Regular readers of the blog know that I have been known to take a photo or two during rides and races as a matter of fact I rarely get on the bike and not have my camera with me. While camera phones work OK in a pinch for taking still photos, in good light, with little to no movement; they aren't very good in low light situations, especially if there is any amount of movement. In fact to anyone who has a discernible eye there isn't a single camera phone out there that takes a "good" picture no matter how many mega pixels you cram into it. Some may argue this point but those people are cheap and wrong; there are so many things beyond a mega pixel that goes into capturing a high quality image (we aren't even talking about the photographer and subject matter here, that's a whole other topic) such as processor, sensor and analog to digital converters. You just can't fit all of those necessary items into a phone currently, it's like saying that a Wal-goose bicycle is as good as a Trek because they both look similar and do similar things... it just ain't true. One could argue that a phone camera is cheaper and that the cost difference should be taken into consideration, I'd still say you're wrong. Phones used to be heavily subsidized by the phone service provider and that made it seem like the phones were inexpensive, however in the end you still ended up paying for them phone through increased service fees and other charges on your monthly billing statement. Today the phones aren't subsidized for the most part and your bill is a little lighter each month, especially if you have already made all of the required "lease payments" on your phone, that is not because the service provider likes you a lot and decided to give you a break. Instead the cost of the phone is entirely on the consumer and you're just making payments on the phone for 2-3 years because we all bought into the need to have a new phone every 6 to 24 months. In reality you're paying $600-1200 for that phone once all the month installments are said and done, if you must have a new phone as soon as it comes out you likely never stop making those payments. There are no free rides, just slick marketing schemes.
Anyway we've gotten way off topic here... back in 2014 I ventured away from a simple point and shoot camera and took my first dip into the advanced point and shoot pool with the Canon G15. Advanced point and shoot cameras are to standard point and shoot cameras what point and shoot cameras are to camera phones, there really is no comparison in functionality or image quality. The array of settings and the picture quality on an advance point and shoot are so much better that some of them almost rival entry level DSLRs, the down side of an advanced point and shoot is that they are quite a bit more pricey than your standard point and shoot camera and nobody is subsidizing cameras so it can be a bit of a sticker shock when shopping for one. if you're not super trendy there are deals to be had on models that might be a year or two old but still new in box. Despite the coin needed to enter the advanced point and shoot realm and the real possibility of damaging the camera by using it in a way it was never intended to be used; I made the jump hoping that things would work out and that I wouldn't end up regretting carrying a camera that nice into some pretty harsh environments on a bicycle.
While not advertised as a water proof or rugged camera, the G15 lived in my handlebar bag for almost 5 years and thousands of miles in all kinds of conditions. It's seen gravel dust, sub zero temps, heat and humidity, light rain and on more than one occasion it's even been dropped while riding. In all that time and abuse I only had to send it in one time for cleaning or repair and that was due to a bad memory card mucking up the connectors that read the card within the card slot. Ole G15 was a great companion for a lot of rides but during the GTDRI we got caught in a bit of a rain, nothing too hard but some of the rain managed to get into the handlebar bag and killed the screen on the camera. Initially the plan was to send it back to Canon to have it repaired again at a substantially lesser cost than replacing the camera but in true designed obsolescence I was told that Canon no longer would repair it due to it being past End of Life. All companies seem to do this now but it was a little disappointing that an otherwise great camera would end up being scrapped because a screen didn't work. I haven't gotten rid of it yet, I may try to find a screen and replace it myself but it the interim the camera has been replaced and the photos go on. In August I picked up a Canon G7 X Mark II and so far it's been an excellent replacement and by the numbers it is a better camera in every way than the G15.
It's crazy how much technology changes in a few short years these days, not only is the G7 smaller but it has a full frame sensor, WiFi, almost twice the mega pixels and you can load an app on your smart phone that will allow you to not only transfer photos straight from camera to phone but you can use the app as a remote to take pictures and video while not touching the camera at all. The G15 was almost as bad as a film camera in the sense that I had to download them to a computer before I could do anything with them, might as well have been digital film because you weren't doing anything with the images until you got home and that is a big ask in this gotta have it right now age we live in. I'll miss the G15 for sure but I am seriously geeking out over the G7 and all of the things I didn't know I needed until now.
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