Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge best camera under $200?

what camera is the best deal for under 200 bux? the only perks i am looking for is fast reload time good battery life and a clear picture...I do not care to do photography work but i want good clean pictures to take in what it is that I see

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830122191
i am looking at that camera but i don't know what a wide angle lense is

sounds neat...is it practical to use? or impractical to not use?

I got a Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 mine cost me $260 but there 4 others. They are water proof up to 10ft and shock proof to 5ft.
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_digital_sw.asp

I have taken mine and put it on my bars and take some great videos. I went to the lake last weekend and went in to the water with the camera. I got a little sand in it. So when I go home I put in a bucket of water and was able to wash it out. It has every features you could want plus. The main reason I got it is because there was a article in a jeep magazine. They were playing catch with the camera and skipping it across a pond they even published some of the pic it took in the magazine.

Wow Chuck... that camera sounds amazing... and it has very fast continuous action too judging by those pictures.

It has a normal shot a multi shot then the rapid shot. It is a great camera. The only problem is it has a tap function. You tap the side of the camera to turn on different things and the vibration of the bars turns it on when riding. I can take videos not pics working a better mount to fix it.

This is a low quality video I shot with it. I have some better ones I will dig out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NES0vzkgweU

how did you mount it your bars

scott you need to ask yourself if you need a waterproof indestructable camera. Cause judging by those pics posted it seems like more engineering went into making it waterproof than taking really crisp pictures. Design processes always have a comprimise.

I always said to myself "what does kodak know about making electronics?" Yeah they know the camera aspect of it but theyve only been making digital cameras for only so long. And its true, this freaking kodak camera at work sucks royally. The batteries last for 60 pictures, it takes time to process the picture and save....crap!

Thats not the best quality it can do better but I always been quantity over quality. So it set a little lower.

As for the camera mount I run bar ends mirrors so I took a bolt and put it through the old mirror hole. I am going to build one out of a riser as soon as get my hands on a short riser.

Canon SD750. nice screen, good battery, easy to use, fits nicely in pants pocket, high quality pics. Found it by reading reviews on cnet.com.

does it have fast reload time?

Agreed on the Cannon. I use a PowerShot A590 and love it. But you know... I have 2 nephews living in Taiwan. I guess they have newer cameras over there cause when one came home for a visit he brought back a camera that can do something I've never seen before.

Okay it goes like this... let's say you ride a Cardinal Red TBA like me. You can do a closeup of the tank for example and get the camera to remember the colour red. After that, if you shoot B&W it all comes out B&W except for anything red. So I could take a pic of my bike in a parking lot and it would be the only thing that stands out in colour in the whole pic. Nice feature. I wonder if you can get that in N. America yet. The Neph said Cannon was the only one offering this feature. Can't remember the model but I could find out.

PS... check out the review of the Cannon PowerShot A590 here.

It is priced under $200 while the Cannon's Scott and James mentioned are approx double that (I think). Don't get me wrong... the SD750 and SD800 are great cameras, just that you mentioned wanting one for under $200. The one thing I don't like about it is that it is a little hard on batteries (AA). But I think all digitals use a fair amount of juice.

I like my little Canon SD750 pocket jobber. 7 megapixels, optical zoom. Video. Huge screen on the back. Great for snaps. Someday I'll get a big old digital SLR.

Heard from more than one source that Cannon rank among the best.

I had a power shot I got about 4 years ago it was only 3 mega pixels but was a great camera. The screen and something alts when so it wouldn't take pic any more. I was a little disappointed that it didn't last longer.

My vote is for the Cannons. I have a older A520 that was purchased several years ago and has served flawlessly since new. I even dropped it off the back of the bike and onto a 4-lane slab in excess of 60mph about 3 or 4 years ago. The case recieved only a slight crack and it has continued to function as designed. It is only a 4x / 4 MegaPixel, but I recently read a tech article in the news paper that indicated that anything more (for the typical user)is a waste of money anyway. As under $200 cameras go, I think you'll be pleased with any Cannon.

I really like my Canon SD1000. Takes decent pictures, has a rechargeable battery that'll shoot about 200 shots (maybe more) and fits easily in a pocket. There are better cameras out there, for sure, (like that Leica I've been coveting) but it wasn't expensive and it works.

http://www.dpreview.com/ seems to be fair and partial when it comes to reviewing cameras. If it hasn't already been posted - it's helpful to get hands-on with any potential camera choices to see how it holds. I get stuck on tiny is good to travel. The down side of that is tiny usually means a USB cable & computer's power or additional / purchase of an AC based charging wall wart is often required. Nikon makes a tiny digital for under $200. Don't know about the cycle time though.