas in nickle whatever? They are rechargeable and some of them claim 500 shots per charge. I have to say the rechargeable battery in my Sony looks just like two plastic clad AAs with external contacts...

In my cameras that use AAs and in my Canon 580ex flashgun, I use 2500 mAh Everready rechargeable batteries. They last a surprisingly long time, and when I am out in the field, I carry a set of alkaline AAs as an emergency backup.

I purchased ditigal cameras for several colleges in the past. Before that I was a professional silver-based photographer for 17 years. I discovered through trial and error that as a rule, the 'old' camera manufacturers still seem to have the best optics. Canon, Minolta, Canon, Pentax, Nikon et al. The most disapointing optically was a first generation Sony (although I believe now they are purchasing lenses from an optics firm).

I wanted a compact camera, that uses standard AA size batteries that I could charge at home and then just purchase on the road, that has a decent lens. I bought a 6 mega pixel Pentax and I have been happy with the results.
Check them out! (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/journal/?o=lt&doc_id=1857&v=4k)

I love our Digital Elph (http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/BikeCameras.html).

It is small enough to fit into a handbar bag, battery is rechargable, takes high quality photos and video clips. It survived well on our very wet tour down the west coast and is now headed to asia.

http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/images/BikeCameraCanonS500.jpg


I'll second this choice. A great camera with enough megapixels at the right size.

I bought a 4MP Nikon digicam for my parents and have used it a bit. It all works very well, the macro and panoramic modes are handy, you have some control of the flash and exposure overide and the viewfinder is handy in poor light conditions (eg night time shots).
The zooms of pocket cameras usually do not go very wide. I would prefer a ~28mm.
Dont get caught in a MPixel trap. Figure out how big you would want to enlarge your pics then choose sensibly. High mp cameras can lose out on sensitivity and noise levels and the pictures take up more space.

It's increasingly getting difficult to find anything under 5 mp theses days with point & shoot cameras. The 28mm wide angle is nice. That was the one must have feature I had to have when I bought my last digicam, the Panasonic FX01.

I'd go with one of the canon digital elph's. I have an S400. I had an S500, but it got stolen. The SD versions are a little different--different memory card, more compact, bigger LCD screen to eat your batteries faster. But here's why I like the digital elph's
-very compact
-digital and optical zoom
-mine has a view finder and LCD screen (not sure if some of the newer ones have the viewfinder).
-you can shut off the LCD screen to conserve battery power.
-it takes movies
-it has a lot of flexibility and adjustment, yet is simple to operate.
-they "feel" sturdy and well built--you can feel the weight in your hand--it's not quite so plastic-like. Still, don't drop it down the stairs.

Well, it won't take AA batteries--it has it's own proprietary battery pack, but it seems to charge up pretty fast. If you are looking for re-chargeable AA's, you want NiMH (nickel metal hydride)--they last pretty long between charges, and don't develop a "memory" problem like NiCad (nickel cadmium). In fact, I haven't seen NiCad batteries in stores for a couple of years now.
Rich

I've been happy with my Kodak Easyshare.

This is mine from around 2004 http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/CX6330/C633A.HTM

Here's a newer one (Canadian prices) http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10073255&catid=11719

I like Canon and I have a DSLR the Eos30d, but if I buy one for touring it must use AA batteries, realy like the fuji's point and shoots, look in to the fuji E900, the f10 and f30 are nice too but don't use AA batteries.http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/e900.html

i've been very satified with my Pentax Optio "W" cam. It's waterproof and small enough to fit in your pocket.

Optio Info (http://www.h20camera.com/home)
Review (http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/optiowpi.html)
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/optiowp/wp_inbag.jpg

Hi Chris,

I've been very happy with my Canon PowerShot A520 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona520/). It takes two AA batteries and has a good battery life. For wide-angle shots --which are common on tour-- I take a series of overlapping photos and stitch them together with PTGui (http://www.ptgui.com/). Here is a sample (http://photos.schwiiz.org/showimg.php?file=/2006/200606-BikeTour/2006-07-02-093031-stitched.jpg) from my summer 2006 tour (http://photos.schwiiz.org/index.php?folder=/2006/200606-BikeTour/). Good luck! chris


My search for a digital camera (to frame my tours) has started. Any suggestions?

I'm with the Librarian on this one- Pentax Optio WP. waterproof.....no moving lens nonsense.....25 minutes of video on a 1GB SD card...very sophisticated on-board software...

