Digi Cameras for MTB pics?

[pk]

Seems I may have lost my camera during the NEMBAfest preparations, so I'm looking to get a new one. Any recommendations for digi-cameras that can be thrown in a bike jersey and used to take action pictures of mountain biking?

I had an Olympus Camedia D-510, 2.1 megapixel camera that I liked a lot, but there was always an annoying shutter delay. I loved the way my computer read the camera as a periferal w/o a bunch of software, and the picture quality was perfect for SingleTracks.

I guess I'm looking in the $300 $350 range.

All advise appreciated.

[Tim]

Phil, I've been using a Canon S40 for about a month and it works pretty well -- it's small enough to fit in a pack or your pocket, plus it has an aluminum case and lens cover so it's reasonably well protected. It does have some shutter delay (they all do) but it's not too bad. I think I paid about $460 after shopping around online, which is a bit out of your price range, but you can also get the S30 (for about $100 less) which has a bit less resolution, but a somewhat faster CCD, which is nice in low light. One downside is they only come with a small memory card, so you'll probably want to get a bigger one. I ended up getting a 512M which will hold over 250 pics at the highest resolution. The movie feature, although low res, works well -- my kids like having movies of them on the trail. The camera comes with software that makes getting pictures to your PC pretty trivial. Good luck!

Oh, and congrats with Nembafest -- sounds like a great turnout!

Tim

[steve_b]

As far as size, try the Cannon Elf. They might be lacking in the megapixel department, but they are about the size of a wallet.

[robgaloshes]

sony dsc-u10. it's only 1 megapixel (1280x960) but hella light and small. i brought it biking with me last weekend and i could barely feel it in my pocket. there's also virtually no wait in between shots (less than 1sec), it's instant-on, and can take emailable video clips (15 secs each max). ~$200

they're also coming out with the dsc-u20 next month, which will be ~$300. uses the same chassis, but is 2 megapixel instead of 1.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0208/sonyu10/u10witht68.jpg