Cheapo camera suggestions?

[Rob]

I just read through a thread mentioning a camera called "The Hero". I don't think that particular camera will work for me, but that did remind me of the several times when I've been on a ride and I've been sorry that I didn't have a camera along.

I do have an SLR but it's too large and expensive to haul along on the scoot. So I am looking for a cheaper point and shoot type camera to carry along with me. Something in the $100 to $200 dollar range that takes decent quality pics. I'm not overly concerned with features, but would like something that is compact enough to the point I can toss it in one of my pockets and forget about it. I don't expect to be taking any pics while in motion ... I'll put over to the side of the road, remove gloves, etc.

Any recommendations?

Thanks,
Rob

[jmsmith802]

Got the "Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS " for my sister for her birthday. Good camera, pretty good quality pictures, it has a glass UA lens (most cheap cameras have crappy lenses) and a good price. I think it was 179 on sale (199 reg). Another model of the canon powershot would be good too.

I have had my eye on the Canon Digital Rebel XSi to replace my original Canon rebel... One nice camera

[Lagerhead]

I've been beating the crap out of a Canon A560 for quite a while now. ( really, it even has a crack in the body.) With no reliability problems. It is kind of hard on batteries (AA's) and sometimes the little shutter deal that closes over the lens when it's turned off doesn't open all of the way unless you poke at it with your finger. It also is kind of slow between shots especially if the flash fires. But it works every day, all day, even mounted to the scooter. I paid $150.00 when they first came out.

My wife wears a Pentax optio WP around her neck anytime she's on the scooter. She's probably taken about 7 Kabillion pictures from the seat of her Buddy with it and has had zero problems. The batteries last longer than in my Canon but it's a proprietary rechargeable. It takes great pictures (even underwater) but they're a little "colder" than the Canon. ( I've heard that good photographers think that Canon P&S cameras shoot too warm. I like warmer, but I'm a poor photographer. ) but it's over $200.00

I've worn my Nikon D-40 around my neck while scooting with no problems, but not often.

My next P&S will most likely be one that doesn't have a lens that extends in and out of the body when it's turned on and off. Any time I've had a camera die it's been because of some sort of damage / contamination to those moving parts.

The "Hero" camera is mainly designed to be a type of extreme sports video camera. It will shoot stills (and pretty good ones from what I hear) but it really has no adjustments, it has no screen for framing or review, it won't accept HC memory cards and it is reportedly really battery hungry. (2 AAA's).
It is waterproof, shockproof, shoots 50 some minutes of video per 2GB card, has a "picture every 2 seconds" (or so) mode, mounts to just about anything, any number of ways and is about half the size of a pack of cigarettes, if not smaller.

(guess what's on my Christmas list... )

If you want to look at example pictures taken by different cameras Flickr has a "Camera finder" function where it will search for photos taken by a specific camera. http://flickr.com/cameras/


Wow, that was windy, sorry.

[ericalm]

Specifically digital?

GoPro has a film version of the Hero that's $20.

For digital, there are actually some good cameras these days for under or around $200. Canon has a Powershot 8MP and a 10MP version that both have 3x optical zoom. The MSRP is around or higher than $200 but street date is usually lower.
http://snurl.com/54oqu
http://snurl.com/54ora

The competing Nikon Coolpix models (S210 8MP, S550 MP) are also probably good and within your range.

The best deals, especially if you're looking for something basic, are usually on discontinued or replaced models. If you can live with something in the 5-7 megapixel range, you can probably find a camera around $100-$150. Best Buy and Circuit City both have online outlets with some good deals in that range.
http://snurl.com/54p7l

[Eazy]

Go Pro Motor-Sports Hero.

The best $199 you can spend.

I have one on order with a local retailer for cool commute videos/race videos.

[kneil67@yahoo.com]

I really like the flip cameras pretty basic and easy to use

[Howardr]

We have a store called "Big Lots" I don't think they are nationwide yet, but they are all over. Yesterdays ad has 5megapixel cameras for $40. Same price for digital video cameras. Booyah!

