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I am curious to what Digi Camera gear yall are using. I have an older HP 850 photosmart I like. It shoots Video so pop in the 1 gig card and I get 980ish photos or 1.5hrs video...batts dead long before either of those mile posts.
However, it's a little big and necessitates packing it in the pack and getting it out, yada yada is kinda a pain in the ass. I am looking for something smaller and don't even need video. Just want to be able to pack it in a pocket for ease of access and of course durability in the cargo pants bouncing around the knees.....

Any feedback on products used, good, crap, etc.
thanks

I've been using a Fuji S3000, and it OK. It's pretty tough. I've fallen on it a few times and taken it on a bunch of climbing trips, and it still works fine.
The problem is that it's not so good for shooting action shots. It takes way too much time in between shots, so you can't really take multiple pictures of a person as they are riding.
I just ordered a new camera, so I'll report back on that one once I have a chance to use it.

For shooting pictures on snow, it's good to have a camera that has some sort of ‘exposure compensation' setting (that's what Fuji calls it). Before I go out on the snow, I set it so that the camera automatically lets in MORE light than what the camera would consider a “properâ€Â

First, I'm *not* an expert photographer by any means and I'm not sure what caliber of gear you're looking for, but I do have a compact digi camera that I'm really really happy with, the Pentax OptioWP:




I like it because:

- It's waterproof
- It's the size of a bar of soap
- It takes great pictures (for my purposes, anyway)
- It's waterproof
- It takes 1 1/2 seconds to start up
- It is very easy & intuitive to operate and you can change all the settings really easily.
- It's waterproof
- It does have a special snow setting, which is important and a bunch of other settings as well.
- It does capture video, although a real video recorder is prolly better.

Also, it's waterproof & sandproof, etc so it won't suffer the same miserable fate of my last two cameras.

On the minus side, it does take a second or two for each picture to save, so it is no good for rapid-fire action shots.

Anyway, it's worth checking out if you're looking...

-Edit-

Just read BCD's post. He takes such AMAZING photos that I'd really trust his recommendations on issues of picture quality. But I love the OptioWP for all the other features (did I mention it is waterproof?) and it does take nice pictures.

-Edit Again-

I just found the rapid-fire mode which it had all along... Nice!

I love my Sony DSC-W5. A bit bigger (large soap bar), heavier, and pricier than some.

2.5" screen. Snow setting - works great. Add lenses and filters if you want. Video. Adjustable burst (rapid-fire). Zoomable review.

I keep it in a zip pouch on my hip belt, no case.

Remember to turn off the flash if it's snowing.

I've been really happy with my Canon SD-450. I think fassnor and ChrisI have the same one. Before that I had the SD-400 and that was great too, but the 450 has a bigger screen. I broke the screen on the 400 when I had it in my pocket while mountain biking and fell on it, so a good case is proably a good idea. I don't follow my own advice and use a Timbuk2 iPod case for it. This case is not hardshell and is not fully sealed, but it easily attaches to a hip belt so I have quick access to it which is one of my main priorities. The camera is not waterproof but I did drop it in the snow several times on Sunday with no ill effects (oops). It can take 2-3 pics per second in continuous shutter mode. Video is quite good, full 30 fps and limited only by card size. Great photo quality. Pretty extensive manual control over various settings.

I'm using the cannon powershot s50 its 5 megapix and has great features and takes awesome pics blown up to at least 11 x 16. It is also tough as hell I've dropped it numerous times including into a sandy murky pool of gunk it sunk to about 4 ft down and took me a couple of minutes to recover it, thought it was screwed for sure but I took out the batteries asap and let it just sit for 2 weeks bought some canned air gave it a good cleaning and it is as good as new I love it.

Thanks for all the input folks. Now I have a starting point for the new cam.

Think i am leaning towards the nikon cams thus far. My film camera is a nikon and it is great. Many a backpacks its been in

thanks again folks

If you worry about it getting wet at all, I've been using the Olypus Stylus 410 for a few years and it's been bomber. Similar weather resistance like the Pentax Optio. Good stuff. Over the years they've been upgrading it from 3mp through 8mp now. Various versions can be found on eBay starting at under $100, through about $290 for the 8mp one. The older 3xx and 4xx series keep the optical view finder, and the newer ones drop it in favor of a larger LCD. These LCD are way way above average and actually work in pretty bright light... Only knock against the Stylus series is it uses xD mem cards which are a little more rare, but not bad. Just picked up an Olympus 1gb card for $49 at Fry's, so it's not all bad... Battery life is good too... Lithium Ion or what'ev with spares readily available...