lobo

I have not had a terrible history with vehicles but I was thinking that maybe a cheap disposable camera which I could attach to some velcro to my wrist or tie it to my bike or clothing and then quickly take out and snap pictures if I ever run into trouble with cars. While I agree I would have to be concious to take pictures; it would be a quick way to record someones license plate or driver.

On the flip side if I should ever bike and come across a traffic accident I could scalp a cameras for a little cash as well.

Ya Tu Sabes

Also, it's conceivable that you might see something beautiful or amazing you wanted to take a picture of.

bostontrevor

Dunno about having it ready for some pending accident. That seems like a pretty pessimistic way to approach things and you're betting that your camera won't get jacked up in the process.

On the other hand, my regular digital camera is always in my bag should something of interest catch my eye as often happens.

roadfix

Wrong attitude! If you want to take along a camera, get yourself a nice little digicam for those nice unexpected shots you might encounter.

hollis

yes, definately wrong attitude! you should be out there recording the beauty in life, we already have the nightly news to record the death and destruction that is out there.
i have waterbottle cages on my bikes soley for the purpose of holding my cheap throwaway camera. and you know what? this camera takes some mighty nice photos for something i bought at savers for 2 bucks!

khuon

As a side-topic... If you want to start carrying a camera to take pictures while riding. You should practice before committing yourself to actually doing it in traffic of any kind. It can be dangerous if you're not accomplished in the act. This is also where a digital camera is a superior device. You can grade your tries to see if you're doing things right. Of course the biggest concern is doing it without impairing or compromising safe riding. I've taken plenty of pictures while on the move and have perfected the art of Ninja-style quickdraws of my camera from the back pockets of my cycling jersey whereby I can draw the camera, turn it on, snap the shot, turn it off and return it to my pocket all with one hand and all in one quick fluid motion. Also, having a camera that has a large capacity and can be set to continuous mode so you can fire off manu shots with a single press of the shutter button is very helpful and allows you to not have to concentrate so much on posing the image. this is again where a digital camera which can accept large memory storage is a better choice.

I'm also pretty decent at over-the-shoulder shots although I still have to work on keeping the strap out of the picture.



Some of the MTBers also have mounted helmet cams using gear from Viosport. My idea for helmet cams goes a bit further but someone needs to build it.

Also if you're interested, you can do what this guy did...





And then of course there's always this...

lobo

okokok - different idea - nix the camera and instead get a digital voice recorder so you can quickly speak the plate number...

cyclezealot

That is my camera of choice on a tour...Don't want to risk my other cameras.....Don't think using a camera for shots of attackers is paranoid..at all....Ask VW..

roadfix

No! No! No! You have something against motorists?
Use your recorder for recording good ideas while on the road.

MadMan2k

I'm thinking of buying a small digital camera for riding and etc; my Canon G5 is a bit big for that.

Disposable is nice, but it takes forever to get the pictures back, which are low quality in the first place.

khuon

I use a Minolta DiMage X (the original) that I bought about three years ago but they have many variants with better resolution and more advanced features out now. They're very compact (size of a deck of cards) and I like that the optical zoom is all internal and doesn't protrude. It makes getting the camera in and out of my pocket very easy... especially if I have to stow it quickly and don't have time to turn it off (automatically shuts itself off after a certain amount of time of inactivity). I also like that it has a quick startup time... the newer models are even quicker.

Chris L

The problem with cameras or microphones is the distraction. When I'm dealing with a moron driver (and we do get quite a few of them in this neck of the woods), I want both hands to be focussed on controlling the bike and getting out of the situation. The last thing I want to do is be trying to take a picture which, in the end, may or may not show up the number plate.

Now a microphone could be useful for recording the data after you've done what you need to do to get out of the scrape, but a pencil and paper does that job just as effectively.