Howard

[dsmith65]

We have a store called "Big Lots" I don't think they are nationwide yet, Howard

We have them in Tennessee, always find a deal there.

[ScootLemont]

This is a little off the original topic, but still related...

Before all my cell phones had cameras (and before I had a cell phone - yes I am that old) I always kept a disposable film camera in the glove box of the car in case I needed to take photos of an accident - you can find them for around $6
http://www.amazon.com/Fujifilm-QuickSna ... B00012YI9Q

You can always get this developed at a Walgreens or CVS & have the photos put directly on a CD
the thought is that you can leave this in your scooter "30" (thats 24+7) an you always have a camera if you need it... but you dont have to worry about your digital getting bounced around on every ride.

If I am going for a ride where I know I want to take photos, I take one of my digitals - & my blackberry takes pretty good photos for the unexpected photo... but if your phone is photographically needing, a $6 film camera might be a good fit

[illnoise]

If you're talking video (the Hero and Flip were mentioned), I've never tried the Hero, but I think the Flip is pretty overrated. My wife bought one and it didn't work out of the box, when we got the replacement, I haven't been very impressed, either.

I get that it's fairly inexpensive and theoretically easy to use, but the quality's nothing special, the buttons aren't really intuitive (and the "record" button is actually very hard to press while keeping the camera steady), and there's really just no options at all other than Zoom (And it's digital zoom, which VERY SERIOUSLY denigrates image quality, I never use it). The software that comes with it isn't that great and it's kind of a drag to convert images to a format I can use with other software.

Many regular digital still cameras shoot better video AND great photos. Look for one that
a) allows you to optically zoom while you're shooting
b) allows you to shoot 30fps at 640x480 (some cameras even shoot HD)
c) works decent in low light, and
d) lets you shoot video at useful lengths (some limit to 30 secs, which might be fine for what you're doing, but you wouldn't, for instance, be able to record a whole song at a concert).

A lot of cameras limit video length or zooming at higher resolutions or frame rates, so be careful.

http://www.dpreview.com/
is the best source for camera reviews, they're very thorough and have good comparison tools.

Bb.

[itzhak37]

I use a Fujifilm Finepix Z. It was less than $200, has 3x optical zoom and turns on with the slide of the cover.

[Rob]

Got the "Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS " for my sister for her birthday. Good camera, pretty good quality pictures, it has a glass UA lens (most cheap cameras have crappy lenses) and a good price. I think it was 179 on sale (199 reg). Another model of the canon powershot would be good too.

I have had my eye on the Canon Digital Rebel XSi to replace my original Canon rebel... One nice camera

I bought the SD1100 for my wife a while back and I didn't realize the prices have dropped that much. I paid $300 for hers and you're right, it's a good camera with good pics ... and very compact. Thanks for the post, that might be just what I'm looking for.

I have the Canon EOS 40D. It's a great camera but like most everything else I own, if I bought all of the accessories for it that I'd like ... I'd need a second job.

Rob

[Rob]

I've been beating the crap out of a Canon A560 for quite a while now. ( really, it even has a crack in the body.)

My wife wears a Pentax optio WP around her neck anytime she's on the scooter. She's probably taken about 7 Kabillion pictures from the seat of her Buddy with it and has had zero problems. but it's over $200.00

I've worn my Nikon D-40 around my neck while scooting with no problems, but not often.

The "Hero" camera is mainly designed to be a type of extreme sports video camera. It will shoot stills (and pretty good ones from what I hear) but it really has no adjustments, it has no screen for framing or review, it won't accept HC memory cards and it is reportedly really battery hungry. (2 AAA's).
It is waterproof, shockproof, shoots 50 some minutes of video per 2GB card, has a "picture every 2 seconds" (or so) mode, mounts to just about anything, any number of ways and is about half the size of a pack of cigarettes, if not smaller.

