How many have a good Digital Camera for photographing their trips?

[rmoore0852]

Originally Posted by BarabooBob

My wife and I both carry Nikon AW100 cameras pretty much all the time. They have been dropped, soaked, and used in every condition you can imagine. They just keep taking pretty good photographs. My wife is a point and shoot user that takes thousands of photos. I take my time and actually consider the composition of my photos.
I also carry a Canon SX70 for when the conditions are not so extreme. I love taking photos with this one but it does not get into extreme locations like the point and shoot Nikon.

Another vote here for the Nikon AW series. I carry an AW110, they are still available. The new model is a W300 I believe. Takes great pics, waterproof, shockproof, and dustproof. I like not having to worry about my camera if it starts to rain or I drop it in the mud. We have used it for nature photography and vacations while snorkeling/diving shallow. I do have a canon DSLR that I use for serious photography, but it is not comfortable to carry around all the time. When it is in its backpack, takes too long to get out. I will carry the DSLR if I know that I need a really long zoom capability, but probably 90% of our vacation photos are taken with the AW110.

[doc73]

Definitely looking at the eos r if I upgrade to a full frame. I'd do a Sony, arguably the best sensors around, but I have too much invested in canon.

[ejw7213]

For longer distances we use a Cannon EOS Rebel, Decent camera and fairly cheap. For up close and easy to carry we use a Cannon Powershot A810, it fits in your front shirt pocket and take very nice pictures.

[jcschultz01]

There is lots of advice on this topic but to throw in my $0.02 I usually shoot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and a Canon IS II 70-200mm f2.8 lens. My first car was less expensive than this setup but I am limited only by my ability, not the equipment. I usually shoot in RAW (22 Mpix) and then post-process for color, exposure, cropping, etc in Adobe Bridge and touch-up good photos in Photoshop. With this camera you can get good pictures at ISO 2000 and reasonable pictures at ISO 8000 and take low light pictures up to ISO 12800 and still get something usable.

For comparison, I recently did a canoe trip in the BWCA and didn't want to take the Canon (weight + wet), so I took a small Canon PowerShot. I went through the images when I got back and was disappointed in the quality, the color and the camera sensitivity. Next time, I'll take the Canon and figure out a waterproof covering.

I am NOT saying you can't take good pictures with a point and shoot camera. Just in my experience the percent of good pictures is a lot higher with a more expensive setup.

I maybe attached some recent images both still and action.

[Larry99]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

How many have a good Digital Camera they use to photograph their trips or do you just rely on the camera in your phone?

Up until recently I've been relying solely on my phone but realized that I was missing many good pictures both by the time I got the camera "app" up and running or because I couldn't see what I was photographing due to sun on the screen of the camera.

For those who have a good Digital Camera what kind do you use?

I'm thinking along the lines of something in the middle from a phone sized "Point and Shoot" to a more sophisticated DSLR with all the bells and whistles.

Would like something with good Zoom function and good resolution without setting me back the equivalent to a house payment.


What say you all?

I use a mid range DSLR. in my opinion you want a camera with a view finder. Trying to do a proper job of composure with a screen is a fool errand.

It's more about the person holding the camera than it is than pixels. There better the glass and photography knowledge the better the result.

https://cameradecision.com/
https://digital-photography-school.com/

May help you.

[RJOL]

I use the Nikon s9700 and the s9500. They are essentially "pocket cameras" and the 9700 has a 30 power optical zoom. They both are WiFi capable meaning you can transfer images on the camera to any device that has WiFi capability. They logon to each other and then all the photos, or selected photos, on your camera can be downloaded to the device. There is a newer model S9900 but I don't have any experience with it. I suggest you go online and look up these camera and see if they will fill your needs. Not sure they are even still in production, but you can find some good deals on Amazon...

[GaryH58]

Olympus EM1 mkII with 12-100 and 100-400mm. these go on every trip.

[Yowman]

We are planning a Washington trip later this year. I have a Nikon D7100, which I love, but I’m not about to take it on the trip because it’s so bulky. I take a lot of photos with my iPhone, but would like to zoom in on some shots. Sure, you can zoom with a smart phone, but that’s digital zoom. We all know what that does to the quality of the photo. With that said, I’ll be looking for a point and shoot camera for the trip. I just don’t know exactly which camera yet.

[PuppyDogMom]

Canon 7d Mark II, plus a bunch of extra lenses. The best of the bunch is a 70-200. Don’t leave home without it.

[BeeBoB]

I wanted an easy to operate camera that I keep in my car (for just in case accident photos). Nikon Coolpix with a ScanDisk 8GB card that is easly removed for loading pics into my PC or laptop. I just finished a 20521 mile trip. All states west of the Mississippi and 4 states at the Great Lakes area. Down loaded and named photos each evening as I put them into my laptop. Now have a nice library ready to show off my trip. Can do videos as well as stills cost less than $200 several years ago.

