Any camera suggestions?

[teddy12b]

I'll be on a kayaking/hiking trip with it divided around 60/40 this Sept. I'd love to get some great pictures while there. I'm not bringing my cell phone and would like a camera that's rugged, can zoom out some, and at least somewhat water resistant. At the end of the day all I'm going to care is that the pictures are clear and it wasn't too much of a pain to haul around during the hiking part. Like anything in life, if a less expensive product can do the same job then I'm all for saving a few bucks. I'm no camera expert, so if anyone has a suggestion, please let me know.

[Base654]

I have been taking this camera for the last couple years: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olympus-tg- ... Id=4877200 please note I am not suggesting the store, the link just gives a good description and one price. It takes nice pictures and videos. It seems to be designed for more wide angle work. It has a 5x optical zoom that takes the picture from wide to slightly zoomed. The sound is good for recording loons. best of all it is waterproof to 50 feet. I have taken it on scuba dives to the bottom of my friends 30 foot deep pond. There are plenty of bells and whistles to play with, if you like that sort of thing. The battery lasts quite a long time, but I have bought a four pack of batteries and a charger on amazon for $20 as I recall. That gave me enough power for 400ish pictures at max resolution over three weeks on the island last year on half of a 32 gig card. It fits nicely in the front pocket of my PFD and starts fast for that fleeting pic-op. Here are a couple pics i posted on the forum. note they are resized to fit the requirements of the forum. viewtopic.php?f=12&t=17&start=225#p22024 if you want a full size pic, send me a pm with your email. I bought this one because my friend has one and demonstrates its durability by throwing it over her shoulder on to concrete. I have only dropped it a couple times