Camera For
 

For less. I am looking for a camera that iwll take good pictures without spending a ton of money. Even though I love gadgets and tend to over buy, I am aiming for simplicity. What do you guys and gals suggest?

Samsung Digimax S800!

I have an Olympous Stylus 760, I bought for 170 at Best Buy, and its one of the best cameras I ever bought.

We have three lowish-end Nikon point & shoots, a Coolpix 2100, 2200 and 5200, bought before i realized digital was here to stay (I have a ton of Nikon 35mm gear I planned to use forever). I'm really happy with all three of them. Not sure which ones are still made, but the 2100 and 2200 were only around $100.

To really determine what you would need there are a few things you need to define...

1. Absolute maximum $$ you are willing to spend.
2. A list of features you deem important
a. Megapixels
b. Zoom range
c. Marco mode
d. Media type (i.e. CF or SD, etc.)
e. Battery type (2AA, LiIon, etc.)

Next you take those features and find all the camera that meet your features, and narrow them down by the $$ amount set in #1.

I personally went the DSLR route and have a Canon 5D. But, photography is one of my 2 hobbies and the other is my GT.

It all depends on how you define good pictures, and ton of money. :rolleyes:

A good web site to visit is dpreview.com, they have reviews of many cameras, if you go to the Reviews/Previews page, then newer models are in the top section, they also have reviews of older models going back to 1998. Of course nothing beats going to your LPS (Local Photography Store) and trying out a few cameras.:D

Like with bicycles, LPSes tend to have knowledgeable staff, and will help you choose the right camera for your needs.

I have a Fuji F20 compact, a Panasonic FZ7 superzoom and a Nikon D50 dSLR (with various lenses). I use all of them depending upon the situation and what I feel like using/carrying around. I have used them all with the bike. The F20 is good in a lot of lighting conditions but is limited in focal length (zoom). The Panasonic has plenty of zoom but only really excels on good sunshiny days. The D50 does everything well but is large and more expensive when you take into consideration the lenses, flash, etc.

I would second the dpreview site. A lot of good information there.

I am a fan of Canon cameras. I have 3 friends, all professional photographers, and they all swear by Canon products (of course they are using very high end digital equipment all in the $3000 - 5000 range. The camera I use right now is the A540 SureShot Digital compact by Canon. This model is 2 years old so they have already replaced it with something else. Do some research on the Canon SureShot line. My camera new cost $250. Good price for a camera that is small, compact and takes clear, beautiful photos, has many functions and at the time 6 mp. I bet the Camera now has 8, something at one time only the high price camera had. Good place for cameras, Costco Online, best prices around. One reason I choose my camera was the fact it took either a propietary battery or 2 AAs. If traveling and the charged battery wears out I can always pop in the AAs. With a small, 2 gig mediacard, I'm good to go!

I teach in a high school and my computer guy uses only Cannon cameras, from basic models to SLR Rebels. They really stand up to abuse. The older Japanese models where better but even the newer ones from China are tough. My daughter has a Cannon SD450 Elph, which is an untra compact camera. I try to always borrow this for every bike tour take great pictures and it is very light but strong.

By a lot of money I meant - not so much that I cry like a baby for hours after dumping my bike destroying the thing, or finding myself in an unprotected downpour. I have looked at dpreview and Steve's digicams. I don't need big megapixel...probably something in the 7-10 range. I am really looking for a fairly fast digital.

I carry a ziplock bag with me for sudden downpours.

Camera stays nice and dry. ;)

+1

I bring my Kodak DX7590 (bulky 5MP point and shoot) with me when I go hiking, and I keep it in a Ziploc freezer bag. It's been through entire weekends of constant rain without any problems.

I have a Canon A550 that I use most of all. It's fairly small and light, great for hiking. (7.1MP, 4X optical zoom for around $100). I have experience with two A520's that I gave to my kids for Christmas, an A640 that I gave to my Wife for her birthday, and an old G2. I've also used a Nikon and a Sony. The Sony was crap. The Nikon and Canons work great.

