Point & Shoot Camera

[JJ Campbell]

I 'd rather not use my cellphone to take pictures through the cockpit window. Has anyone had found a simple compact 5x or 8x zoom Point & Shoot camera that takes good pictures of runways from around 500' above Traffic Pattern Altitude through the window?

[Scooper]

Yes, but it's not cheap and quite a bit more versatile than the cheapies.

I replaced a stolen Casio point-and-shoot with a Sony DSC-HX-80. It's now my "go to" camera for just about everything. 30x optical zoom, Zeiss lens, 21 Megapixels. Price is around $370. HD video.

https://www.dpreview.com/news/121744227 ... ravel-zoom

[Wm.Ince]

. . . . Has anyone had found a simple compact 5x or 8x zoom Point & Shoot camera that takes good pictures of runways from around 500' above Traffic Pattern Altitude through the window?

Kodak Instamatic. Pics are not as crisp as an iPhone though.

[JJ Campbell]

Yes, but it's not cheap and quite a bit more versatile than the cheapies.

I replaced a stolen Casio point-and-shoot with a Sony DSC-HX-80. It's now my "go to" camera for just about everything. 30x optical zoom, Zeiss lens, 21 Megapixels. Price is around $370. HD video.

https://www.dpreview.com/news/121744227 ... ravel-zoom

That is more than I am willing to pay and is too feature-rich for me. Please tell me more about the Casio.

[Scooper]

That is more than I am willing to pay and is too feature-rich for me. Please tell me more about the Casio.

The Casio was a 5 Megapixel Exilim EX-Z55 with a 3x optical zoom. Sadly, Casio got out of the digital camera business so the only ones I can find online are used but priced in the $50 - $100 range. It was a good, basic zoom "point and shoot" digital camera.

[Sling 2 Pilot]

I 'd rather not use my cellphone to take pictures through the cockpit window. Has anyone had found a simple compact 5x or 8x zoom Point & Shoot camera that takes good pictures of runways from around 500' above Traffic Pattern Altitude through the window?

I’m in the same boat. My iPhone is on a RAM mount running ForeFlight, so removing it every time I want to take a pic is a PITA. I’m gonna follow Stans lead and take a look at the Sony. I was going to look at digital SLR’s, but the Sony is so compact and feature rich, I think it will fit the bill.

[Warmi]

I 'd rather not use my cellphone to take pictures through the cockpit window. Has anyone had found a simple compact 5x or 8x zoom Point & Shoot camera that takes good pictures of runways from around 500' above Traffic Pattern Altitude through the window?

I’m in the same boat. My iPhone is on a RAM mount running ForeFlight, so removing it every time I want to take a pic is a PITA. I’m gonna follow Stans lead and take a look at the Sony. I was going to look at digital SLR’s, but the Sony is so compact and feature rich, I think it will fit the bill.

Get them while they are still available - soon there won't be any consumer oriented cameras left -we will end up with high end, professional equipment on one side and consumer personal phones and then nothing in between.

[ShawnM]

I have a Sony Cybershot DSC-W50 that is a 6 megapixel camera with a Zeiss lens that took great pics and videos. It has a 3X optical zoom and a 2.5" LCD display on the back that is easy to see. It's a great point and shoot camera and they can be had very cheap on eBay. It uses a rechargeable battery and comes with a charger. I loved this camera for what it did.

Here's the specs from Amazon and there are used ones left.
https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Cybershot-D ... B000EGLXTW

Here's one on eBay for $13
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-Cyber-sho ... SwESZe-6Qb

[chicagorandy]

Maybe something like this? Kodak - about $80.

https://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Friendly-F ... 058&sr=8-6

[Scooper]

Maybe something like this? Kodak - about $80.

That does look interesting with the 5x optical zoom.

[JJ Campbell]

Maybe something like this? Kodak - about $80.

https://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Friendly-F ... 058&sr=8-6

I decided on this Kodak PIXPRO $79 + $8 for a disk. It arrives before 9 PM today. Fingers crossed!

[Scooper]

Brand new 5x optical zoom for $87 sounds like a no brainer. I'm interested in a PIREP after you've had a chance to use it.