Digital cameras for skiing

Next time around, I'm going with a Canon VIXIA HF100 High Definition Camcorder for my pocket. A picture may be worth 1000 words but high def video clips on the TV in the bar is the way to go. For web photo use, a camcorder does well enough after you've cropped and compressed the image down to a couple hundred K. The price of these things has dropped to the point where there's no point in buying a pocket camera.

If I had infinite cash, I'd also get a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a half dozen 'S' lenses. The new version if the 5D is also a high def camcorder and can shoot at just shy of 4 frames per second stills at full 21.1 megapixel resolution.
 
Olymp SW1030
its skier proof! water proof, drop proof, crush proof, freeze proof, me proof! and 10mp... no AA bats though. I have one and love it. built like a tank for a digi cam.
 
Any updated recommendations for a ski camera? Still haven't gotten one...and I was reading that they gotten much better and cheaper. New technology from Panasonic I think?
 
The viewfinder vs. LCD issue for compact cameras is getting worse not better. That's why I spent ANOTHER $115 to have the SD800 repaired to fix the CCD that was creating all those green pics you guys loved so much. :lol: .

The 20x zoom SX10 got a good workout on the Far East trip. Its viewfinder is back and white and kind of grainy; I nearly always use the LCD screen. It's a great camera, but I doubt it will see much use for skiing.

The SX10 takes AA batteries, but it can run out of juice unexpectedly. I like the proprietary Canon batteries for the compacts. They hold a charge quite a while, like 4 days on the Inca Trail for instance. For a longer wilderness expedition, then you might want a camera using a stockpile of AA's.
 
Tony Crocker":pnw38fbs said:
The viewfinder vs. LCD issue for compact cameras is getting worse not better. That's why I spent ANOTHER $115 to have the SD800 repaired to fix the CCD that was creating all those green pics you guys loved so much. :lol: .

The 20x zoom SX10 got a good workout on the Far East trip. Its viewfinder is back and white and kind of grainy; I nearly always use the LCD screen. It's a great camera, but I doubt it will see much use for skiing.

The SX10 takes AA batteries, but it can run out of juice unexpectedly. I like the proprietary Canon batteries for the compacts. They hold a charge quite a while, like 4 days on the Inca Trail for instance. For a longer wilderness expedition, then you might want a camera using a stockpile of AA's.
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Oh man, I am SO irate about the state of cheap point and shoots right now! My dog recently ate my camera (well, chewed the corner where the battery slider is to the point that it no longer works) and I started researching new cameras. The market out there for cheap point and shoots that are good for skiing and action shots is horrid.

As tony noted, there are almost NO cheap point and shoots with a view finder any more except a few Canon models. You can still buy some of last year's Sony models but I suspect even most of Canon's by 2010 will drop that view finder. Not great for capture continuous shots in which a LCD will usually "freeze" the action for a short bit. Though it seems most LCDs have improved on being seen out in the sun. Still, big thumbs down there.

Then the megapixel war has slowed continuous shooting to a crawl on cheaper point and shoots with big megapixel gains without any image quality gains, yuck. Bigger files, slower cameras, and burst modes that only work at 3MP at high ISO. Horrid.

There are some really interesting CMOS options out there right now that are upping the low light quality and promoting good continuous shooting though still a lot of notiable set backs and the Casio, the fastest of the lot, has poor photo quality.

Ultimately, I pulled my six year old Olympus Stylus 600 out of the computer part junk box to limp along until I can purchase a two year old used digital camera. Why bother buying new right now? The market sucks for the type of camera that works well for skiing action shots and new technology is starting to trickle down into the cheaper point and shoots. I am buying a two year old used camera for well under one bill to use for another year, or maybe two, until the market fixes this gapping hole in their offerings. Ack.
 
I like my Canon SD1000. I think it's a great camera. It's fast, takes good shots, has a viewfinder, is compact, and built like a rock. It wasn't terribly cheap when I got it(2 years ago), but really works well. My favorite feature is that you can turn off the lcd screen when the battery is low, and just use the view finder. On cold winter days, that can be really helpful.
 
^^^^^
What River said.

Due to my interest in photography in general, I'm going the opposite way as several have described above, and just ordered up my 1st entry level DSLR. Although I doubt I'll take it skiing very much. Instead I'll stick to what I've already got - a very lightweight 'superzoom' that's 2+ years old, but takes just as good of pictures as any P&S cam I've seen that has come out since. Too many 'gimmicky' features on most of the new P&S cameras instead of improved base functionality IMO.

That said, I'm sure there has to be -something- halfway decent out there, but you'll probably have to do a lot of research/work to find it amongst the large piles of iffy stuff.
 
Canon does still have 3 or 4 ultracompacts with the viewfinder, but none of them have 28mm equivalent wide angle. Any kind of scenic shot (and ski areas tend to have them), the wide angle is an important feature.
 
I agree that a viewfinder is essential in typically bright skiing conditions. I disagree, however, with Tony regarding battery type. I'll never again buy a camera that uses a proprietary battery type. I've been stung too many times by arriving at the hill only to find that my battery is dead. You can buy a set of AAs in a pinch anywhere.
 
I can hardly remember a time the Canon proprietary batteries failed unexpectedly. Fully charged, they're good 3-4 days every time. I was going through the AA's for the SX10 a bit faster than expected in the Far East, so I bought an extra set on the cruise ship (yeah, I know probably not the best place for that). I needed to put those in the last day in Tokyo and they failed after about 20 pictures. It was obviously easy to buy more there, but if I'd been on a mountain instead I might have been SOL.

It's probably a good idea to carry a backup set of AA's in the camera case at all times. But they might get old if it's months between uses and thus not last as long as expected when you need to use them.
 
Tony Crocker":wnj791nu said:
I can hardly remember a time the Canon proprietary batteries failed unexpectedly.
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Unexpectedly? No. Because I forgot to charge them? Plenty o'times.

Tony Crocker":wnj791nu said:
I bought an extra set on the cruise ship (yeah, I know probably not the best place for that).
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That's my point entirely. When you suddenly need a battery replacement, good luck finding a proprietary one on a cruise ship (or at a ski area, in EBF, etc.).

Tony Crocker":wnj791nu said:
It's probably a good idea to carry a backup set of AA's in the camera case at all times. But they might get old if it's months between uses and thus not last as long as expected when you need to use them.
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Alkalines have a shelf life of ~ 3 years.
 
I don't think the complaints River, EMSC and I have about the subcompacts apply to Patrick. Bulk doesn't bother him, so something like admin's camera or my SX10 would be great for him and a lot more versatile than what he lost in Buenos Aires.
 
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