I have a Canon A620. I bought it specifically to carry on my bike. The current model is the A640... 10 mp instead of 7, otherwise not much difference. I carry it in this bag on my handlebar.

http://www.pbase.com/billd9/image/85585809.jpg


It takes photos like these:

http://www.pbase.com/billd9/image/59094960.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/billd9/image/59094963.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/billd9/image/85256341.jpg

Because my primary (the one I have the most $$ tied up in) activity is Whitewater Kayaking, two of my three cameras are waterproof. I have a Pentax WP that I keep in my PFD pocket or my bike shorts pocket, and also, a Oregon Scientific Waterproof Video Helmet Mounted Cam. My third camera is my favorite. It is a Minolta Dimage Z1 with 10X optical zoom (that is real important outdoors). This camera takes near professional pics and trust me, I am NOT a pro.

As far as a bike camera goes the waterproof cameras would not be a bad idea. It rains out there some times. The biggest problem I have with the waterproof cameras that are on the market now, is that they are devoid an optic view finder and rely soley on the LCD screens and my 49 year old eyes do not do that very well. I notice that many of the cameras are now coming out this way.

The biggest piecs of advice I can give, is look hard at the OPTICAL ZOOM. The bigger the better. Also, an anti-shake feature is good too. The biggest problem with choosing a camera now is that there are so many choices.

Here are some samples of pics and clips taken with my Pentax and OS Helmet Cam.

This clip is with the Pentax: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wruvyE1Bw-U

The stills in this clip are the Pentax and the video is the OS Helmet Cam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3HvSdvP23U

Good Luck with your decision.
Jay

If you have a pannier or bar bag, wrap the camera in a towel or use the camera box, or make a protective case for it, it's amazing what you can do with some foam rubber and a plastic box. You open the box, use the camera, and put it back in it's plastic box. A box with a good seal, like the proper sized tupperwear style box, would protect it from shock and water. D'oh why didn't I think if this earlier, I need to do some measuring, and see if I can get a proper sized box for my own camera. You can also get a small Pellican case for it, they are practically indestructible, although I think driving over it with a tank would probably do one in. Some camera bags are padded, but whether they are padded enough is another story.

One thing to remember, Megapixels are extremely over rated, kind of like top speeds in cars, sure the car can go 350MPH but the speed limit is still 55. For the web, and 4x5" prints, 4MP is quite sufficient, for prints up to 8x10 then 6-8MP is sufficient, the only folks who need higher resolution are those who like very large prints, police and paparazzi. If you want billboard sized prints, then go with an 8x10 view camera, and scan the result, just make sure you have a massive amount of disc space, because some of those images are well over a gigabyte in size.

A camera with RAW mode, can get away with less resolution, because the image is not lossy compressed, let me explain, JPEG is called a lossy compression method, it actually removes some information, which means that you lose some of the resolution in the compression process. RAW images are what actually is seen by the sensor, so the full resolution of the camera is present. A 6MP RAW image can have a higher resolution then a 10MP Jpeg image.

Those are really nice, Jay.

Those are very nice images, Dogbait. I'd say the credit goes to you, and not to the Canon A620!

I have a digicam, a Canon 20D, but I think for now I'll carry along my Voightlander Bessa R. It's a lightweight little rangefinder that will be very easy to pack with me.

These are great ideas. Thanks guys.

I am going to pick up the OS cam, that looked like fun. Did you ever dump it all the way in the water?

I think I will look into the Pentax and Cannon.

I scanned thru this - did you ever give a budget?

To me a cheap camera is anything under $1,000

Are you looking for a point & shoot or a D-SLR?

Yo Jumbo,
The OS takes pretty good video, at 30 frames per second, but the sound is only fair at best. That is why I use music over it. That and life is really much more cool with a soundtrack:D The OS only cost a little over $100 and with a 2Gig SD card takes about an hour of video. I have used this camera on all of the mountain bike trails at TSALI in NC and yes, I have dumped over in whitewater several times with the cam on. Even bashed it on a rock underwater with my head and it faired better than me.

If you look at the Pentax, go for the Optio WP30. I think it is now 7megapixal. And I think it is under $300. It also takes really good video and the sound is great too. I have a friend who has one and he mounted it on a golf club with the head removed and he takes really cool vantage shots and video. He holds it up above his head and has it looking down on himself as he rides and he can hold it within a few inches of the ground while riding and these clips are awesome.

Good luck in whatever you pick and go out and have fun taking pics and video. It will drive your fiends nuts, but they always appreciate seeing themselves and the trip afterwards.

Jay