Digital camera recomendations

Mellow

Joe
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Ha Ha... hey that looks simple enough I might even be able to do one... kinda looks like a shoe horn.
 

slmjim

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Hi nhdiesel,
We've been happy with a Kodak Playsport.It's in your price range, waterproof & ruggedized, long battery life, will record video if you wish, will accept a 64 GB SD card, and is easy to use with gloves on. Only downside is the odd battery, but we carry a fully charged spare.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE
 

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! Anything that uses AA batteries. Available everywhere and you don't need to recharge them on a trip - just carry a spare pack.

My camera of choice, like MDTurley, has been the Nikon CoolPix series. Currently using an L22. Runs a loooooong time on one set of Ultra Lithiums.
• 12M pixels, more than enough. Shoot from the hip or over the shoulder and you only have to be "close enough." Crop out what you don't want on the computer.
• Uses AA batteries
• When off, the lens is covered automatically, no lens cap to fool around with
• Full auto mode takes great pics regardless of light conditions. Most of the time I have flash turned off as it's great in low light situations.
It has all the bells and whistle adjustments but I just use full Easy Auto mode as the camera is smarter and faster than I am.
• Great for one handed shooting due to it's compact size. I keep it in a custom pocket on the side of my tankbag normally and can fish it out and shoot one handed.
• When in "rally mode", like Mellow, I just hang it from a lanyard around my neck and tuck it inside my stich. Rain starts, just zip up the stich and it's protected.
• Uses standard SD cards.
• Comes with a USB cable to transfer pics to a computer OR some computers (like my laptop) have an SD card slot - just pull it out of the camera and pop it in the computer . . . voila!
• Nice size viewing screen - no view finder (but, who needs it while taking pictures one handed, on the bike, with the visor down).
• One Negative . . . it's not waterproof. I've had no problems in taking quick shots in light rain: turn on, shoot pic, turn off (lens cover snaps shut) then back in a protected space.

I like Mellow's Cannon D10, which IS waterproof and Santa might bring me one for Christmas . . . if I've been a good boy all year. Maybe I won't get one . . . :(

Several good choices. Get the feel of them in the stores, narrow the list down to what you like, then find the deal.


Enjoy, happy holidays,
Shuey
 
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nhdiesel
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The L22 sounds really good, and I've seen past deals for $59 to $70, so well within my price range. I'll keep the others in mind too.

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I currently using a Canon PowerShot A1100IS (when I remember to take it with me...) It's served me well, and I'd recommend it. Apparently it's been replaced by the PowerShot A1200, which has similar specs. It's 12 megapixel, 4X optical zoom (1x more than most,) has an optical viewfinder (handy in the sunlight, and not generally found on cameras in this price range,) and it uses AA batteries (easy to find on the road, and mine runs forever on a couple of lithium AAs.) It also appears to have gone down in price: Canon lists $110 suggested retail. The A1200 doesn't have the image stabilizer that my A1100 does, but I don't know if it even comes into play.

http://usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/digital_cameras/powershot_a1200#Overview
 

Mellow

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The L22 sounds really good, and I've seen past deals for $59 to $70, so well within my price range. I'll keep the others in mind too.

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Startup time is around 2 seconds on those. That's a big deal for me as I like the camera ready as soon as I turn it on .

The Fujifilm FinePix XP30 is waterproof, in the S150 range and has a less-than-one-second startup time.
 

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Startup time is around 2 seconds on those. That's a big deal for me as I like the camera ready as soon as I turn it on .

The Fujifilm FinePix XP30 is waterproof, in the S150 range and has a less-than-one-second startup time.
Doesn't use AA batteries - plug in and recharge. Looking forward to trying out the D10. :)
(aside: My Nikon L22 starts up in about a second, maybe a fraction less)

Shuey
 

Mellow

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Doesn't use AA batteries - plug in and recharge. Looking forward to trying out the D10. :)
(aside: My Nikon L22 starts up in about a second, maybe a fraction less)

Shuey
okay, was reading reviews which said 2 seconds, could be they upgraded them after the review.

The D10 is also a rechargeable. The battery lasts a long time, I've taken many pics on a charge and even after it's been sitting around and never had an issue with it. I agree using normal batteries would be nice but they probably don't last as long anyway based off a prev camera I had - olympus - which was like that.
 

John

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Not really.. if you hang it by the upper right corner, grab it with your left hand, your left index finger will be on the shutter.

That's what I do so I can keep my right hand on the throttle and grab the camera, turn it on, point, shoot, turn it off.
What Mellow said!

It makes it a true "Point and Shoot" or "Guess and Shoot" because your hand has the screen covered. But, if you take enough shots, you will wind up with some good "on the fly" photos.

I'm partial to Canon cameras for their quality pictures, ease of use and being tough enough to take some abuse.
 

970mike

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I will say you need to find one that uses AA batteries in it as you can replace them very fast and easy to find when you are out on the road. I have tried to use a camera that had the rechargeable type not having any luck with recharging it out on the road. I spent more money buying a second battery thinking that would help, it did but I still found myself out on the road with two dead batteries.

I have the Cannon like this and love it! http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11680724&whse=BC&Ne=5000001+4000000&eCat=BC|90607|83&N=4047256
 
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Powered by AA is a must...I hate rechargeable, it seems they are dead when you need them the most, and nothing you can do about it.

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Mondo

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Don't know much about it, but Target currently has the Canon Powershot SX130IS for 99 bucks. It has 12 megapixels and a whopping 12x optical zoom. Edit - it takes batteries.

Greg
 

JohnConner

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Last year my Samsung point and shoot camera failed on me, in route to Key West. It had taken a fall the previous autumn, while visiting The Dragon and had become prone to having the telescoping lense stick part way in or out. but it completely gave up the ghost on the Key West trip. Sooo...

I decided to get a tougher camera and after some research, chose the Olympus Stylus Tough 6020. This camera has been a disapointment. I mount the camera on the left handlebar with a Ram Ball system and extend it to the centerline of the bike, behind the windscreen. The Samsung worked very well there and recorded good pictures AND VIDEO. The 6020 is not so good. It is prone to picking up a lot of vibration, blurring the picture to unusable levels. Any time I rev over 3000 rpm or am on a rough road, blurrrrrrr. I finally found the Image Stabilization was ON for the still photos but OFF for the video. So ON it was set and now I don't get so much blur, but I do get very gappy video and the audio now gets ahead of the video. I did a 10 minute test ride and the audio finished 20-30 seconds before the video... Near the end, it was clear from the video that the audio did not match.

As my video interests are increasing, I've decided to take a couple steps to fix the problem. After a lot of research, I ordered a new Canon ELPH 300HS. I didn't really want to get the GoPro as I want a point-n-shoot camera that I can stick in my pocket. I also really wanted a screen to be able to see what I was recording. Price was also a consideration. My main concern about this camera is operating the buttons with gloves on. I'll report back on this and any other good or bad features, after I get to try it out. If anyone has experience with the ELPH 300HS, please let me know what you think of the camera.

I also ordered the Tripple Ball RBIS from SportTouringGear (RealST), and some more RAM components from MCL. My thoughts are to:
A. get the camera away from the vibration of the engine and road by getting it off the handlebars.
B. do a better job of aligning the camera to the centerline of the bike and get it closer to the windscreen so the screen support columns don't show up in the video / pictures.

JohnConner
:rd13:
 
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