Hiking cameras?

Shotgun

Shotgun

Joined
Feb 3, 2006
Messages
8,250
I've never really been into taking pictures, "I like remembering things my own way and not necessarily how they happened."-Lost highway

The problem is that being on this site makes me want to take knife and scenery shots to share with you guys. So to make a long story short, what kind of cameras do you guys recomend? What I want is something small and light to not be a pain to hike with but also something under 100 bucks would be good. Not sure how much cameras run though so if I can't get a good one for under 100 let me know.
 
Go on e-bay and get a used digital camera

you do not need to spend a lot of $ to get a camera that will take good enough photos
 
I would stay away from e-bay cameras. I just dont trust electronics from that place. You can easily just look in the paper and look at target or other stores for a camera. They have decent cameras for $90 dont forget to buy the memory card, if you dont have one already. And rechargeable batteries. Stick to Cannon, Nikon, Sony. They have the best lens I have seen in point and shoot cameras.
 
Shotgun said:
What I want is something small and light to not be a pain to hike with but also something under 100 bucks would be good. Not sure how much cameras run though so if I can't get a good one for under 100 let me know.
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If you just pick one at your price point from one of the major makers (Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Kodak, Sony, Olympus) and you are pretty much guaranteed of a good camera. More money generally just buys you more feature.

nate1714 said:
I would stay away from e-bay cameras.
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I would agree with Nate. There is too much questionable electronics on eBay. Go to a discount electronics store like Best Buy, or one of the legitimate on-line retailers.
 
Doing a search on Best Buy brings up 10 cameras under $100. I've used the same Sony Cybershot for around 3 years now. It was $150 when I got it, and was low priced at the time. A camera costing half that now is probably better.
 
I suggest shopping for an Olympus Stylus. They have models that are water proof to specified depths and/or shockproof for specified drops. We have a couple of older waterproof/shockproof models and they have worked great for 3 years plus. They are probably more than you want to spend, but from experience, worth it. While fly fishing in Colorado, I dropped my Sony Cybershot in the drink. I could have saved myself a bunch of money if I had one of these. Also, consider that with these you could safely take pics and video in the rain, snow and even under water. More money, but you would probably use it more.

Here's an example...

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1445

...and another...

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1483

Street prices should be lower than listed on the Olympus site.

I've gotten good deals in the past from this place (to which I have no affiliation or interest). Calling them always worked best for me.

http://www.cameralandny.com/

Good luck in your search,

Chris
 
I've been using a Panasonic for a couple years. It's proven to be pretty tough. Easy to use. Long battery life. Metal body so its thinner than some of the compact cameras with plastic housings.

I'd buy another Panasonic without hesitation. I have the FX10. Theor DMC-FX series are worth looking at.
 
I just bought a Nikon Coolpix s220

100$ and change and it does what I need it to do. It's not my didi SLR but it is tiny (pack of playing cards small). IMO can't go wrong with it.
 
Bought a Canon A530 about four years ago for about 150 bucks. I don't think it's made any longer, but there should be a contemporary model available now. That camera is a damn good piece of equipment, it's been on almost every trip since I bought it and has endured some pretty serious use, some abuse, and all extremes of weather conditions. Been really surprised with that little guy.

However, I've been getting back into photography seriously lately and bought a Nikon D60 last summer. It's a bit of an upgrade.

In any case, Nikon and Canon both make some great little cameras in the 100-150ish range. If possible, be sure to try them out, often the features are pretty similar on comparable models and the only major difference is the interface and menu system.
 
I bought a Cannon power shot SX100 a couple of years ago, I've taken all of my pics with it, it works great, I can use it better than my wife can........:eek: I got a little camo case to go with it when I got hunting.......
 
Shotgun said:
I've never really been into taking pictures, "I like remembering things my own way and not necessarily how they happened."-Lost highway

The problem is that being on this site makes me want to take knife and scenery shots to share with you guys. So to make a long story short, what kind of cameras do you guys recomend? What I want is something small and light to not be a pain to hike with but also something under 100 bucks would be good. Not sure how much cameras run though so if I can't get a good one for under 100 let me know.
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The one I use on my hikes is a Cannon A590is. It takes great pics, small and compact (fits in a Pelican 110 case perfectly) and I think I paid $130.00 for it, the case, and a 4 gig memory card on amazon. The card it comes with is only 32MB and only holds a dozen pictures or so...and we all know how I am about pics.
 
