Looking for a rugged camera

[ajayhawkfan]

Also, despite what they say, size is important--it needs to be small so that it is easy to carry and easy to whip out for shots of Eddie's big BMW laying in the mud.

You have missed a couple of opportunities for that already and I'm sure there will be many more chances to come.

[Stu]

Or that missed picture of Troy standing next to his crashed bike with his arms raised over his head!

Stu

[troy]

Or that missed picture of Troy standing next to his crashed bike with his arms raised over his head!

I have NO IDEA what you are talking about.

[safiri]

So, basically this thread has degenerated ( ) into a "What is the best DS tire?", "What oil should I use?", etc. thread.

TANSTAAFL = There aint no such thing as a free lunch =~ all things involve a trade off.

The camera I carry on my motorcycle riding in dusty and wet conditions is not the camera I might want for family Christmas photos.

What I want for riding, whitewater kayaking, backpacking, Go-Light pursuits: (Not Nec in order)
1. Waterproof to 5 feet. Deeper than that and I am worried about my life, not the camera.
2. Dustproof. Probably meets this if also waterproof.
3. No external movable parts. No lens moving in and out.
4. Big viewing / LCD screen.
5. Small, lightweight.
6. Easy to use. With lightweight MC gloves on.
7. Affordable. If I break it, I don't want to fret over the cost of the crash.
8. Quality photos / optics.

For photos while at home or travelling by car, go for a digital SLR with a few different lenses.

[Stu]

When you find this take along camera let me know.

Some categories are mutually exclusive such as small and easy to manipulate with MX gloves on. Or cheap and high quality images. The Samsung is a step in the right direction but the image stabilization not working as expected seems to be a serious issue.

You are right. It is like what is the "best" oil, tire, whatever. However, listing options at least gives is categories for evaluating what is out there.

Stu

[troy]

I will be able to walk away from this discussion with at least one treasure -- a camera that does not have an extracting lens. Because actually, both my cameras are dead (I believe) due to mechanical issues with the lens motor. One because of dust, and the other because of the beating.

I'm not creating customer graphics or magazine articles. I just want some pics to share with my friends and family when I get home from a ride. And I don't want to burn a $300 camera on every ride.

I feel I got what I needed from this discussion.

[BigO]

My Son has a very expensive Canon with a lens about a foot long that he really loves. I don't think you would want to take it on a motorcycle ride though. It really takes good pictures. The link below are some pictures he took in Banff, Canada when he was there on business. There was a herd of Elk on the golf course and he got some great pictures. The bull Elk had recently killed another elk and in one of the pictures you can still see some blood. A little off the subject, but a Canon takes good pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sjophotoshop/Banff

http://picasaweb.google.com/sjophotoshop/RCAirplanes

[Stu]

Troy,
This item might help you no longer "burn" a $300 camera. (However, with this device and a new Canon A710 you would be looking at about $700....) You get all the environmental protection you need and if you crash the camera at least should survive -- you need post crash pix after all.

http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/EC11026/

Stu

[Stu]

Newegg has it for less:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... non%2bA710

Stu

[troy]

I think I found my small, relatively inexpensive, rugged camera! I just came home with an Olympus Stylus 790 SW.

Check out the Stylus SW lineup:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_secti ... tal_sw.asp

The 790 SW is "shockproof to 5 feet on concrete", "waterproof to 10 feet", "freeze-proof", and "dust/dirt proof". At only $299, it's a steal. It is 7mp, and so far, we are plenty happy with the quality. The battery and cable doors are more solidly built with rubber o-rings and such for water/dust proofing. Since the lens does not extract, there is no way for dirt to get into the mechanism.

I ended getting mine for $250 at Target because we bought a Kodak for $250, didn't like it, and exchanged it for the 790 SW. The girl gave it to us for the same price for some reason. I told her that didn't seem right and she seemed OK with the deal. Good for me I guess!

It does 640x480 video with sound at 30fps--which is plenty good for my needs.

It is slim and feels good in the hand. The controls are easy to use, and the power up to shot time is fast.

The Stylus 770 SW is also "crushproof" and waterproof to 33 feet for another $80. I probably would have opted for it, but the 790 is newer and was in stock. I think it's going to serve me well. I'll follow up here to let you know my opinion after a few months use.

[Stu]

OK, Troy, I expect to see some quality pictures which means you are going to have to get your act together so we can all post pix. BTW, if you have dust/rain/etc. environmental experiences with your bike and camera let us know how the camera does.

Stu

[KC]

Looks like a nice little camera Bro. It even comes in KTM orange, Suzuki yellow, and Yamaha blue...sorry, doesn't look like they have Honda red!!
Let me know how it works out for you, I'm due for a new camera myself. The only reason I haven't been taking many photos on our rides is because I have a crappy camera.

[troy]

...which means you are going to have to get your act together so we can all post pix.

Everyone can post pics right now.

How did I do that?!

A lot of people today use online photo sharing systems such as Smugmug, Flickr, PhotoBucket, Picasaweb (from Google), etc. The slowest part of that process for the user is uploading. The most expensive part for the provider is hard drive space. Why duplicate those two things? Why upload your photos to your online photo sharing system, then also upload into a forum system? A forum system can't compete with a dedicated photo sharing system when it comes to ease and features for sharing photos.

So how do you share your photos directly here in the forum? EASY! When you are creating a post, notice the "Img" button above the text box. When you click that, you'll see this inserted into your message:

Code: Select all

[img][/img]

That is an "image tag". Now just insert the URL (web address) to your photo between them. Like so:

Code: Select all

[img]http://lh5.google.com/fatburg/Ryk4FsHRehI/AAAAAAAAAk4/Q0kLWJEor58/IMG_2461.JPG?imgmax=512[/img]

Now you may ask, "how did you know that was the URL to the photo?". That's easy, too. In the Firefox browser, on any gif, jpg, or png image, just right-click and choose "Copy Image Location". Internet Explorer makes it a bit more difficult. Right-click the picture, then choose Properties. Then right-click on the Address (URL) and choose "Select all". Now hit CTRL-C to copy the URL. Other browsers will have similar methods. Then just paste between the IMG tags in your post. To paste, you can use CTRL-V on Windows or the Edit menu in your browser.

I prefer to include a few teaser photos directly in the forum thread with a link to the photo album. But do what you please--post all your photos in the forum if you want.

For more background on the subject, read these RideForum.NET threads:
Web photo cache sites
Picasa web photos

[troy]

Looks like a nice little camera Bro. It even comes in KTM orange, Suzuki yellow, and Yamaha blue...sorry, doesn't look like they have Honda red!!
Let me know how it works out for you, I'm due for a new camera myself.

All they had in stock was the Kawasaki green, but I really like the color of it, so that's what I got. I'll let you know. Sure, it's not a $1,500 SLR, and Time Magazine probably won't be printing my full-page photos, but from what I've seen so far, I believe this thing will hold up to the abuse I give it. Time will tell.