What is a good waterproof/durable point and shoot for me?

Surfer Dud

I was recently asking about normal point and shoot cameras, when it occurred to me that I tend to abuse my possessions. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjGxyMqmT0TgVYIMSC4h7u7sy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20100511192652AA801Sr

Also I plan on spending a lot of time at the beach in a year , when I'll either be going to school in San Diego or enlisting in the Navy. So I want a durable camera that takes decent overall pictures. Like I said in my previous question, I am not much of a photographer and my current "camera" is the 3mp one on my iPhone. I want a camera that has sharp looking pictures, good image stabilizers, and easy to use menus (although I will read the manual if necessary). I've researched many Waterproof durable cameras: Casio Exilim, Olympus Tough series, Pentax Optios, Panasonic Lumix, and Cannon D10. All seem to have one glaring issue on their Amazon reviews; how waterproof they are. I do plan on getting my camera wet in the ocean, so that is an issue for me. If they all have waterproofing issues, then customer service is important. I am looking at buying from Best Buy, Costco, Fry's, or possibly Walmart. I will buy a protection plan. So my real questions are, Which model would you recommend from the brands I've listed for overall picture quality, and Which store has the best return policy/protection policy for water damage?

Thanks

Answer
Many of those waterproofing issues are from people who don't follow the instructions on washing the cameras in fresh water after use (chlorine damages the rubber seals and sea salt crystals form against the rubber making it less malleable). Or they don't replace the seals every year as told to.

Personally, I'd get an Olympus Tough - I think I value the 5' drop proofing more than the 10' waterproofing :-)
http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Stylus-Digital-Camera-Black/dp/tech-data/B0031RGETU/ref=de_a_smtd

Alas, I know nothing about return policy/protection plans in the US...I'm UK based.

Digital Cameras?

Leo

I have a 14 year old son who want a camera and im clueless, what should i get him for under 300 dollars and which are the best for your money

Answer
My choice for a camera that a 14 year old would think was suitably cool would be a Canon Powershot SD600, if you can find it, or its replacement, the SD1000. I'm sure others will recommend this camera.

Canon SD1000 (IXUS 70): http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_reviews/sd1000.html
- Also: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_sd1000.asp Go there and click on "Read Owner Opinions."

If you want to spend a little less money, some of our best answerers always recommends the Fujifilm FinePix F20 camera as the best-for-less choice. I have to say that I like the sample images at Steve's site (below). If Morey000 or SpaceCowboy show up after me and make this recommendation, choose them as the best answer, because I'm just passing along their suggestion. I have no personal experience with this camera. I see it at B&H Photo (available through Yahoo! Shopping) for $150; $190 with a 1 GB Sandisk memory card.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_reviews/fuji_f20.html
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Fujifilm/fuji_finepixf20.asp

My brother has the A540 and my mother-in-law has the A530 - on my recommendation - and neither one has stopped speaking to me yet. Based on this and experience with other Canon Powershot cameras, I am now recommending the A550 as a nice and relatively inexpensive camera.

Canon just introduced the A550, which has more pixels, but offers less user control. I'd be happy with the A540, but the A550 is probably also worth considering, especially since the A540 has been discontinued. I've seen it for $140 in some stores like WalMart and Target.

The A550 costs $160 at B&H and, of course, you'll need a memory card.

A550 review: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_reviews/a550.html

Steve's reviews updates the "Best Camera" list periodically:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html

Consumer Reports from May 2007 has a short article on digital cameras and they recommend 10 different point and shoot cameras in the following order within groups according to camera design:
**COMPACTS**
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 (Overall score 75) [$410]
Kodak EasyShare C875 (Overall score 73) [$165] - Rated better for shutter lag
Nikon Coolpix P4 (Overall score 65)
**SUBCOMPACTS**
Canon Powershot SD500 (Overall score 72)
Casio Exilim EX-Z850 (Overall score 72)
Sony Cybershot DSC-W50 (Overall score 70) [$180] [Similar to W55] - Rated better for shutter lag
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX3 (Overall score 69) [$200] [Similar to FX-10, FX-12]
Olympus Stylus 720SW (Overall score 61) [Similar to 770SW - $360] (Waterproof)
**ADVANCED COMPACTS ("Near SLR")**
Fujifilm Finepix S6000fd (Overall score 77) [$300] - Rated better for shutter lag
Fujifilm Finepix E900 (Overall score 73) [$250]

[Things change so quickly in digital cameras that I can not find all of these models listed for sale and it's not even May yet. Prices are from B&H Photo, April 2007.]

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