(guess what's on my Christmas list... )

If you want to look at example pictures taken by different cameras Flickr has a "Camera finder" function where it will search for photos taken by a specific camera. http://flickr.com/cameras/

Wow, that was windy, sorry.

No need for the windy apology, I tend to be that way myself and for requests such as this, I like as much info/opinion as I can get.

Thanks for the website, I'll check it out. I'll keep your camera suggestions in mind while I do a little more research. I'm not much interested in the Hero though as I'm not really looking to do videos .... just looking to snap a few stills when I come across a scenic location or something unusual. A couple of weeks back I was riding out in the country, pulled over to the road side and took a little break. After a few minutes I realized I had company ... several cows had snuck up within a few feet of me. How cows could "sneak up" on me I'll never know ... shows how observant I am I suppose ... but anyway, that made me chuckle and wish I had a camera to get a quick pic.

Thanks again,
Rob

[Rob]

Specifically digital?

For digital, there are actually some good cameras these days for under or around $200. Canon has a Powershot 8MP and a 10MP version that both have 3x optical zoom. The MSRP is around or higher than $200 but street date is usually lower.
http://snurl.com/54oqu
http://snurl.com/54ora

The competing Nikon Coolpix models (S210 8MP, S550 MP) are also probably good and within your range.

The best deals, especially if you're looking for something basic, are usually on discontinued or replaced models. If you can live with something in the 5-7 megapixel range, you can probably find a camera around $100-$150.

Yeah, I'm looking for digital. And thanks for that link to Amazon. As I mentioned in the previous post, I didn't realize the price on the Canon SD 1100 had dropped off so much. $163 at Amazon is really reasonable. The SD 790 is priced right also, so I'll check them both out.

Thanks,
Rob

[Rob]

Go Pro Motor-Sports Hero.

The best $199 you can spend.

I have one on order with a local retailer for cool commute videos/race videos.

I did check out the site and while I'm not looking to shoot video I have to admit ... the idea of mounting one of these on the scoot would have some interesting possibilities. Perhaps yet another toy purchase for the future.

Thanks,
Rob

[Rob]

I really like the flip cameras pretty basic and easy to use

I don't know much about the flips, but I'll check them out.

We have a store called "Big Lots" I don't think they are nationwide yet, but they are all over. Yesterdays ad has 5megapixel cameras for $40. Same price for digital video cameras. Booyah!
Howard

I don't think we have "Big Lots" around here but for a $40 camera, I better google it.

Rob

[Rob]

This is a little off the original topic, but still related...

Before all my cell phones had cameras (and before I had a cell phone - yes I am that old) I always kept a disposable film camera in the glove box of the car in case I needed to take photos of an accident - you can find them for around $6
http://www.amazon.com/Fujifilm-QuickSna ... B00012YI9Q

You can always get this developed at a Walgreens or CVS & have the photos put directly on a CD
the thought is that you can leave this in your scooter "30" (thats 24+7) an you always have a camera if you need it... but you dont have to worry about your digital getting bounced around on every ride.

If I am going for a ride where I know I want to take photos, I take one of my digitals - & my blackberry takes pretty good photos for the unexpected photo... but if your phone is photographically needing, a $6 film camera might be a good fit

The cheapo film camera would probably work for me ..... IF I wasn't so lazy. I prefer the digital just because it's so convenient and I can do some quick software touch ups on all of my mistakes.

I did give the cell phone camera a try, but the pics really aren't very good for scenic, landscape type shots.

Rob

[Rob]

If you're talking video (the Hero and Flip were mentioned), I've never tried the Hero, but I think the Flip is pretty overrated. My wife bought one and it didn't work out of the box, when we got the replacement, I haven't been very impressed, either.

I get that it's fairly inexpensive and theoretically easy to use, but the quality's nothing special, the buttons aren't really intuitive (and the "record" button is actually very hard to press while keeping the camera steady), and there's really just no options at all other than Zoom (And it's digital zoom, which VERY SERIOUSLY denigrates image quality, I never use it). The software that comes with it isn't that great and it's kind of a drag to convert images to a format I can use with other software.

