I’ve got a nice small Olympus E620, and I fancy the pancake 50mm equivalent lens which makes the whole thing small enough to go into a chunky compact case and easily fit in a camelbak or similar for biking and outdoor expeditions:

…costing me £120-£150 depending on where I buy it.

The question is, would you rather have that, an SLR with a fixed focal length 50mm lens open to as much water/dirt as one would encounter on a ride, or a ruggedised compact costing about the same, with water and dirt resistance, zoom capability and small enough to fit in a pocket?

Not sure a 50mm is all that handy for bikey shots.

But personally I wouldn’t want one of those compacts. They are good for giving to the kids or for snaps, but they have tiny lenses and poor controls for any “real” photography.

(before sfb shows up, by “real” I mean anything where the photographer is hoping to take something more than a simple snap)

(ooh and also before barnes shows up: the title is wrong cos the top one ain’t an SLR, it’s a “Compact System Camera”)

😉

Hi I would go for the SLR but with a short to medium zoom having said that I have a Pentax K7 and a selection of lenses the wife has a Panasonic TZ 9 which is a TZ 10 without the GPS when I go out on the bike I take the Panasonic.

The top one IS an SLR. Mirror and all.

Hi I would go for the SLR but with a short to medium zoom

It’s a choice between those two. I already have the SLR and a 28-80mm equivalent, which is fine, but it’s big. The point being I can spend £120 on making my SLR small enough for biking duties, or the same (or more to be honest) on a compact.

I fell in a river and totally submerged my upper body yet my DSLR kept working fine 🙂

the top one ain’t an SLR, it’s a “Compact System Camera”

so the pentaprism housing is a fake ??

well, i do know you cant take half decent photos unless you have an SLR… 🙄 /sarcasm

id just get the compact. unless you want to make money doing photography it should be fine. plus you wont worry about it so much on the ride.

plus you wont worry about it so much on the ride

it’s just a thing. Insure it and find more significant things to worry about. IMO you’re more likely to break yourself 🙂

i’m using a Panasonic TZ10 atm, only drawback i can find so far is it only has a set 2 sec or 10 sec timer, which is a bit short to run back to your bike for solo “on the bike” shots

some examples

365/302 29/10/10 by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

Autumnal by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

it’s not the length, it’s the quality by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

i did have a canon ixus110is which was excellent but i’ll be honest i wasn’t that careful withit and dust and dirt got in the lens zoom mechanism and borked it, if you are careful (and for example don’t use muddy gloves then shove cam in your pocket) it’s great

110is example

speeding by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

365-246 2/9/10 by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

Don’t know the trail, so don’t know what’s coming up Danger Panda by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

The top one IS an SLR. Mirror and all.

My mistook. I saw the four/thirds badge and assumed it was a mirrorless jobby.

Micro four thirds is the one used by the mirrorless stuff. Different to normal four thirds.

Thing is I like taking nice scenery or arty shots on bike rides, maybe to print out and hang.

i have a dslr and a olympus tough. The olympus comes on bike rides with me. Turns out I like riding more than taking photos, so if there’s an opportunity to do one or the other, camera normally stays in the bag 🙂

Its a shame the tough range don’t have a bit more in the way of manual controls. My perfect backup camera would be something with the controls of a decent powershot, but the strength of an olympus. I can’t be the only one??

There are many ruggedised compacts around.

I’d be after a compact. I have a decent SLR and wouldn’t take it mountain biking as 1. it’s to big and bulky and 2. I would be worried about stacking it and smashing it to bits.

With a compact neither of these things are a problem.

Pick the solution your most likely to take with you.

Yeah.. well I kind of want that lens anyway 🙂

Seriouslly considering a Samung EX-1 or A Pnasonic LX-5. Manual control, sharp lenses and fit in your pocket – check the reviews. They do most everything I’d want a DSLR to do, but don’t need expensive lenses like a PEN/GF.

Your Olympus should take the old OM lenses? there’s lots of them about second hand.

I’ve looked for OM lenses. The adapter is expensive, and you end up not being able to use autofocus. Bit of a pain for every day photography, but since I’m looking out for a macro lens I thought I’d investigate. Turns out the adapter is almost the same price as the entry level macro lens I’d buy anyway, and the OM macro lenses are another few hundred on top.

I’ve got a Canon S90 compact which has a decent size sensor, can be run fully manual and shoots RAW – I’d hoped that it’d do the job nearly as well as my SLR.

Unfortunately so far I’ve been a little disappointed.

there are other ruggedised compacts, but very few that are properly waterproofed. My olympus comes surfing with me, so that (for me) is a necessary requirement.