Suggestions for a digital camera

[ColinJ]

Hi All.

[I've had a quick hunt through other posts in this sub-forum and I didn't spot what I'm after, but if there is a relevant thread, could you point it out to me - thanks]

All of the posts I looked at are about video cameras but I'm more interested in taking photographs.

I have a pretty good digital camera (Olympus C-750 ultra zoom) but it is too big to cart about with me on the bike.

I'm looking for a very compact, lightweight digital camera which will take reasonable quality pictures. They don't have to be multi-megapixel because they will mainly be used on a website but it would be nice if they were good enough to print smallish photographs from.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to fix a camera to my bicycle helmet and for the added weight to be low enough not to bother me on rides up to 12 hours.

It would be nice if the camera had a remote control and/or the option to automatically take pictures every so many seconds. The idea is that I could take pictures of whatever I was looking at on my rides without having to stop and take a camera out every few hundred metres.

I want to build up a library of scenic routes. I'm already using my GPS to log where I go, and I'd like to illustrate my descriptions of the routes.

Oh, there are other things... I'd prefer to be able to get a whole ride and (say) 50-100 pictures out of one set of batteries. It would be good if the camera was water-resistant enough to withstand showers and/or being carried in a sweaty cycling pocket (). A quick start-up time would be useful. Finally, my budget is only around £100-150!

I suppose the camera could be in a phone. The phone I use is slightly chunky too so to combine the functions would be handy.

Any suggestions? "Dream on" isn't quite what I was after !

 

[downfader]

The Pentax Optio range (I think its called) is waterproof, has some nice picture options, so its the proper Olympus Mju (pronouced "mew" range, sligtly better built for the same money.

Both are quite small and light and have good glass. They are not suitable for mounting to bikes just incase you decide to try it out on a nice ride - as the plastic tripod mount socket will break

 

[Radius]

Look at the Fuji F50. Good camera, got good reviews, and can be had refurbished (but totally fine and with a lifetime warranty) from the Fuji website for £95

And you can trust me, I'm a photogapher

 

[downfader]

And you can trust me, I'm a photogapher

LOL! Deliberate spelling mistake?

I'm a photographer too, of sorts. Have used everything from miniture film right up to 5x4 sheet negs and trannies. Compact digicams, however, are not my speciality - more of an dSLR man thesedays

 

[ColinJ]

Look at the Fuji F50. Good camera, got good reviews, and can be had refurbished (but totally fine and with a lifetime warranty) from the Fuji website for £95

And you can trust me, I'm a photogapher

Thanks for that. The Fuji looks a lot more portable than my Olympus - a little smaller in width and height and 1/3 of the depth. It's also about half the weight once batteries are taken into account. I see that spare Li-ion battery packs are available which is good - I don't like fixed rechargeable batteries because you are stuffed if the battery goes flat while you are out. If I go for a coventional digital camera, that will go straight on the shortlist.

I laughed at the Portrait Enhancer feature! Take a high-res camera which can capture every little spot and wrinkle on a person's face and apply an auto-'airbrushing' filter to chuck all the detail away again.

• 'Once they've seen the beautiful skin tones produced by the Portrait Enhancer, the loved ones in your life will never again hide their faces whenever you get your camera out!'

I still like the idea of a helmet-mounted camera though if I can get one that meets my needs.

What I want to be able to do is to shoot sequences like this...

I walked up the climb with my Olympus to take those pictures but I'd like to be able to do it from the bike, without having to keep stopping.

 

[ColinJ]

The Pentax Optio range (I think its called) is waterproof, has some nice picture options, so its the proper Olympus Mju (pronouced "mew" range, sligtly better built for the same money.

Both are quite small and light and have good glass. They are not suitable for mounting to bikes just incase you decide to try it out on a nice ride - as the plastic tripod mount socket will break

Thanks to you too downfader. Those cameras are also a lot smaller than my current one. A friend couldn't see the problem with my Olympus. In absolute terms it isn't that big, but it won't fit in a pocket and it is heavy enough to be annoying when carrying it on rides. I took it out once in a Camelbak bag and it was a right pain having to...

• 
  stop
• get off my bike
• take the bag off
• take the camera out of the bag
• remove the bubble-wrap I'd put round it
• switch it on
• wait for the lens to emerge from the body of the camera
• take a few pictures
• switch the camera off
• wrap it up
• put it back in the bag
• put the bag pack on
• remount bike
• set off again...

