Touring - Cameras on tour

I'm looking to do a long tour this summer, and I'm also looking to get some camera gear to take with me. Right now I have an Olympus 370(I think that's the model) digital camera that is weatherproof/shock resistant. Unfortunately, it doesn't take AA batteries, and the camera doesn't have a built in charger. I'm looking to take a digital camcorder with me, along with the olympus. For the camera, I want something with the ability to take AA batteries, and either a very large capacity or removable media(cd/dvd). I am also looking for a full sized tripod that will handle a small/light camera. I'm not looking for a mini-tripod, nor am I looking for bike mount. I want to be able to mount the camera on the tripod so I can do "ride by" shots. Any ideas?

www.dpreview.com

Check out the "Buying Guide" in the menu. You can narrow down your search there.

I would look for a camera that uses CF or SD cards. The CF cards are particularly tough, and the prices for a large capacity card get cheaper by the day.

People seem to like the Canon Elph series. It's really up to you though to wade through the massive selection and find the camera with the features you want.

My main camera is a Pentax K10, but for touring I carry the Canon A550. I don't have to worry about it and it's not much over 100 bucks. Takes care of snaps and modest youtube stuff. I also just leave the camera at home, but we are at the point where cameras are so convenient in every respect that leaving them out is probably not worth it. This last trip I got some good pictures just cruising along without dismounting.

I have a Powershot SD600 which does not take conventional batteries and never had a problem with recharging on my TransAm this fall. I took a ton of photos ( http://picasaweb.google.com/tom.germano ) and never drained the battery even when I was constant turning the camera on and off to take another picture. It's not that hard to find a power outlet to recharge the battery and halfway through I bought a spare battery which I never ended up using. I suggest getting a simple point and shoot camera opposed to a really nice one so you'll stop more often and just do snapshots instead of taking a lot of time to compose a really good shot with an expensive camera. Keep in mind you're on a bike, you have to get to the next campground before dark, you'll be seeing thousands of amazing views, you simply cannot capture each view perfectly. In fact, you'll find yourself not even bothering to photograph some views because you know you can't capture it and you just want to keep it for yourself.

For tripods I recommend a Joby tripod. They are light, flexible, and can stand or hang on to whatever platform you encounter in the wild.

+ 1 on the Powershot A550. I used it on my trip to Italy in 2007 (http://http://spinnaker.myphotoalbum.com). As said, it uses regular batteries, easy to use and is nice and small.

I briefly owned a Pentax Optio. It is slightly thinner than the Powershot, has more options and a larger display. But the Pentax lacks a view finder. I found the screen to be washed out when taking pictures outdoors. The Powershot solves this problem with a viewfinder.

I'm looking to do a long tour this summer, and I'm also looking to get some camera gear to take with me. Right now I have an Olympus 370(I think that's the model) digital camera that is weatherproof/shock resistant. Unfortunately, it doesn't take AA batteries, and the camera doesn't have a built in charger. I'm looking to take a digital camcorder with me, along with the olympus. For the camera, I want something with the ability to take AA batteries, and either a very large capacity or removable media(cd/dvd). I am also looking for a full sized tripod that will handle a small/light camera. I'm not looking for a mini-tripod, nor am I looking for bike mount. I want to be able to mount the camera on the tripod so I can do "ride by" shots. Any ideas?

I've always carried a full sized SLR with a good wide zoom lens. It gives me more flexibility. But that can be expensive with DSLR. If you were to go with film, a very good SLR can be had for very cheap.

A Canon Powershot would be a good second choice.

Carrying a full sized tripod is going to be difficult. I have a couple of clamp on pods that do a very good job with a minimum of weight. One is something like the Clamperpod (http://www.clamperpod.com/)

http://www.clamperpod.com/AnotatedClamp72.jpg

You can clamp it to a tree branch or a sign post to take pictures.

The other is a Hama Clamp (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/89923-REG/Hama_HA4001_Clamp_Table_Tripod_1.html)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/items/89923.jpg

It has legs so you can use it like a minitripod as well as clamp it to something.

Both are much lighter and easier to carry then a tripod.

Maybe I'm wrong but I believe he's looking for a video camera (camcorder).

As for tripod, the Velbon Maxi 343e is the lightest suitable option. I find it too flimsy but it should handle a small camera all right. Just be careful when doing ride-by shot in the wind. I used a Manfrotto 719b which is rather heavy but now looking for a Slik 614. Manfrotto has a few "digi" tripods that could do the job.

I bought a used Canon PowerShot A510 just to take on tour since I didn't want to carry the extra kilo my SLR weighs. I did miss the "real" camera, but since it was just "holiday snaps" it was ok. It runs on AA batteries and uses SD cards so power and storage can be found anywhere. I didn't fill the 1Gb card I had, and the extra 512Mb just sat in my bag.

Yes, I'm mainly looking for a video camera as an addition to my digital camera. I have an Olympus 740, which is weatherproof and shock resistant, but if I find something fairly inexpensive with manual exposure control, optical viewfinder, AA capability and xd media, I'll buy it, since I already have a 2G card.

However, I'm also looking more for a camcorder to take on tour, and I know a 2G card will not be adequate which is why I'm looking for cd/dvd.

The reason why I mention batteries is that I have found that with the various electronic doodads that I take on tour, having a separate charger for each item is a pain, so going forward, I am going to standardize my electronic gear with either a usb charger, or with AA batteries as much as possible. I have separate and incompatible chargers for my light, my gps, my camera, my cellphone, and my ipod. Using a mini usb connector plus AAs means that I can use one of those Energizer mini-usb charging pods to power nearly everything, a four cell AA solar charger to charge AAs, and I'll have a ready-made source of power at any supermarket or CVS.

Regarding the tripod--it has to be full size. I've looked at the mini tripods, and they won't work for my purposes.