Snapshot camera for gliding ?

On Feb 4, 11:10*am, Dave Nadler wrote:
On Feb 4, 10:56*am, T8 wrote:



On Feb 4, 10:39*am, Dave Nadler wrote:

On Feb 4, 10:37*am, T8 wrote:

On Feb 4, 9:53*am, Dave Nadler wrote:

Hi All - I'm looking for recommendations for a
snapshot camera to carry while gliding. Last
season I used my iPhone - its a pain to use
in the cockpit.

Ideal camera:
- very thin (fits easily in side pocket)
- instant on
- no settings to fiddle after turning it on
- doesn't autofocus on canopy
- super-fast focus and shoot
- fast repeat shooting
- easy operation with one hand

Needs to be grab-and-shoot with no fuss and no wait.

Recommendations ?
Thanks in advance,
Best Regards, Dave "YO electric"

There are a bunch that will do. *I use Canon SD1000 -- no longer made
-- bought an SD1200 for someone for Christmas, looks like the same
only faster, slightly smaller. *RTFM -- you'll be surprised at the
capabilities of these little gems.

-T8

Thanks for the recommendation.

I do not want to RTFM; if thats necessary
the camera is not the effortless point-and-shoot
needed for quick shots while flying.

Does this camera *require* RTFM,
or is it really point-and-shoot ?

Thanks again,
Best Regards, Dave

You read the manual so you understand how to set the camera for best
results. *Once set, the setting are retained power off.

The only essential is locking the focus on infinity, and that you can
figure out simply by looking at the back of the camera. *RTFM will get
you better results -- most of the current generation cameras take
really nice photos with a few tweaks, but all do have a 'dummy mode'
that will take an acceptable snapshot under almost all conditions.

In actual cockpit use, it's power on, point, shoot, power off.

I have an excellent digital camera.
It does not save many settings across power cycles.
It has numerous controls on its exterior that get bumped,
regularly putting it into unusable modes and requiring
lots of fiddling to get it back to something useful, unless
I don't notice in which case the shots are junk.

I'm trying to avoid this for cockpit use...

Does the Cannon D1200 save all settings across
power setting so that's its truly point-and-shoot
after initial configuration ?

Thanks for the recommendation,
Best Regards, Dave

I pulled out my SD1000 to verify: the one setting it will not retain
is the infinity focus, and that's a pain because you have to look at
the camera to set the infinity focus lock. I'd forgotten that, sorry,
I wasn't doing any in flight photography this season. Other than that
it fills the bill very well. I don't know if the SD1200 is different
in this respect, probably not. I can take a look at the 1200 tonight.

-T8

On Feb 4, 7:53*am, Dave Nadler wrote:
Hi All - I'm looking for recommendations for a
snapshot camera to carry while gliding. Last
season I used my iPhone - its a pain to use
in the cockpit.

Ideal camera:
- very thin (fits easily in side pocket)
- instant on
- no settings to fiddle after turning it on
- doesn't autofocus on canopy
- super-fast focus and shoot
- fast repeat shooting
- easy operation with one hand

Needs to be grab-and-shoot with no fuss and no wait.

Recommendations ?
Thanks in advance,
Best Regards, Dave "YO electric"

I use a Canon PowerShot A720is camera which takes 8mp pictures. If
you happened to see my presentation on Soaring Over SW Colorado at the
SSA convention, most of the shots I showed were taken with it. It is
small, fits in my shirt pocket, is fast on, fast to take a picture,
has a shot view window (which is NECESSARY in full light, such as
flying or hiking), and uses 2 AA batteries (which you can get very
cheaply - 48 for $10 at Costco) which are easy to change in flight if
needed. It has a 6X optical zoom, which is far better than most other
pocket cameras, and has a close-up setting if you ever wanted it. EASY
one hand shooting. Most importantly, for air photos, the focus is not
bothered by shooting thru the canopy. I shoot both out the sliding
window and thru the canopy. Both come out well. I have blown some of
my photos up to poster size and they are still very sharp.

