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#1
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What camera for pictures from a glider cockpit?
I'd like to replace my current digital camera with one better suited to
pictures from my glider, but I'm having difficulty finding one with the features I want. Perhaps someone has solved my problem already, or at least has a way of finding a suitable camera without days of downloading brochures and camera manuals. Here's what I think the ideal in-cockpit camera must have: * Focal length: minimum 28-100 mm (35 mm equivalent) optical range * Pixels: 4 mp (gives 2 mp with cropping to 140 mm lens equivalent) * Viewfinder: minimum 2.5" sunlight visible LCD AND with good visibility from the side * Shutter lag: 0.5 second after pressing button * Shutter: Continuous mode for at least 10 pictures * focusing: Auto plus Manual (or settable at infinity) Here is what would be really nice, in addition: * Size: small and light enough to put in a pocket * Anti-shake lens But wait, there's more! I'd also like to get a camera that can be attached to the outside of the glider (wing, tail, etc). Here is what I think it must have: * Focal length: minimum 28-100 mm (35 mm equivalent) optical range * pixels: 4 mp (gives 2 mp with cropping to 140 mm lens equivalent) * It must not turn itself off automatically! It's OK if an external battery is required to achieve this. * Wireless remote shutter actuation * Shutter lag: .5 second * Focusing: manual or settable at infinity * Battery life: at least three hours and 50 pictures, external battery OK if needed Here is what would be very nice, in addition: * Remote zoom control * Battery life: 6+ hours * Size: small and light * wireless transmission of a reduced image to a cockpit display (Bluetooth to an Ipaq?) The greatest happiness would be one camera that can do both jobs, and maybe there is one out there that can. New digital camera models seems appear at a one-a-day rate, minimum. -- Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly Eric Greenwell Washington State USA |
#2
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What camera for pictures from a glider cockpit?
You left out the integrated GPS interface to your Bluetooth logger for
geo-locating each shot, and the integrated cell phone to call you with that location when it falls off the wing... Full circle now... back to cameras for flight claims perhaps? Tongue firmly in cheek..... |
#3
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What camera for pictures from a glider cockpit?
Actually, there is flight viewing software from a couple of years ago
that would tie together the time stamp on the digital camera to your flight logs. thereby allowing you to see the pictures taken at a particular point in your flight. Don't remember which software it was though. Larry "01" USA " wrote in message oups.com: You left out the integrated GPS interface to your Bluetooth logger for geo-locating each shot, and the integrated cell phone to call you with that location when it falls off the wing... Full circle now... back to cameras for flight claims perhaps? Tongue firmly in cheek..... |
#4
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What camera for pictures from a glider cockpit?
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#5
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What camera for pictures from a glider cockpit?
Eric Greenwell wrote:
I'd like to replace my current digital camera with one better suited to pictures from my glider, but I'm having difficulty finding one with the features I want. snip Eric's fantasy :-) Make sure what ever you get can accept a polarizing filter to get rid of canopy reflections. I've had a Canon Rebel XT for a few months now. It comes no where near your size requirements but it's easy to use and takes fantastic pictures. BTW, Canon makes an IS lens that fits it. If the technology in the lenses is the same as Canon's IS binocs, it would be worth the bucks IMO. I've used these for hand-held star gazing. Amazing http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/con...mode lid=8168 Shawn |
#6
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What camera for pictures from a glider cockpit?
Shawn wrote:
Eric Greenwell wrote: I'd like to replace my current digital camera with one better suited to pictures from my glider, but I'm having difficulty finding one with the features I want. snip Eric's fantasy :-) I believe a camera with a modest wide angle and daylight visible LCD monitor is out there, but with hundreds of models available and ads that don't mention these features, it's time consuming to find it Make sure what ever you get can accept a polarizing filter to get rid of canopy reflections. I like this idea. I'll try a filter on my present camera next flight, even though I'll have to tape it on. I've had a Canon Rebel XT for a few months now. It comes no where near your size requirements but it's easy to use and takes fantastic pictures. BTW, Canon makes an IS lens that fits it. If the technology in the lenses is the same as Canon's IS binocs, it would be worth the bucks IMO. There are plenty of cameras that take great pictures, and I have used a large, heavy camera in the glider, but I'm not willing to do it anymore. Camera technology has improved so much, and some of the cameras I've looked at are so close to being acceptable, I remain optimistic. The difficult feature for the smaller cameras seems to be the minimum focal length (wide angle). Big zooms must be easier to achieve. -- Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly Eric Greenwell Washington State USA |
#7
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What camera for pictures from a glider cockpit?
Eric Greenwell wrote:
There are plenty of cameras that take great pictures, and I have used a large, heavy camera in the glider, but I'm not willing to do it anymore. Camera technology has improved so much, and some of the cameras I've looked at are so close to being acceptable, I remain optimistic. The difficult feature for the smaller cameras seems to be the minimum focal length (wide angle). Big zooms must be easier to achieve. Forgot to mention this site: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs.asp It has tons of info about many new digital cameras. Shawn |
#8
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What camera for pictures from a glider cockpit?
I've been using a Minolta Z1. It is a decent camera,
but not for airwork. It is a tiny bit bulky, it does have a large zoom factor, and it does have a view finder. I've yet to see an LCD screen that I can see in bright sunlight; this is where I require a viewfinder. I have the digital zoom turned off, but the view through the viewfinder is terribly grainy. I didn't discover this until I flew with it long after I bought it. Be sure you have a good optical viewfinder for airwork. At 19:36 07 December 2005, Shawn wrote: Eric Greenwell wrote: There are plenty of cameras that take great pictures, and I have used a large, heavy camera in the glider, but I'm not willing to do it anymore. Camera technology has improved so much, and some of the cameras I've looked at are so close to being acceptable, I remain optimistic. The difficult feature for the smaller cameras seems to be the minimum focal length (wide angle). Big zooms must be easier to achieve. Forgot to mention this site: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs.asp It has tons of info about many new digital cameras. Shawn |
#9
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What camera for pictures from a glider cockpit?
Shawn wrote:
Eric Greenwell wrote: There are plenty of cameras that take great pictures, and I have used a large, heavy camera in the glider, but I'm not willing to do it anymore. Camera technology has improved so much, and some of the cameras I've looked at are so close to being acceptable, I remain optimistic. The difficult feature for the smaller cameras seems to be the minimum focal length (wide angle). Big zooms must be easier to achieve. Forgot to mention this site: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs.asp It has tons of info about many new digital cameras. Brilliant! Just what I was hoping for (life is good). -- Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly Eric Greenwell Washington State USA |
#10
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What camera for pictures from a glider cockpit?
In article ,
Eric Greenwell wrote: There are plenty of cameras that take great pictures, and I have used a large, heavy camera in the glider, but I'm not willing to do it anymore. Camera technology has improved so much, and some of the cameras I've looked at are so close to being acceptable, I remain optimistic. The difficult feature for the smaller cameras seems to be the minimum focal length (wide angle). Big zooms must be easier to achieve. Fuji seem to be the only company that care about wide angle in compact cameras. I love my old Fujifilm DL-Super Mini Zoom 35mm film camera, which has a very nice 28-56mm zoom lens, and I bought my current Fuji e500 4 megapixel digital camera pretty much because of the 28-90mm (equiv) zooom lens and the manual controls. Fortunately it also happens to be an excellent camera, but is usually hijacked by my g/f. You can see pics she takes with it at http://www.canllaith.org/Canllaiths_gallery/ (all except the "South Island" gallary, which was an older Sony). -- Bruce | 41.1670S | \ spoken | -+- Hoult | 174.8263E | /\ here. | ----------O---------- |
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