Mistwalker, you bring up a good point. You should expect to be buying a memory card with your camera, the ones that are included (if any) are more just for the thought of it than anything else. I think my D60 came with something stupidly small like 16 MB. Maybe it was 64, but either way that's really, really small.
 
Bushman5 said:
if you can save up just a bit more money, I HIGHLY recomend the GoPro HD. waterproof, diveproof, crushproof, takes both HD stills and 1080P HD video, and can be programmed to automatically shoot a picture every 1, 3, 5, 10, 30, or 60 seconds. Can be mounted on anything with accessory mounts. Infinitely upgradeable.

info link and video:
http://www.goprocamera.com/hdheropreview/

still photos
http://www.goprocamera.com/photos

http://www.goprocamera.com/index.php?area=2&productid=33
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Started to buy the older version last year, but heard about the HD, and may get one of those. My understanding is that the audio sucks when it's in the waterproof casing, but for things like skydiving, whitewater rafting, zipline tours, or capturing rapids in a kayak, who cares? I'd love to get all those things(and maybe caving?) on video this summer.
Right now I've got a little RCA "Small Wonder" that I end up sticking in a ziplock bag in my PFD(and sometimes get video of the inside of the PFD instead of the water). It's fine for walking around, and did a good job with all the roller coasters at Six Flags, but it's fragile, and isn't waterproof. I've already put it in the oven a couple of times to get it working again after being waterlogged.

For a regular camera, I use a 10MP Nikon CoolPix(~$80 at Wal-Mart) after having and loving the old 3MP(~$250 on sale back then!) version for years. Never had a problem with the old one 'til it got submerged in the bottom of a canoe, and in a creek. That one saw the oven a time or three, itself.
I got the ones that use AA batteries and use rechargeables for most stuff, lithiums for trips.
Have a Pelican 1010 for it, but it usually just stays in my pocket and takes a beating.
Even 4GB memory cards are cheap, now. Mine was about $16 at Wal-Mart.
Bought this Nikon on short notice, but would have probably shopped for something waterproof if I'd had more time. Used this one several times now in rain and snow with no problems, but it worries me.
 
Canon G11!!! I had huge success with an A630, it takes professional quality pictures for sure, but it died after 3 years of abuse. (getting submerged while I was upside down in an inflatable kayak 5 times within a 1 week period) Then I bought its successor, the A650, which was an even more spectacular camera, but it died of a lens error unexpectedly within 3 weeks after being babied, and canon would not honor the warranty. The G11 is the new version of the A650, very high end point and shoot- the photo quality is as good if not better than most entry SLR's, and it's exactly that-point and shoot. It doesn't take a genius to operate one. Price is 500 dollars but pictures will follow you your entire life, I think it's worth it. Robert Young Pelton swears by a 6mPixel Panasonic Lumix, which uses leica lenses and are also very durable. Kinda depends what you're looking for I guess, in price range, size etc etc
 
Your camera has nothing to do with the quality of your photographs (though certain features may make getting certain results easier). Take no action until you have read this: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/notcamera.htm and Ken's other screeds on taking good pictures. He is a real eye-opener, and he happens to be dead-on right on this subject.
 
CountyRat said:
Your camera has nothing to do with the quality of your photographs (though certain features may make getting certain results easier). Take no action until you have read this: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/notcamera.htm and Ken's other screeds on taking good pictures. He is a real eye-opener, and he happens to be dead-on right on this subject.
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I have read thru his pages before and he really offers up some great advice and camparisons. Takes some time to look thru it all but it is worth it.
Thanks for the link as I had misplaced it.
 
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rocketbomb said:
Mistwalker, you bring up a good point. You should expect to be buying a memory card with your camera, the ones that are included (if any) are more just for the thought of it than anything else. I think my D60 came with something stupidly small like 16 MB. Maybe it was 64, but either way that's really, really small.
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I don't need to shoot at the highest resolution, a lower one works fine for my uses and a 4GB card is more than sufficient for me. A lot of people seem to think they need to use a higher resolution when they don't....that's really only applicable if you want to print the photos.
 
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