They are not available over the counter any more but you can find them
still on the internet (new and in the box) for around $200. Just do a
google search for the model.

I use a 2 gig memory card in my camers, and have the camera set at the
very best setting (8mp). You will need to check around to find a fast
one. Some of the cheaper cards are slower to record the images, and
may take an extra second or two in between shots. I get over 500
shots on the card if I want, but always download to my computer hard
drive after each photo session / flight, often taking 200-300+ on a
flight. Nifty thing about digital, you can download tons on the
computer, and delete them easily if you don't want them.

Bob T.

On Feb 4, 7:59*am, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Feb 4, 7:39*am, Dave Nadler wrote:

I do not want to RTFM...

Dave, do you mind if I take that remark out of context?

Just asking...

Thanks, Bob K.

rim shot please.

Craig

I used Panasonic Lumix LX3 last season, took over 1,500 pics, and was
quite happy about its quality and the ease of use.

In addition to meeting all criteria you mentioned, it also:
- shoots HD video at 720p
- has wide angle lens (24mm equiv)
- has capability to attach a filter or wide angle conversion lens (I
used one to make it 18mm)
- can shoot in raw mode if you want to pursue the quality of picture
- its fast (F2.0) lens makes it a good snapshot camera too when
drinking beer after landing

-Gen

On Feb 4, 8:13*am, Dave Nadler wrote:

PS: Bob ! Get back to the shop and stop messing with the computer !

Sorry, I have to write a bunch of documentation first.

- can shoot in raw mode if you want to pursue the quality of picture

Just for information, the Canon PowerShot cameras can take raw pictures,
too. The firmware blocks that feature, but there is a hack which enables
it: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

That said, the jpeg pictures of the Canon cameras are of pretty high
quality.

Dave Nadler wrote:
Hi All - I'm looking for recommendations for a
snapshot camera to carry while gliding. Last
season I used my iPhone - its a pain to use
in the cockpit.

Ideal camera:
- very thin (fits easily in side pocket)
- instant on
- no settings to fiddle after turning it on
- doesn't autofocus on canopy
- super-fast focus and shoot
- fast repeat shooting
- easy operation with one hand

Needs to be grab-and-shoot with no fuss and no wait.

Recommendations ?
Thanks in advance,
Best Regards, Dave "YO electric"

Hi Dave

I did the research this December and went with the Panasonic Lumix TZ7.
Widest angle available, and widest zoom range available. Takes HD video
- shuts down to pocket size. Consequently is a little expensive.

Takes outstanding pictures and is designed for PHD operation. (That's
Push Here Dummy) Primary user is my 11 year old son who is keen on
photography, but not yet tech savvy enough - and I need to keep him away
from my nikon D80 - with which I have taken some spectacular pictures -
but you have to be in a 2 seater. It is just too big and clumsy to be
safe otherwise.

It is outstanding - Have a look.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0901/09...nasonictz7.asp
http://www.trustedreviews.com/digita...mix-DMC-TZ7/p1

Bruce







--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

On Feb 4, 11:20*am, T8 wrote:
On Feb 4, 11:10*am, Dave Nadler wrote:



On Feb 4, 10:56*am, T8 wrote:

On Feb 4, 10:39*am, Dave Nadler wrote:

On Feb 4, 10:37*am, T8 wrote:

On Feb 4, 9:53*am, Dave Nadler wrote:

Hi All - I'm looking for recommendations for a
snapshot camera to carry while gliding. Last
season I used my iPhone - its a pain to use
in the cockpit.

Ideal camera:
- very thin (fits easily in side pocket)
- instant on
- no settings to fiddle after turning it on
- doesn't autofocus on canopy
- super-fast focus and shoot
- fast repeat shooting
- easy operation with one hand

Needs to be grab-and-shoot with no fuss and no wait.

Recommendations ?
Thanks in advance,
Best Regards, Dave "YO electric"

There are a bunch that will do. *I use Canon SD1000 -- no longer made
-- bought an SD1200 for someone for Christmas, looks like the same
only faster, slightly smaller. *RTFM -- you'll be surprised at the
capabilities of these little gems.

