Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Looking for help on a new digital camera

My camera is about 7-8 years old and now is a good time to upgrade.
I'm in need of direction.
$300.$400 price range, stout, compact as I take it into the back country on horse back,stout,able to take short movies as well, stout.... think that covers the wants and needs.
Thanks for your input.
Jim

Jim, Kinda looking for the same thing. I also like being able to use AA/AAA batteries. Tom

I like my Olympus Stylus 1030SW. I bought it just before they did a re-design to make it look a little prettier. I bought it after much frustration when in the snow. My other digitals just wouldn't work when it got to about freezing. My Olympus Stylus hasn't given me any problems at all, and I have a six year old and a four year old that use it almost as much as I do (and they ain't easy on cameras).

It fits in a pocket due to the slim design and is "ruggedized". It does not have much of a zoom though, that's the only downside I've found with it; although I figure it's due to it's ruggedized design and I'd rather have the ruggedized camera than a better zoom.

Here's basically what I've got, but mine is a 10.1 megapixel (that they no longer offer):

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1448

The Stylus Tough 6000 is a little less money and has a little less "stoutness" (5ft drop, 10 ft waterproof, etc., versus the Stylus Tough 8000).

BTW, the Olympus uses a XD, not SD memory card and the battery is rechargable (not AAA or AA batteries), so those could be considered downsides.

A Cannon G-10 is one of the more stoutly constructed high-end point and shoots. It should be withing spittin distance of your price range. It also has some features usually only found in SLR type camera's that give you more flexibility in how you shoot your photo's. But it's stout construction and high resolution would probably be it's best selling points.

If I were you I'd give Joel at Cameraland a call and see if he has any G-10's in stock and ask about other comparable items they might have. They always have very good prices and sometimes come up with GREAT deals - they certainly have for me..........................DJ

Go with the Olympus Stylus tough 8000. It is a 12 mp with a 3.6x zoom. It can be dropped from 5' and go 33' under water. Very bright screen and preforms great in low light. Does video with audio. We have a special 24 hour price for a kit
Camera with an extra battery, 4 gig micro sd card and a case for 349.99 shipped in the USA.
Call me with any questions

If I was to purchase a compact digital camera today it would be the Canon PowerShot S90. I have seen them on sale for $399.

Canon just repaired my 5+ year old PowerShot s230 for FREE! They did the same for an ailing camcorder, though it was only 4-ish years old. To say that I'm pleased with their customer service is an epic understatement.

Now, if only they made rifle scopes...

FC

What do you think about the Canon in regard to being "stout"? Looks like Jim's biggest requirement is "stout", and probably not like Guinness .

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/CanonG10/page2.asp






http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=3775&review=canon+powershot+g10





While the G9 and G10 haven't been specifically "hardened" like the camera Joel recommends they are solid well built units, other commentaries mentioned "tank-like" construction.
Joel of course has more experience than I do with different models but I do like my G9 (which I bought from Joel). You don't get the quality you can with a DLSR with $1k+ lenses but the picture quality is excellent and they are solid well made camera's. If at all possible go to a store and handle both and see which you like - then call Joel and you'll see how much they save you :-)..............................DJ

That Canon looks like a great camera. It's too big for me, and doesn't have the temperature rating I need, but if I didn't need a ruggedized camera I'd definitely check it out.