After a few such stops I found myself thinking "Shall I take a picture of that interesting-looking [whatever]? Er, no, I can't be bothered..."

 

[downfader]

You can also get clamp mounts like the manfrotto 035 and superclamp tools that will clamp onto the bike itself. Having used the 035 myself its quite heavy, and you'd need an adapter and a tripod-head to fit the camera.

It would be nice if a company did a light weight camera mount for bikes. Then your bike could effectively become like a monopod.

 

[Willow]

I have a canon powershot A460 it does the job for me but I'm no professional

 

[HLaB]

I've taken a liking to the ATC5k helmet cam it's got the ability to take stills on the move via a wireless remote. Ive no idea how good it is however its only a 640x480 camera and I doubt it take as good pictures as those above, I believe mr hippo has one perhaps you can ask him.

For a more quality camera In the past I've used a Topeak Phone bag on the stem to carry it. An older version of this.

 

[ColinJ]

I've taken a liking to the ATC5k helmet cam it's got the ability to take stills on the move via a wireless remote. Ive no idea how good it is however its only a 640x480 camera and I doubt it take as good pictures as those above, I believe mr hippo has one perhaps you can ask him.

For a more quality camera In the past I've used a Topeak Phone bag on the stem to carry it. An older version of this.

Ah, now that ATC5K is more like what I had in mind. Something like that but with a better resolution - 2 Megapixels, say.

I was just looking at the GoPro Hero range but was put off by some negative comments about image quality and a lot of negative comments about battery life.

The phone bag would be a good idea for taking a conventional camera out on the bike.

 

[magnatom]

Another possibility would be the Flycamone2.

Photo wise it is able to take 1280 x 1024 pictures, and I think you can set it to take pictures every 4 seconds.

As it is the battery is very poor and it isn't waterproof, but I believe they have now released an external battery pack for it and a waterproof cover. Might be worth considering and should in total come in around £100 if you shop around.

 

[ColinJ]

Another possibility would be the Flycamone2.

Photo wise it is able to take 1280 x 1024 pictures, and I think you can set it to take pictures every 4 seconds.

As it is the battery is very poor and it isn't waterproof, but I believe they have now released an external battery pack for it and a waterproof cover. Might be worth considering and should in total come in around £100 if you shop around.

Thanks magnatom. I didn't realise that the Flycamone2 had a stills mode. I'd seen a few videos made by it and thought they were pretty good, especially for the size and cost of the thing.

That looks very interesting. 1.2 Mpixel photographs would be fine for use on my website. If I want better quality than that I can always walk about with my Olympus.

[Off to research Flycamone2... ]

 

[Radius]

LOL! Deliberate spelling mistake?

I'm a photographer too, of sorts. Have used everything from miniture film right up to 5x4 sheet negs and trannies. Compact digicams, however, are not my speciality - more of an dSLR man thesedays

Shoite, no it wasn't

 

[ColinJ]

Look at the Fuji F50. Good camera, got good reviews, and can be had refurbished (but totally fine and with a lifetime warranty) from the Fuji website for £95

That is top of my shortlist now. A couple of days ago, my mother asked me what I'd like for Christmas (£100 budget) so I might pick one up before they sell out.

NB - the warranty is only 6 months, but can be extended to 2 years for an extra £20 (£19.99). I don't normally bother with extended warranties, but in this case I might.

I've seen a few home-made camera bar-mounts on t'Internet. I think having the camera mounted on the handlebars would be okay for going uphill and riding along on the flat at a nice steady speed. I'm not sure I'd be too happy about bombing along a road with a poor surface or doing fast descents though - I've had a couple of lights fly off my bike and smash on the road doing that kind of thing. Even if the camera stayed on the bike, I imagine that the vibration wouldn't do it much good. Perhaps I could improvise some sort of suspenion such as using heavy-duty elastic bands to hold the camera onto a small bean-bag or roll of bubblewrap?

Could anyone recommend a lightweight shock-absorbing bar-mount?

 

[ColinJ]

Well, I've just ordered that Fuji camera. I found an offer 'coupon' online which gave a discount on the already discounted price so I'm getting the camera, a 2GB xD card and the postage for £93. (Enter coupon code MFDEC at checkout, expires midnight 31st December 2008.)

I'm still looking for a shock-absorbing handlebar mount if anybody has any suggestions for that.