-T8

Thanks for the recommendation.

I do not want to RTFM; if thats necessary
the camera is not the effortless point-and-shoot
needed for quick shots while flying.

Does this camera *require* RTFM,
or is it really point-and-shoot ?

Thanks again,
Best Regards, Dave

You read the manual so you understand how to set the camera for best
results. *Once set, the setting are retained power off.

The only essential is locking the focus on infinity, and that you can
figure out simply by looking at the back of the camera. *RTFM will get
you better results -- most of the current generation cameras take
really nice photos with a few tweaks, but all do have a 'dummy mode'
that will take an acceptable snapshot under almost all conditions.

In actual cockpit use, it's power on, point, shoot, power off.

I have an excellent digital camera.
It does not save many settings across power cycles.
It has numerous controls on its exterior that get bumped,
regularly putting it into unusable modes and requiring
lots of fiddling to get it back to something useful, unless
I don't notice in which case the shots are junk.

I'm trying to avoid this for cockpit use...

Does the Cannon D1200 save all settings across
power setting so that's its truly point-and-shoot
after initial configuration ?

Thanks for the recommendation,
Best Regards, Dave

I pulled out my SD1000 to verify: the one setting it will not retain
is the infinity focus, and that's a pain because you have to look at
the camera to set the infinity focus lock. *I'd forgotten that, sorry,
I wasn't doing any in flight photography this season. *Other than that
it fills the bill very well. *I don't know if the SD1200 is different
in this respect, probably not. *I can take a look at the 1200 tonight.

-T8

SD1200 also resets the infinity focus setting on power off. But I
remember now how I got good results without using the infinity focus
lock. What you do is turn off the fancy face-recognition software and
set the focusing frame to "center". That setting is retained through a
power cycle and it will get correct focus on whatever is in the center
of the frame and isn't bothered by looking through a canopy. So I'll
stick with the recommendation of the SD1200. It's worth noting that
this camera is *extremely* compact, which is nice in a glider.

-T8

Originally Posted by Dave Nadler

Hi All - I'm looking for recommendations for a
snapshot camera to carry while gliding. Last
season I used my iPhone - its a pain to use
in the cockpit.

Ideal camera:
- very thin (fits easily in side pocket)
- instant on
- no settings to fiddle after turning it on
- doesn't autofocus on canopy
- super-fast focus and shoot
- fast repeat shooting
- easy operation with one hand

Needs to be grab-and-shoot with no fuss and no wait.

Recommendations ?
Thanks in advance,
Best Regards, Dave "YO electric"

Get something with a wide angle lens. Most small cameras max out at 35mm equiv. These are useless in the cockpit. The Panasonic LX3 is an excellent choice - 24mm equiv; has HD movie mode too.

On Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:40:58 +0000, tienshanman wrote:

Dave Nadler;719706 Wrote:
Hi All - I'm looking for recommendations for a snapshot camera to carry
while gliding. Last season I used my iPhone - its a pain to use in the
cockpit.

Ideal camera:
- very thin (fits easily in side pocket) - instant on
- no settings to fiddle after turning it on - doesn't autofocus on
canopy
- super-fast focus and shoot
- fast repeat shooting
- easy operation with one hand

Needs to be grab-and-shoot with no fuss and no wait.

Recommendations ?
Thanks in advance,
Best Regards, Dave "YO electric"

Get something with a wide angle lens. Most small cameras max out at 35mm
equiv. These are useless in the cockpit. The Panasonic LX3 is an
excellent choice - 24mm equiv; has HD movie mode too.

Agreed. 28mm is about right.

I have a Ricoh GR1s I use for this - its a fixed lens 28mm film camera.
Filling it with 400 ASA, setting f22 aperture and landscape focus puts
everything from panel to horizon in focus and it remembers all settings
when its off. Good film cameras still have a few advantages!


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |