er, food, repair tool, pump and spare tube.It didn’t used to be this way. Ten years ago, virtually none of my riding partners carried cameras, and I did so only occasionally. Good SLRs were (and still are) so heavy that carrying them was a pain in the ass, and so expensive that the idea of destroying one in a crash was worse than the thought of getting hurt. Point-and-shoot film cameras weren’t much lighter, and the quality of images they produced could be pretty marginal.
Today I carry a camera about the same size as a deck of cards. Its 2GB memory card isn’t much bigger than a corn flake, but holds something like 600 or 700 high-resolution images. I bought the whole damn setup for $200, which is less than I used to pay for enough film, processing and printing to get 600 snapshots.
Although it doesn’t allow me the full manual control of a digital SLR, my digital point-and-shoot gives me an amazing number of microchip-assisted frills that no film camera ever could. And it’s so light that I can attach it to the chest strap of a Camelbak and forget it’s there.
And maybe best of all, it’s cheap enough that if I smash it to pieces in a crash, I'll be a little bummed out, but I won’t lose any sleep over it. Every year, these little cameras get better and cheaper.
I wish we could say the same thing about suspension systems.
7 comments:
My camera goes on every ride. I think I'd be in a panic if I forgot it!
I remember a few years ago blogging about how the camera has replaced the cell phone as the most irritating electronic devise on a ride.
Funny how in time things become mainstream.
Never leave the house without mine.
I just picked up a little digital camera and it is small and light enough I sometimes forget I have it with me. Quite a difference from my SLR gear which just might weigh more than my road bike.
for someone who still uses a 35mm, any suggestions, most bang for your buck? just something small, uncomplicated, easy to use and good quality??
let me know, thx, geo
You want advice on buying a small film camera?
Here's my advice: Don't. It's a bad investment.
Buy an inexpensive digital camera from any of the major brands: Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax, Olympus, etc.
You'll get better pictures, and save enough on processing and printing that the camera will quickly pay for itself.
Film is dead. There's no going back.
tim, i ment a digital camera. opps, wasn't clear on that doooooh.
george jetson.
Oh, now I get it.
Most major brands will be OK, but I recommend Nikon and Canon. I have a 3-year-old Nikon Coolpix 5200 that has endured an unreasonable amount of abuse and still works as well as the day it came out of the box.
I recently bought a Canon SD1000, which has a great array of nice features and takes good pics. It was only $200 through Costco.com, including a 2GB memory card. I think they've since knocked another $20 off that price.
I always carry a spare battery, and Canon charges $50 for theirs. I bought a third-party brand online for $20 and it works great -- it even has a little more power than the Canon battery.
You can buy a hell of a nice digital point-and-shoot for $200. A little less money will still get you a fairly decent one, but at that price, why skimp?
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