Phone vs. Camera On Rides

I carried a Panasonic Lumix on my recent 2 month ride in South America. I also carried my Android phone.

The Lumix is dust/shock/waterproof (to 12 meters). It powers on and is ready to take a photo in about
2 seconds. I always kept it handy in a jacket chest pocket and got many one handed photos while riding.
I even dropped it once at 15 - 20 mph while rushing to get a bridge photo before a military checkpoint in
Columbia. It survived that just fine and dozens of rain showers and hundreds of miles of dusty roads as well.
Photo quality is better than my Android phone. I occasionally would have liked an SLR but didn't want to carry
all that weight and take up that space. Plus, this wasn't the kind of trip where I always had the kind of time I
tend to use if I take photos with an SLR.

The Android phone was used as a back up camera and it was especially convenient for posting photos to Facebook
and emailing photos as it seems just about every hotel and most restaurants had wifi. But I always kept it bundled
up against the dust and rain, and would have missed hundreds of photos I got with the Lumix. One of the guys I met
in South America used an Iphone exclusively for his photos. He had a clip on lens, a remote, and a couple light tripods;
and got a bunch of nice photos suitable for viewing on a computer. But the fragility of Iphones has always made me
nervous.
 
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Thanks for the great responses!. Based on your input I've decided to take both, an iPhone 4 and my Cannon power shot 1000s. I also like the idea of hanging the camera around my neck.
Thanks again
 
Throttlejockey said:
I take pictures with both on a trip. Usually I take a lot of pictures while moving and that just can't be done with a cell phone.
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Fred, are you able to take pics with your gloves on? I'm looking into a camera I can keep on a lanyard that has buttons large enough to use with gloves. Of course waterproof with GPS would be cool too. Am I asking too much now??
 
kendoo said:
Fred, are you able to take pics with your gloves on? I'm looking into a camera I can keep on a lanyard that has buttons large enough to use with gloves. Of course waterproof with GPS would be cool too. Am I asking too much now??
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Ken, I always take pictures on the fly. I keep the camera in the right glove box sitting so I don't have to spin it or anything. Just pick it up, hit the power button and the shutter. I don't wear thick gloves though.

This one looks like it has large buttons.
www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=838514&Q=&is=REG&A=details

This one looks good too. I have an old Canon now and would buy another.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-Waterproof-Stabilized-Wide-Angle/dp/B0075SUKIC
 
kendoo said:
Fred, are you able to take pics with your gloves on? I'm looking into a camera I can keep on a lanyard that has buttons large enough to use with gloves. Of course waterproof with GPS would be cool too. Am I asking too much now??
Click to expand...
I use an Olympus Tough series camera that does a wonderful job......waterprooof, shockproof, gps, I leave the Canons at home and take the Olympus.....hope this helps......
 
My phone/camera/two way intercom/gps/radio/satalite location device/mp3player... sits right between the handelbars on my st just short of the speedo. Blackberry Z10, I know blackberry is not the popular guy on the block right now, but I have to admit mine rocks. I have nothing to complain about with this phone. Even so I still take a camera in the tank bag for the shots I want for more than just the "hey look at this" thing. Atherton Creek Campground Kelly, WY.jpg was taken with my Canon and IMG_00000037.jpgwas with my phone. I just don't know which is better, both do the job.
 
If I know I'm going somewhere scenic and will want pictures I take my camera. My phone takes great snapshots but is severely limited in many ways for anything else.
 
flyfisher said:
I use an Olympus Tough series camera that does a wonderful job......waterprooof, shockproof, gps, I leave the Canons at home and take the Olympus.....hope this helps......
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Which model Olympus do you use? Do you find the GPS feature useful? I appreciate the info
 
I use an Olympus Stylus TG-2....f2.0 lens so good for low light....lanyard around the neck in shirt pocket....always there.....the gps is just for marking images (automatically) so you can tell exactly where you took them....might be of limited use if you're totally lost, but not a navigational device.....pretty much bullet proof.....good battery life too.....hope this helps.....
 
I always carry both the phone and the camera but they have two completely different purposes.

The camera is used for the quality shots. The pics that I am taking just for the Ride Report, the pics that I want to scroll through on a cold rainy day while sipping coffee come from the camera. The pics that I will have developed to share/give to my Dad and cousins who accompany me on my trip come from the camera.

Ahh, but the phone pics, they are possibly the most important of all. They don't have to be great in quality, they just have to perform two very specific duties. The phone pics are the ones I text to the wife to let her know where and what I am doing. Most importantly, the phone is used to send pics of the bike in interesting places to my riding friends who are not on the trip. This makes them insanely jealous and sets up little teasers for the Ride Report that they know is coming when I get home.
 
flyfisher said:
I use an Olympus Stylus TG-2....f2.0 lens so good for low light....lanyard around the neck in shirt pocket....always there.....the gps is just for marking images (automatically) so you can tell exactly where you took them....might be of limited use if you're totally lost, but not a navigational device.....pretty much bullet proof.....good battery life too.....hope this helps.....
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How fast does it power up to take a pic on the fly? Does it take longer to boot because of the GPS?
 
It's essentially instant on.....most new digital cameras are like that....none of that processor lag that older models had.....I assume that the processor has a p...rioritized list of what it functions first....ie, get the picture....and then the other stuff like gps and post processing....go to a good camera store and play with a bunch....you'd be impressed what they make nowadays....and how much cheaper than they used to be too.....12 mp is all you need...anything more than that is just advertising hype....unless a full frame DSLR.....mine does 1080p video also......happy with it.
 
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