Camera Recommendations

Monty said:

I would like to have a digital camera with me for some of the rides. I see a
lot of wild life and beautiful vistas. I have a Nikon D70, but that is MUCH
too large. I would like to put the camera in my jersey pocket. The smaller
the better, but I would like to be able to get 5x7s and maybe an occasional
8x10.

Any recommendations?

Thanks
Monty

I have a Canon Powershot A520 which fits nicely in the little bag
underneath my bike seat along witha spare tube, patch kit, multitool,
etc. Been very pleased with it, so you might take a look at one. 4
Megapixel CCD image sensor with 4x optical zoom so you should be fine
for the print sizes you mentioned, uses readily available [e.g.,
inexpensive] SD cards, takes 2 standard-sized AA batteries [either
"supermarket" alkalines or higher capacity rechargeables] --- no
proprietary special battery packs, etc., etc.....basically everything I
was looking for but of course your needs may be different.

Here is a review for starters ----

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/A520/A52A.HTM

There are others if you check Google.

Current prices seem to be in the $200-250 range.

I really like mine.

"Monty" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I would like to have a digital camera with me for some of the rides. I
see a lot of wild life and beautiful vistas. I have a Nikon D70, but
that is MUCH too large. I would like to put the camera in my jersey
pocket. The smaller the better, but I would like to be able to get
5x7s and maybe an occasional 8x10.

Any recommendations?

I have a Canon PowerShot A95 which I bring with me frequently when I'm
out rding the bike. It fits very nicely in an underseat bag which I
have on my bike. 5 Megapixels, 3x Optical Zoon, flip out LCD screen and
more shooting modes than I know what to do with. It uses Compact Flash
media and 4 AA batteries.

It is a bit more expensive that the D520 that someone else mentioned,
but I think it is worth it. The A95 has been out for just over a year
now so I don't know if a new model is on its way or not.

Shameless plug: I have lots of pictures I took with my A95 here:

http://www.pbase.com/mjhale

Check the Glenwood Canyon Gallery if you'd like to see the pictures I
took on my ride along the Glenwood Canyon Recreational Trail.

Mike

I like the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W7. It also uses AA batts (comes with
recharger and rechargeable NIMHs). It has 7.2 Megapixels (3072 x 2304) and
a Zeiss 3x zoom lens. Uses a memory stick card that slides right into my
laptop for unwired transfer.

Small and light. Good quality pics, lots of shooting options. Short videos
too.

George

"Monty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I would like to have a digital camera with me for some of the rides. I see
a lot of wild life and beautiful vistas. I have a Nikon D70, but that is
MUCH too large. I would like to put the camera in my jersey pocket. The
smaller the better, but I would like to be able to get 5x7s and maybe an
occasional 8x10.

Any recommendations?

Thanks
Monty

My only recommendation is to keep whatever camera you buy in a zippered
pocket or pouch while you're riding. I have now had two digital cameras
fall from my jersey pocket while riding. One was never recovered. The
second was DOA when I scooped it up from the side of the trail. In both
cases, the cameras could have been saved by a simple zipper or button.

"Monty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I would like to have a digital camera with me for some of the rides. I see
a lot of wild life and beautiful vistas. I have a Nikon D70, but that is
MUCH too large. I would like to put the camera in my jersey pocket. The
smaller the better, but I would like to be able to get 5x7s and maybe an
occasional 8x10.

Any recommendations?

Thanks
Monty

My newest camera is a Canon SD110 model. This model is one in the
endless & popular line of Canons that uses a relatively heavy steel
body. Makes the camera feel like it will last. Plus the big advantage
of the extra weight is better pictures. It takes some practice to hold
the new generation of super light digital cameras still while you push
the button. Otherwise you get blurry pictures. Even with the heavier
Canon, every time I hand the camera off to a stranger for a picture, it
comes out blurry. I have a tiny tripod and I often use it with the
self timer to get the clearest pictures possible.

The Canon SD110 is pretty sleek. Not too many protrusions to snag when
going in and out of pockets.

If you carry your camera in your jersey pocket, ALWAYS put it in a bag
of some sort. Your body sweat will soak in to any digital or film
camera which will ruin the camera or pictures. The lens gets fogged
up, etc. I have used a plastic lunch baggie and I recently got a soft
leather case that protects it well and isn't too bulky. I remember my
college photo prof's lecture about the 'never-ready-case' that was so
popular for 35mm slrs. He felt any delay in the quick shot was bad.
Well, most digital cameras take a few seconds to power up so the extra
time to remove it from the case isn't going to lose you that instant
shot anyhow.

SD seems to becoming the predominate memory chip design. My palm pilot
takes sd. My dpr (digital programmable radio) and mpg player takes SD.
There are 19 different chip designs and that keeps growing. Canon
makes some cameras that use other chips.

I got a tiny & cheapo SD to USB adaptor for transfering pictures. This
is faster and simpler than plugging the camera directy into the
computer.

My only complaint about the Canon is a relatively small battery. Got to
get a spare. The 1-gig memory chip will hold 1000+ pictures but the
battery won't last all day. My older and larger Sony DSC-S75 battery
will last for days but it's way too large for cycling.

As with all digital cameras on the market, the oem memory chip is too
small. Plan on buying the largest capacity the camera will take when
you get the camera.

The SD110 model does video. Kind of. 30 seconds max at 15 frames per
second at 640x480 pixels with the .avi file taking 27 megs. I've tried
using it for bike race finish line recording with little luck. About
all it does is give me a body count. For action 15 fps is still jumpy.
Like most digital equipment, if you want video, get a video camera!
If you want stills, get a still camera. They almost all do both but
none do both well.

For bigger prints you need two things. More mega pixels and a bigger
lens! hard to get a big lens camera that will fit in your pocket or
seat bag. Turn off the digital zoom.

The Canon battery charger is tiny too. No cords! Smaller than the
camera with retracting ac plug. Easy to carry with you on trips. My
Sony has a brick with 12 feet of heavy duty cables, not useful for
travel at all.

Rick

Monty said:

I would like to have a digital camera with me for some of the rides. I see a
lot of wild life and beautiful vistas. I have a Nikon D70, but that is MUCH
too large. I would like to put the camera in my jersey pocket. The smaller
the better, but I would like to be able to get 5x7s and maybe an occasional
8x10.

I carried a Canon Digital Ixus 40 in my jersey pocket on a recent
cycling trip. It is tiny, has a zoom lens, two-inch display and overall
guaranteed Canon quality. Other Ixus models are likely similar. Here
are the photographs I took with it:

http://www.helsinki.fi/~aksalone/2005-08-15/

The compact Sony models are also supposedly very good, without any
significant weak points in the price range.

-as

Monty wrote: " would like to have a digital camera with me for some of
the rides. I see a
lot of wild life and beautiful vistas. I have a Nikon D70, but that is
MUCH
too large. I would like to put the camera in my jersey pocket. The
smaller
the better, but I would like to be able to get 5x7s and maybe an
occasional
8x10. "

An Olympus stylus 300 D would fill the bill for that. It has a modest
zoom and it's also "weather proof."

Tom

Canon A95

Sony has introduced the DCR T-7 or the T-5.

It is a 5.1 megapixels camera the size of a credit card....the back of
the camera sports a 2.5 inch LCD screen. The camera will fit in a
shirt pocket and without a doubt in a jersey pocket. Oh yeah...it's 4
oz's.