I ride a lot in the countryside and often see wildlife or great vistas that I'd like to photograph.

Ideally, I'd like a tiny camera that also has a viewfinder but I know in this day and age the tiny cameras don't have them. Trying to frame a shot with the lcd window while still moving on the bike is tricky. But lugging along a big (and expensive) dslr would be a pain, too.

If there's a smallish camera with a viewfinder that can be easily carried on the bicycle?

If not, what have you guys found to be a good camera?

Is there a "Bento Box" that'll hold a camera and protect it from vibration/bumps? Or is a handlebar bag better? Or just use the back pockets?

I'm not interested in a helmet cam or a cellphone camera. I'll keep my Samsung Juke until it disintegrates.(it's so tiny)

Lumix GX7 with Summilux 25mm F1.4

I carry a little Nikon Coolpix. This is Rowan's ... mine is a year older and blue.




In addition to a whole lot of other picture taking, I took it with me on our recent 8-month Round The World trip. I was reasonably impressed.

Round The World trip photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...7632796492886/


And I have been able to take photos while riding with it.

For example, this was taken while riding. Probably not ultra-clear when enlarged, but not too bad considering I was cycling when I took it.

I use a small Canon about the same size as Machka's Nikon. It has a viewfinder but I don't think I could use it while actually riding. I think if you look at Walmart or Best Buy you'll have several choices.

Drool.

I know the OP said no cell phone camera, but my iphone5 is already in my pocket, so it works for me.

My advice, don't worry so much about the megapixels and worry more about the sensor and the f-stop/zoom capabilities of the lens.

I've had decent luck with Sony point and shoots. They have mediocre image quality, a 24 mm lens, and they survive being dropped just fine, but as soon as there's any sand in the wind, the camera dies. These days I'm taking a Canon 5D and 24 mm f/1.4 when I bring a camera.

Cameras on smart phones have gotten to the place, that they're killing point and shoot digitals. Thus, I'd say if you don't want to use a camera phone, you need to step up to a larger sensor compact.

Unfortuantely no optical view finder, but not many cameras that easily go in a jersey pocket have that anymore.

Two great choices, that give you the control of a real camera, very good image quality, and are pocketable are Canon S110, or Sony DSC RX100.

Personally, I like the S110 because its abit smaller and cheaper

I ride with a Canon Powershot S90 when on my road bike. Fits in a jersey pocket and with an aftermarket grip added, is very usable while riding. Not a huge zoom on it, but acceptable. Very high quality images for a pocket sized camera with a small sensor and shoots RAW, if that is important to you. The current similar models are the S110 and S120



If I am riding more with photography in mind, then I take a bike with a rack and use a well padded Topeak rack trunk to tote my DSLR. I can carry up to a 300mm zoom lens in it.

A good compromise could be one of the current crop of compact large sensor cameras, such as a Micro 4/3 model. The only problem is once you have a larger sensor, your lenses also get larger and despite a small camera body, they won't fit in a jersey pocket. Would do well in a handlebar bag, however.

^ Didn't realize they were on to the S120 already.

I have an S90.

+1

I carry a Sony NEX-6, great camera, around $1000 with a 16-50 zoom kit lens.

I have a canon S100, same general form factor as the other S series cameras and it fits in a little bento box with plenty of room for snacks.

I don't understand how taking a picture *while riding* would be easier with an optical viewfinder? How the heck are you going to look through that thing while riding? ANyway, if you're actually moving, just aim and hope for the best... oh, and take a bunch of shots.

After my nth nikon coolpix just died for no good reason, I stopped buying nikon compacts. I've bee very pleased with the image quality in my s100 and my wife's panasonic lumix. Cell phone pictures have come a really long way but if you want to print one (or display on a large computer monitor) a compact camera is still superior.

Megapixels have gone past the point of stupidity - sensor size is more important to your final image quality. I saw a phone ad the other day for a cell phone camera that had 41 megapixels? Good grief.

The best cell phone cameras have just about pulled even with point and shoots. https://www.evocative.cc/can-the-ipho...int-and-shoot/

Thus, if you've got an Iphone 5, or similar, there's not much of a case to get a basic point and shoot like a Canon Digital Elph, or a Nikon Coolpix.

Stepping up to a slightly larger camera, like your S100, gives you a bigger sensor, better image quality, and better controls. Thus IMHO, for taking pictures with a device you can keep in a jersey, it's either a smartphone, or a higher end compact, with the basic point and shoot just about ready to go the way of the dinosaurs

I use my Samsung Galaxy S4. It has a 13mp camera, 64 gigs of storage for all the music I could possibly listen to, and of course it's a phone.

Well, that's certainly the main plus for a cell phone camera - you always have it with you.

Is that the one that gets to 24 mm? How big is it?

I like the quality photo that my cell phone takes, but I could NEVER use it on the fly.
Too many buttons to push before getting to the camera program.
I'm also looking into the cannon.

Easier to quickly pull out and shoot with while in motion. Unlocking a smartphone is a pain, particularly when sun has washed out the screen or everything is wet.

My smart phone takes crappy pictures. They look ok but not great when reduced to web size. The thing only has a digital zoom, and there's no control over the exposure. So there are a lot of reasons point and shoot cameras still make sense. That's not even getting into battery life.

The way a smart phone could really help with snapshots on the go is if you could get at the photos from your camera with it, so when you get back to a place with cell coverage, you can send a few of them off to friends and show them why they should have joined you on the ride.

I use a Pentax waterproof point & shoot. Love that I can just keep it in a back pocket and pull it out to use as needed. Rain, sweat, snow, sand ... no problem. Buttons are easy enough that I can turn it on, zoom, switch between stills & video and shoot all without having to look at the camera. Are there p&s cameras that take better pictures? Sure. But I like not having to worry about the camera while riding.

There are apps for Iphones that allow manual focus and exposure control. If you look at the link I posted above, image quality is as good, and in some cases better than the basic Nikon point and shoot.

An optical zoom is admittedly an advantage for the point and shoot.

But is it enough advantage to pay $150, and have another device to carry and keep charged. When you could go up to the $400 range and get a camera that's still pocketable, has a larger image sensor, full manual controls, has very good image quality, and has raw capture.

My suggestion is that the Iphone 5 is good enough for most people for most purposes. If you care enough about photography that you're not satisfied with that, then a camera like the Canon S120, or the Sony RX100 is going to be a significant step up from the phone, and the basic point and shoot.

I can pull my iPhone 5 out of my jersey pocket, activate the camera, fire off a shot or three, and put the phone back in my jersey all while moving and with one hand on the bars.

Beats carrying my 50D.

That's awesome. If I could do that, I would.
One of my problems is that because I have so much sensitive info (business and personal) stored on my phone,
I can't use it without entering an "unlock" code, which would be pretty difficult to enter on the fly.

I also have sensitive information on my phone and also make use of an "unlock" code.

Since iOS 6 you've been able to get to the camera without unlocking the phone though. There should be a little camera icon next to the slide to unlock bar. Slide that up and you're in your camera.

Supposedly Android phones do this as well, but I've never used one.

I'm running iOS 7 on my phone now and that functionality is still there.

If you carry your phone in airplane mode and only enable connections when you actually need (and can get) them, you'll get drastically improved batt life. Some phones take better pics than others. The best take pretty decent pictures, but cell phones are fragile and hard to use in some places. Pics are much easier to share from a cell phone than a dedicated camera though.

Anyone who has email on their phone should keep their phone locked. Your email allows people to find out all kinds of things about you, they can reset passwords, and do all kinds of terrible things. Losing an unsecured cell phone is much worse than losing a wallet with your ID's, credit cards, and cash.