Many regular digital still cameras shoot better video AND great photos. Look for one that
a) allows you to optically zoom while you're shooting
b) allows you to shoot 30fps at 640x480 (some cameras even shoot HD)
c) works decent in low light, and
d) lets you shoot video at useful lengths (some limit to 30 secs, which might be fine for what you're doing, but you wouldn't, for instance, be able to record a whole song at a concert).

A lot of cameras limit video length or zooming at higher resolutions or frame rates, so be careful.

http://www.dpreview.com/
is the best source for camera reviews, they're very thorough and have good comparison tools.

Bb.

Thanks, I really appreciate your suggestions and advice. I wasn't looking very hard at the Hero and I really didn't know a thing about the Flip, so your opinion there helps.

I did check out that website, and your right ... it's a great site. I bookmarked it and will go back there later on to check out the cameras I'm considering. I also got another site today from a guy at work, and it's also very detailed and informative. http://www.steves-digicams.com/ if you're interested in checking it out.

Rob

[Rob]

I use a Fujifilm Finepix Z. It was less than $200, has 3x optical zoom and turns on with the slide of the cover.

I'll look at this one as well. The feature of the power on by sliding the cover really would come in handy when wearing gloves.

Thanks,
Rob

[illnoise]

Another thing that's come up in camera threads is mounts. there are a lot of mounts that can be rigged to handlebars, etc, but I've never seen anything that works better than a strap around your neck, your body absorbs a lot more shock than the shocks/bike/frame do, isolating the camera from the bike entirely will give you steadier video (and you can see the handlebars in the shot which is cool.)

Same goes for ipods, or any electronics, no matter how much money you spend on a fancy shock-absorbing mount to attach them to your scooter, they're probably going to be better-insulated and safer in your jacket pocket.

[ericalm]

Another thing that's come up in camera threads is mounts. there are a lot of mounts that can be rigged to handlebars, etc, but I've never seen anything that works better than a strap around your neck, your body absorbs a lot more shock than the shocks/bike/frame do, isolating the camera from the bike entirely will give you steadier video (and you can see the handlebars in the shot which is cool.)

Same goes for ipods, or any electronics, no matter how much money you spend on a fancy shock-absorbing mount to attach them to your scooter, they're probably going to be better-insulated and safer in your jacket pocket.

The most success I've had with positioning my Flip video camera and reducing vibration was with a hastily-made duct tape case that I safety pinned to the strap of a backpack. It also did okay pinned to the chest of my Corazzo. The difficulty is getting the vertical angle right so that it's filming the road and not my chin or the headset of my scoot, and trying to get it closer to center, because the Flip's lens is on the right side. The case I'm working on now will definitely be rider-mounted, somehow, and probably easily re-positionable so I can experiment with placement.

I've got a couple old iPod/iPhone cases that I may cannibalize to see if I can come up with a clip-on solution. It doesn't have to look good, just work as well as can be expected with this thing.

[Spinergy]

I'm a former professional photographer and I bought a Canon A570is [now replaced by the A590is] last summer before a big trip. Needed something compact, quality, but cheap to avoid lugging an SLR around. Did tons of research and comparison and it won hands down for a combination of performance, features, flexibility, and price. It's slightly bigger than Canon's "SD" series cameras, but for the extra size you get more bang for the buck and added flexibility.

