Best Digital Camera for inflight shots is the....?

[mushroom]

Looks like 1900 beat me to the focus answer. What I originally wrote was:

There may be some cameras out there with that focus feature but I'm not sure. One way I get around it is to hold my camera right up next to the windshield and press the shutter button halfway down so that the camera focuses on infinity (I can see what it's focusing on in the LCD screen when the little green rectangles show up), then while I keep holding the shutter button halfway I bring the camera back close to me and re-compose the shot; then I press the shutter button all the way down. Seems to work pretty well for me.

But I certainly agree about the opinion of Canons in general. Great cameras. The A620 does have an optical viewfinder too, as well as several other of their models.

"mushroom is not a paid endorser of the Canon Powershot A620 or any other Canon product..."

 

[Swass]

It's a little on the large side to take everywhere but I shoot a D80 with a Nikkor 18-200mm lens for most of my photos. It does about everything from portraits to sports. I have tons of other lenses but that's another thread and probably another forum...

 

[navigator72]

I shoot with a Canon rebel XT with a 17 -85mm image stabilized lens. The image stabilization is a must if your in a plane shootiing.

 

[nikoz1200]

Canon SD800IS. Widest angle of any P+S camera. Does great in low light.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_sd800is.asp

 

[acaTerry]

Had prety good luck with a minolta e550

 

[mushroom]

All right, I was pretty sure I was going to stay with my A620 but I just happened by a camera store and looked at the Canon Powershot S3 IS. AWESOME camera. Has all of the features that are great about the A620 (AA batteries, rotating screen, etc.) but also has a 12X (!) optical zoom and image stabilization. Also a UD glass element incorporated in the lens.

It's bigger than the A620 but I am fortunate that I don't have to carry Jepps so I have a lot of room in my flight bag for it.

Naturally with the way electronics are, Canon has already introduced a Powershot S5 IS which allegedly improves on the S3 a bit, but I haven't seen an S5. Also naturally with the progression of electronics, the S3 IS is actually the same price or cheaper than my A620 was when I bought it.

There's a review of the S3 IS at

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/

 

[Going2Baja]

All great posts and thanks!! Anyone shoot or use the Olympus Stylus 700 series? It's water and shock proof. Yep - Kids almost can't destry it!! I do a lot of traveling to foreign soil where it rains alot and I spend plenty of time in the water - This camera looks like it might be the best thing since the Minolta 110 yellow camera if anyone remebers that one.

Thanks again for all the great posts!!

Baja.

 

[cvtplt]

Olympus 770

You're right Baja, looks like a kids dream........ Matts pics taken on the 720 in India were great. The 2 cameras have the same lens and crap, it just looks like the beefed up the shock and depth on the 770. Plus the memory cards are interchangable with other Olympus cameras.

 

[Going2Baja]

I didn't know Matt had the 720...Maybe he would be up for a load in exchange for a letter of rec to SkyW?????

Baja.

 

[Swass]

All right, I was pretty sure I was going to stay with my A620 but I just happened by a camera store and looked at the Canon Powershot S3 IS. AWESOME camera. Has all of the features that are great about the A620 (AA batteries, rotating screen, etc.) but also has a 12X (!) optical zoom and image stabilization. Also a UD glass element incorporated in the lens.

It's bigger than the A620 but I am fortunate that I don't have to carry Jepps so I have a lot of room in my flight bag for it.

Naturally with the way electronics are, Canon has already introduced a Powershot S5 IS which allegedly improves on the S3 a bit, but I haven't seen an S5. Also naturally with the progression of electronics, the S3 IS is actually the same price or cheaper than my A620 was when I bought it.

There's a review of the S3 IS at

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/

Friends don't let friends shoot Canon's

 

[Going2Baja]

Still no camera and my old point and shoot finally failed when the little one dropped it in the sink, (at least that's the story.....) I did try the Olympus 720SW, great idea but it took crappy pics. I've been reading about the Canon SD series and the Casio Exilim, both look good and have a manual focus mode plus video. Anyone have any new cameras to talk about? Please say the make and model and if you are having luck with inflight shots day and night...Thanks - Baja.

 

[Swass]

Nikon D40 with the kit lens can be had at Costco for a smoking price, that would be an awesome camera. It can go fully auto, a la point and shoot, or you can go completely manual and control everything. The plus side is that you can switch lenses for different situations. This is a good place to start:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1034

 

[U of I Tweak]

I shoot with a Canon rebel XT with a 17 -85mm image stabilized lens. The image stabilization is a must if your in a plane shootiing.

What's a lense like that cost? I have a Rebel XT with both the standard 18-55mm and a 75-300mm; neither of which are stabilized. I don't seem to have much trouble except when taking shots of passing airplanes. I don't know what it is, but in either manual or auto focus I can't get a clear shot of anything outside the plane when I'm at altitude. Could the curved windows of the Citation be a problem or is there something I'm missing? I don't think vibration is a problem as I can take in-cockpit photos and such with no problem.