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Seeking recommendations for a "pocket-sized" digital camera

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SynapticNoise

SynapticNoise

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Joined
Jun 20, 2007
Messages
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Location
Houston - Galleria Area
First Name
Mike
Last Name
Reynolds
I'm in the market for a pocket-sized digital camera.

I have a DSLR already - but it hardly ever goes anywhere with me because it takes up an entire side bag on the bike (plus some if I want to take more than 2 lenses). It only ever gets packed if I know there's going to be something decent to shoot and there's room on the bike. Consequently, I end up missing a lot of good photo ops.

I've started looking around - but there are so many of the pocket-sized cameras out there it's really difficult to weed through them all. Plus, it's always better to get opinions from people who have actually used them for similar purposes.

Here's the basic criteria:
  • Small enough that it will fit in a small tank bag
  • Rugged enough to survive road trips in a tank bag
  • Decent wide-angle/telephoto zoom range. Optimum range would be 35mm equivalent of 20-200mm (I know - that's asking a lot from a pocket camera)
  • Look-through viewfinder as well as LCD (LCD-only can be tough in bright daylight/night conditions)
I have to imagine that someone in this group has already solved this problem. Anyone have any recommendations?:ponder:
 
Well, all but the viewfinder part meet your criteria from my little Nikon Coolpix S7c.

It's been a GREAT little digital pocket camera that also has the video function. 2GB cards allow a ton of pics in "fine" mode tool It's been around for a few years and been trouble free for me.
 
I have an Olympus FE190. I got it because it's small.

It takes horrible pictures.

I don't recommend it.

But my friend has a larger Olympus that takes great pictures. Go figure.
 
Check out the Casio Exilim EX-V8.

8.1Mpixels, 35mm zoom equivalent of 38-266 (internal mechanism), and image stabilization. It's slightly thinner and slightly longer than a cigarette pack.

No rangefinder, but the LCD brightness has not been a problem during the daylight. (No rangefinder keeps the size down)

I bought one of these as an alternative for carrying a DSLR and have been very impressed with its ruggedness, photo quality and battery life.

Good independent photo review site: http://www.kenrockwell.com/index.htm

Regards,

Joel.
 
I got my g/f a Nikon Coolpix L18 for her birthday last month. Not sure what the difference with the above mentioned S7 is, but I am very impressed with it.
 
Olympus Stylus 1030 $399
Shockproof: MIL-STD-810F Shock Equivalent (6.6ft./2m)
Waterproof: Equivalent to IEC6059 IPX8/JISC0920 (33ft./10m)
Freezeproof: MIL-STD-810F Low Temp Equivalent (-10oC/14oF)
Crushproof: 220lbf./100kgf.
Imager: 10.1 Megapixels (effective), 1/2.35” CCD (1.1cm)
Lens 5.0 – 18.2 mm (28 – 102 mm equivalent in 35mm photography),
NO Viewfinder
 
Canon G9, it's not water proof or crush proof but it does have a viewfinder, large monitor, 12 megapixels and lots of pro inspired features. If you want a great camera that's good enough to be used by pros and compact enough to carry in the tank bag then take a look at the G9. Sweet camera !

You can get more info about the G9 and many others here: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_reviews/canon_g9.html

Steve
 
NX2000 said:
I got my g/f a Nikon Coolpix L18 for her birthday last month. Not sure what the difference with the above mentioned S7 is, but I am very impressed with it.
Click to expand...
We bought one of those at Target when we were in Houston for the Red Sox-Astros game and I forgot my camera. It now resides in my wife's purse and she likes it and she is not much of a "tech" person. Her favorite camera is still the old floppy disk Sony that she has at work because "she knows how it works" :roll:
 
I've got a Canon SD750 & I absolutely love it. The only drawback is that it doesn't have image stabilization so I get some blurry pics in low light situations with no flash. Other than that, it has been performing flawlessly for me.

One thing to note is that while it does not have a viewfinder (LCD only), I haven't had a single issue with seeing the LCD even on the brightest days.

green dog said:
Canon G9, it's not water proof or crush proof but it does have a viewfinder, large monitor, 12 megapixels and lots of pro inspired features.
Click to expand...

Well... actually you can make it crushproof. Clickity click.

The Canon G9 is an awesome camera and will do everything most people would want it to and more.
 
I have a canon A570-IS that meets your criteria. It has both the view finer and the LCD screen. It has image stabilization and takes pretty good pictures when you have it set to maximum resolution. memory is SD cards which are pretty cheap these days. 2Gig cards hold hundreds of pics at full res.

The 570-IS may have been supplanted by a next version with higher resolution. These can be had for $125.00 or so from on line retailers, so it is affordable enough not to worry about abusing it in a tank bag.

Coming from film I just had to have the view finder. The only times I use the LCD are for shots under way and for panoramic shots.
 
I love my Cannon SD550, 7.1 MP, 12x zoom (nice). It has more bells and whistles than I will ever use. I have taken a couple thousand pictures with it and it is still going strong. I had to buy an extra rechargeable proprietary battery so I could have a ready to go spare.

The next pocket camera I buy will use AA or AAA batteries that are readily available on the road.:thumb:
 
I've got a cheap little samsung 5mp that I keep in the side pocket of my tank bag. It takes decent pics and its easy enough to use with just the left hand so I can shoot while riding, I clip it to the bag in case I drop it (which is a good thing because I did once)
if this one totallt craps out, I'm not out that much. IIRC it was less than $100 2 years agao, but I've had it a while (I needed it for where I used to work)
 
Those new Olympus ones are waterproof and shcokproof.....a bit pricey though.
 
My small camera is a Canon SD1000. I have been admiring the SD1100 because of the shake reduction. I have been debating getting a pelican case for my big camera and rigging it on the rack on the bike. If I get one the right size I could use it in the kayak also. I think any of the smaller canon, Nikon's will give you great results. Just a matter of what features you want.
 
The Canon SD890IS has a 5X optical and 4X digital zoom, 10 megapixels, and is really small. It's not as sturdy as some of the other Canon cameras, but it makes up for it with the size. It also has steady shot which helps when you're zoomed in 20X. The picture still looks amazingly good zoomed in that far as well. I bought it from Amazon for $299 and got an 8Gb SDHC card for $25 more. I took it to Canyon Lake last weekend and was amazed with the shots I was able to get even in auto mode. It has a viewfinder as well.
 
I agree on the MUST HAVE A VIEW FINDER.
Also, another consideration is , HOW easy it is to work one handed on your bike as per getting it out of the tank bag, turning it on, aiming and taking a picture on the fly.
My other consideration is regular batteries that you can pick up at any store.

I've been running a Minolta Dimage Z1 for the last few years. Took many pictures on the fly and stopped. It does way more than I know what to do with it. But easy to blur a picture with it. 38 - 380 mm lens. But you have to have a very large pocket. ;-)

Just this spring I sprung for a little pocket Pentax optio z10. No view finder, gotta charge weird battery. Very hard to handle one handed on bike and near impossible to hold in one hand and take a picture. And for sure can't see thru the screen with any sun at all flashing on it. Now I just keep this one in my truck or take it to work and just use the Dimage on the bike.
I put all my pictures on disk or web sites and not worried about printing so the Giant MegaPixs don't really make a difference to me. Heck I took great pictures for web sites with a 1 megapix in '02 with a give a way HP camera.
 
My Olympus Stylus 8MP is wonderful. It takes beautiful shots and is compact. I carry an extra battery and card in the pack. It runs xD, which is not my preference... I still prefer film, but this is very convenient.
 
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