-7mp sensor which is plenty big, any higher pixel count in a compact and you start losing low light sensitivity.
-4x zoom as opposed to the 3x you get from most compacts. Larger diameter lens is also faster than the SD series, less optical distortion too.
-Optical image stabilizer that really works, letting you take sharp pics in MUCH lower light sans flash. I can shoot a clean 1/15th sec exposure by hand.
-Takes standard AA batteries instead of an expensive special lithium pack. Can use regular alkaline's in a pinchand get ~50 shots, but I'm getting ~450 shots full res on a pair of 2500mah AA Ni-Mh rechargeables. The "battery bulge" doubles as a hand grip making it more secure and usable with gloves.
-Takes high quality full motion video [30fps @ 640x480], would say 95%as good as my 3y/o Sony digital camcorder.
-Has provisions for add on lens accessories + a tripod socket
-Optical viewfinder so you don't have to squint at the LCD screen outdoors.

The new A590is is 98% the same, just changed to an 8mp sensor. Price is an insanely cheap $118 w/ free shipping from Amazon. I paid $150 for mine last summer.

[Perkussion]

I suggest going to Amazon and pick a well known brand and start reading reviews.
Time consuming because some models have hundreds of reviews but it's
time well spent.
I love researching stuff before buying
If you can hold off a few weeks, go to the Black Friday site and watch the posts.

[7eregrine]

Awesome camera here.



Shop around on the net and you can find it even cheaper. 7 Megapixels which is way more then you need. Intuitive easy to use menus. It's hard to take a bad pic with this thing.

[Rob]

I'm a former professional photographer and I bought a Canon A570is [now replaced by the A590is] last summer before a big trip. Needed something compact, quality, but cheap to avoid lugging an SLR around. Did tons of research and comparison and it won hands down for a combination of performance, features, flexibility, and price. It's slightly bigger than Canon's "SD" series cameras, but for the extra size you get more bang for the buck and added flexibility.

The new A590is is 98% the same, just changed to an 8mp sensor. Price is an insanely cheap $118 w/ free shipping from Amazon. I paid $150 for mine last summer.

Thanks for the detailed information and suggestion ... that has me looking at this camera that I hadn't even considered before. But for that price and quality, it would be difficult to beat. I'll run to the local Best Buy or Circuit City to check out the size of the camera ... I still prefer very compact, but from the specs, it doesn't appear to be too much larger than the Canon 1100.

I did read somewhere that the video on the A570 was actually better than the A590 (30 fps vs 20 fps), but I'll have to verify that.

Thanks again,
Rob

[Rob]

I suggest going to Amazon and pick a well known brand and start reading reviews.
Time consuming because some models have hundreds of reviews but it's
time well spent.
I love researching stuff before buying
If you can hold off a few weeks, go to the Black Friday site and watch the posts.

Yeah, I routinely check out Amazon for both the prices and reviews ... and you're right, there are tons of reviews. Generally too many for someone as impatient as myself to get through, so I try to sample a few of the highs and the lows.

I'm in no particular hurry to buy a camera, especially with the cold temps moving in and my riding likely coming to an end for a while, so I will check out the Black Friday site. I'm not exactly sure what Black Friday is, but I've heard the term before.

Rob

[Rob]

Awesome camera here.



Shop around on the net and you can find it even cheaper. 7 Megapixels which is way more then you need. Intuitive easy to use menus. It's hard to take a bad pic with this thing.

Thanks. I hadn't considered a Polaroid but that brings back good memories (taking pics of girlfriends that you couldn't/wouldn't take in for developing in the pre-digital days ... talk about dating yourself )

I'll check this one out as well.

Rob

[PeterC]

I've been using the Kodak EasyShare C613 (6 megapixels) for the past year, and it's performed like a champ. Last January, I took it to a trade show as a backup to my expensive Olympus camera, and ended up using the Kodak for product shots, which were later published. It more than paid for itself the first time I used it. I've since been using it as a studio camera to illustrate magazine articles. When I bought it, the C613 was just under $100. It's now less, and has been followed by the C713 and C813, both at or just above $100. Typical Kodak "You press the button, we do the rest" ease of use, and simple, effective software to go with.

[itzhak37]

My girlfriend uses a Kodak digital camera because, just as people have mentioned, they're just so darn user friendly and affordable. The reason that I passed on them, though, is because they have a relatively (very) slow shutter speed. Not so great for taking pics of moving objects/people.