[Funengineer]

Originally Posted by BeeBoB

I wanted an easy to operate camera that I keep in my car (for just in case accident photos). Nikon Coolpix with a ScanDisk 8GB card that is easly removed for loading pics into my PC or laptop. I just finished a 20521 mile trip. All states west of the Mississippi and 4 states at the Great Lakes area. Down loaded and named photos each evening as I put them into my laptop. Now have a nice library ready to show off my trip. Can do videos as well as stills cost less than $200 several years ago.

Which CoolPix are you using BeeBob?

[BeeBoB]

Sorry I did not say with my Post the camera Model. CoolPix L28 with 5X wide Optical zoom. 4.6--23.0mm 1:3.2--6.5 lens.

[Funengineer]

Thanks BeeBob. [emoji106]

[Joe_GA]

Originally Posted by peterdequoy

I went from a minolta srt 101 to (eventually) a Nikon AW130. Its not too adjustable but it is waterproof and rugged enough to drop from a step ladder, and its fairly small. I use it for kayaking, biking, hiking and travelling. Provides a 3x optical zoom and very nice pix. As long as you are happy with it doing what you want its going to be hard to make a mistake. safe and happy travels!

I also had a Minolta SRT 101 a million years ago. I loved that camera and shot a brazillian rolls of film through it. Now I use a Canon Rebel.

[clarkbre]

I'll chime in...

Like most of us, I always have my cell phone. The Samsung S9 does an adequate job for everyday snapshots.

And, depending on the our destination, I have 2 different cameras, each with their purpose:

Nikon D5000 w/ 18-55mm, 55-200mm & 35mm lenses. I take this on long trips and to major destinations. We recently went to Glacier National Park and didn't mind lugging it around. While it's nearly a decade old, I love using it and am constantly learning about it.

Ricoh WG-4 - Waterproof, shockproof, coldproof & crushproof. It's a big, clunky point and shoot but the listed features have made it a great investment. It's 16mp and has a max aperture of f2.0 making it a good low light camera as well.

I do have to say, I miss using the old Canon AE1 Program. With less settings, using that made me a better hobbyist with the DSLR.

[AudiDudi]

You can just see the black "fuzz" on top of the rock in the top pic. I zoomed in on the bottom pic and the "fuzz" is actually lots of birds. The wind was blowing towards us and the smell was not pleasant.

[TitanMike]

I want to thank all you replied. A lot of good information on a wide variety of cameras. My goal was to get a camera that was a big step up from a Smartphone or "pocket camera" (already have one of each).

After reading all the responses and several online reviews I settled on a Nikon Coolpix B500.




The camera and accessory bundle was $249 on Amazon and with the extra batteries I bought, plus our State Sales Tax it ran right about $300.

Out of the box it was impressive. No, not a metal bodied camera but a nice sturdy polymer. Movable rear LCD screen for easier viewing with the sun behind you. 16 MP and 64 gb SD Cards used for storage. LOTS of features but most important to me are the Photo and Video functions.
Zoom feature is remarkable for a camera in it's price range. Was at the gun range the day after I received it and found that it actually does a better job of "spotting" at long range than my Spotting Scope which cost a lot more.

It does have some shortcomings but not a big deal for me. There's no "hot shoe" for a flash so flash is provided by a relatively small "flip up" unit that's OK for indoor but a little weak for outdoor night photos. If I ever need extra flash I'll have to invest in a Slave Flash but then again, I can't remember a time in the last decade or so that I've needed it.

Other shortcoming that I'll have to get used to, no optical viewfinder. No more putting the camera up to your face. Then again for years I used to use a twin lens reflex, holding the camera at waist level and looking down into the "viewfinder". The tilting LCD screen will just be a return to my old TLR.

Once again, Thank You to all who answered my request for information.

BTW, it has it's own WiFi built in and pictures I can set it to transfer pictures directly to my smartphone's memory as I'm shooting. Pictures are then transferred to my Cloud Storage if I desire or my PC via bluetooth for editing, etc.

Of course it also stores pic's on the SD cards so my photo "album" is pretty much disaster proof.

[Noah]

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[chroniekon]

Your new Nikon will be a great camera. That built in flash is also great for outdoor people pictures. search 'fill flash'.

[Joemax]

I have been dragging around a 35mm camera in one form or another since 1969. Right now I have a Canon DSLR and a few lenses. However, my wife is not a camera person and uses her cell phone. I think her pictures are consistently better than mine and her ability to compose is much better. The 35mm is great for many shots but her phone is better for quickie, “gotta grab it now” pictures. Since I do the driving she shoots as we are rolling and I keep my camera within reach if something looks like it’s worth pulling over for. Your budget, skill level and needs are going to determine if you want to use your cell phone, buy a point and shoot or invest in something that gives you more options. Just make sure you get something that will do what you want it to do, takes decent pictures and makes you happy regardless of what other people think you need.