I'm with the Librarian on this one- Pentax Optio WP. waterproof.....no moving lens nonsense.....25 minutes of video on a 1GB SD card...very sophisticated on-board software...

Here's another vote for this camera!

I have a 2.5 year old Olympus D-540 that I picked up for ~$200. It's only 3.1 megapixel, but I've been MORE than satisfied with the quality of pics.

Plus it has some really neat features -- such as, macro mode for super closeups, the ability to take mpegs (albeit silent), and "Drive Mode" that allows you to take a series of action shots by just holding down the button.

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/1571/storm1oq9.jpg
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/4141/storm2wq1.jpg
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/1395/antsaphidsam2.jpg
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/8159/dandelionbt9.jpg

Digital Photo (http://www.dpreview.com/)


Steve's digicams (http://www.steves-digicams.com/)

Another vote for the Elph. I actually lug around 10 pounds of camera equipment with me most of the time, but once after being robbed my brother sent me his elph so I'd at least have something to take pictures with for the rest of my trip and I loved it. It's a great little camera that you can really fine tune well for a P&S.

+1 on any digicam that takes AA batteries. They are most versatile. You should keep one set of 4xAA alkaline batteries in your seat bag or in your inventory as it is that "oh crap everything is dead and I need power now" life saver.

On the issue of NIMH batteries. I have been using batteries for a long time. While I can't get all heavy testing like some people I know that have done heavy testing of thier cells, I can only offer my observations and personal experiences. In the 15yrs using rechargable batteries SLA/NIMH/NICAD I have to say /ALL/ batteries will develop memory /IF/ you repeatively drain them to the same levels time after time then charge them up and do it again. However if you do a few cycles of full charge and full draining of the cells you can help teach the battery the peak and the lowest point of the battery again to revive some life back out of it.

I've seen the Canon Elph and have used it a few times. Any camera repair shop would comment on the LCD screen issue. It is prone to cracking, especially in cold temps as I've been told by several camera shops repair bays including Henry's in Toronto. However I just love that metal body. It makes for a good fiailing weapon if you needed to bap some nut attacking you.

If you're going out as a "one man army" setup as I like to see touring as, you should get yourself a fast battery charger. Now I've been looking at lots of battery chargers for around a year now. A 15min charger would be nice but I've yet to see/find one that does not force you to carry around a brick adapter to plug into your charger. Even the 30min chargers need that brick adaptor. While 15-30 min chargers are good for making good time the weight and space of the brick adapter may not be worth it. When you enter the 100min charger level that's when you can start seeing slim charger models that may have a folding plug or a thin detachable power cord. There is a place called Imaging Resource which is an independant tester and reviewer of cameras and products. Thier battery shootout is very informative if you read through it all or very useful if you're just looking for quick raw info in the /real world/.

Here is the website:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM - Battery true capacity (you get what you pay for)

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/C204W/C204WA.HTM - Best charger that does it all in approx. 100mins with the most complete charge when the lights turn green (92-95% complete) so you get the most out of your battery when you use it. Two downsides is that it's NIMH only tho it's small profile allows it to carry in cargo pockets easy and that it requires you to charge in pairs versus 4 independant charging chambers.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACC1.HTM - Here are the other reviews of the chargers if you're interested. I just picked out the ones above that I thought would suit the light weight and travel setting.

I myself use a http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1487814&CatId=1544 Ultra AA charger which has many of the features the Maha has but has a fold down plug. My unit does NICAD/NIMH in 5 hours and is just around the size of a cigerette package size if not a little larger. Very light and portable. Good deal too as you can 4xAA + 6 x AAA at the time. Also it has independant charging chambers which means I can charge 1,2,3, or 4 cells at anytime with NIMH,NICAD,AA,AAA. Very versatile.

I find my Canon S2-IS recovers it's flash a little quicker when I use the Ultra cells in there. I use Duracell, Energizer, and generics. Tho I'm not too sure of the true mAh on those Ultra cells tho. I just know they seem to be quicker on the flash recovery that's all. I'm just itching to try the famous and workhouse Sanyo Industrial NIMH cells as they keep on, keeping it on going. Some independant sites have tested them after a few charge and discharge cycles to show aorund 2750-2800mAh on the 2700mAh rated cells. Not bad.

Oh yes to the fish and camera picture. Remember nothing is "X" proof. It's only "X" resistant to a breaking point. I'd really like to know how long that camera can stay in the water with the fish before it takes internal damage. Probably won't last the day.


Hope that helps some.


Zero_Enigma