[7eregrine]

Also not a big fan of the EasyShare software from Kodak. Camera's are nice and so is the docking station, but Windows and Apple's already have decent software for manging pictures. I prefer to use less software, not more on my systems.

If you are really interested in the Polaroid I can post some high-res pics taken with it.

[Drumwoulf]

I've taken some great shots with those returnable cameras you can get from drugstore chains for around $10-$15 including processing..!

[verdecalavera]

Got the "Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS " for my sister for her birthday.

We bought this camera last week so my wife could take pictures at southern (dis)comfort. She seems to like it. We tried all of the cameras that were 250 bucks or less and we came down to a sony and this one. The sony took pictures at a slightly more rapid speed than this one but the proprietary sony memory sticks etc being more expensive caused us to go with the canon. Turned out, after we bought it, we saw that it was the top rated camera by consumer reports.

[Rob]

Also not a big fan of the EasyShare software from Kodak. Camera's are nice and so is the docking station, but Windows and Apple's already have decent software for manging pictures. I prefer to use less software, not more on my systems.

If you are really interested in the Polaroid I can post some high-res pics taken with it.

I agree about the software ... I have more than enough on my laptop already. And thanks for the offer on posting some high-res pics, but I purchased a Canon today, so hopefully I'm out of the camera market for a while now.

Rob

[Rob]

Thanks to everyone that provided some excellent suggestions, information and camera review sites. I ran out at lunch today and purchased a Canon A570is (found a nice price of $105) .... and thanks to Spinergy for giving me the tip on this camera that I probably wouldn't have considered otherwise. I know it's a bit of a battery hog and it's a little larger than some of the other compacts, but it will work just fine as my scooter trip camera.

Rob

[Spinergy]

I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Just read the book and play with it for a while before you set off. There are tons of settings you can customize. Wouldn't call it a battery hog by any means, real world battery life is very reasonable even with the optical image stabilizer switched to full time. If you don't already have any good rechargeable AA's grab some Duracell 2500mah NiMh batteries from Target or Wally-Mart, you'll fill up a 1gig SD card before one set goes dead. They can be found packaged batteries only if you already have a proper charger, or with an AC/DC charger so you can charge up on the road.

Speaking of cards, look for a sale on a good 2gb or 4gb high speed SD card if you want to shoot much video. The high speed cards make no difference for photos but some standard SD cards aren't fast enough to suck up the feed of the high res video without the odd glitch or dropout. I'm using a 2gb SanDisk "Ultra 2" card that was $19 on sale last year, today I see the 4gb version for about $22-$24. Brand wise SanDisk is my fave, Lexar and Panasonic make good high speed cards too. Buy from a normal big name retailer, NOT ebay or some random web site. Believe it or not there are tons of fake "premium" memory cards floating around which are junk. Google "fake SD card" and you'll see what I mean.

[Rob]

Just read the book and play with it for a while before you set off. .

Me read a manual? Now that would be a first.

If you don't already have any good rechargeable AA's grab some Duracell 2500mah NiMh batteries from Target or Wally-Mart,.

I'm good to go there.

The high speed cards make no difference for photos but some standard SD cards aren't fast enough to suck up the feed of the high res video without the odd glitch or dropout. Brand wise SanDisk is my fave, Lexar and Panasonic make good high speed cards too.

Thanks for that advice ... I really hadn't thought about the need for a high speed card for video. I've always used Lexar in the past with good success, so I'll see what kind of prices I can find on Amazon.

Rob

[Spinergy]

I'm not a "read the manual" person either, but I did whip it out in this case to tell me how to find various settings... and interpret some of those mystery icons

If you get an SD card off Amazon just make sure it's retail packaged [not bulk] being sold by Amazon directly, not a 3rd party. Everything sold by Amazon is kosher but many of the small time electronics vendors that use Amazon as a storefront can be shady. Just look for the "Ships from and sold by" under the price.