14ers.com

tough cameras are great if you plan on dropping it in water/sand/rocks etc. if you are looking for a high quality picture that is not the avenue you want to take.

This is the one I plan to get. Its right around 200$.

Panasonic Lumix ZS15 12.1 MP High Sensitivity MOS Digital Camera with 16x Optical Zoom

I currently own a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 10MP Digital Camera with 12x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3 inch LCD

and I love it!!


Cheers!
IHAVEAGPS

prestone818 wrote:tough cameras are great if you plan on dropping it in water/sand/rocks etc. if you are looking for a high quality picture that is not the avenue you want to take.

That's what I was thinking but the expert at BB thought my thinking was flawed.

oldschoolczar wrote:I just picked up a Canon ELPH 300 HS. It is an awesome camera. It's only 12MP but Canon is known for taking really high quality pictures. My girlfriend says the images are nicer than her 16MP Panasonic. And as you probably know there's much more to picture quality than megapixels!

This camera lists for $229, but I believe it's been discontinued. Best Buy is having an awesome sale at $129... really can't beat the value you get at that price. On Amazon it's like $169. But hurry because I got the last one at a Best Buy after visiting 2 different stores.

Only thing is it may not be as sturdy as some of the other options out there, but it's VERY small and slim..

What I have, too - highly recommend.

dehrlich101,

I love the passion here minimizing pixel count. For most of us, don't worry too much about pixel count. I have to admit I’m not really sure why we are talking about “noise” with higher MP counts. Noise is easily controlled, adding resolution can’t be controlled.

If you're interested in just showing clean images on the web then you will need about 6 MP and a bunch of intuitive "Auto" settings to convey a top notch, super clean image to us and friends and family.

If you want to take even better pics, then research a camera that allows the user to make better images with Aperture, Shutter and most of all… Manual Priority. If you spend time admiring others images and want to duplicate their exposure dynamic range, then I highly recommend a camera that allows the mentioned settings. If you get Manual Priority, then you need a DSLR, no doubt.

Next, if you're interested in printing bigger than 12x18 and care about color rendition/flexibility, sharpness and noiseless dynamic range, then MP do count. And, they count in a big way.

Johnson wrote:

prestone818 wrote:tough cameras are great if you plan on dropping it in water/sand/rocks etc. if you are looking for a high quality picture that is not the avenue you want to take.

That's what I was thinking but the expert at BB thought my thinking was flawed.

I have a Canon Powershot G10 (which is not waterproof and on the heavy side), and a friend has Stylus Tough. I was really impressed with the quality/clarity of her photos. Thinking of getting one myself.

oldschoolczar wrote:

Johnson wrote:Posted in March or so about what to look for in a camera and ended up getting the ELPH 310. The lens cover stopped opening all the way on power up and would not shut all the way on power down.

OP be advised this is a huge risk with Canons! I figure at as cheap of a price as it is it'll be worth it if it last 2 years... but that may even be a stretch.

My G10 has this issue as well. So first I check if the shutter is open, if not - slide it open, then I wipe the lense to eliminate fingerprints - takes a lot of time. I hear Stylus Tough are not super quick to take shots but compared to my current "modus operandi" it can actually be an improvement.

On a positive note, G10 has survived 2 years of 14-ering and a few canyoneering trips (drops & sand & such) and I had it since 2008, I believe. But given that I spend a lot of time on snow, I really would like something waterproof.

Johnson wrote:Posted in March or so about what to look for in a camera and ended up getting the ELPH 310. The lens cover stopped opening all the way on power up and would not shut all the way on power down.

OP be advised this is a huge risk with Canons! I figure at as cheap of a price as it is it'll be worth it if it last 2 years... but that may even be a stretch.

oldschoolczar wrote:

Johnson wrote:Posted in March or so about what to look for in a camera and ended up getting the ELPH 310. The lens cover stopped opening all the way on power up and would not shut all the way on power down.

OP be advised this is a huge risk with Canons! I figure at as cheap of a price as it is it'll be worth it if it last 2 years... but that may even be a stretch.

I hear ya, and I agree, about 2 years seems to be the shelf life of every sub $200 point and shoot camera I've owned. The Panasonic Lumix I bought in June, 2010 just bit the dust in fact. Stores like Best Buy and Office Depot sell 2 year replacement plans that cover any problems other than theft/loss along with their cameras. I purchased one of these plans this time ($30 on top of $109 for the ELPH 100 HS) and plan on cashing it in for a new camera if anything goes haywire within 2 years of ownership.

I've been extremely happy with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3 - 12 MP (not noisy), waterproof to 12m, works down to 14 deg F (-10 C). Takes great pictures, does geotagging, and hasn't given me any trouble yet. It's been great to be able to pull out my camera on the summit of a windy snowy 14er peak and not have to worry about my camera working. Most seem to crap out around 32 F, and start to slow down even above that, so that's something to look for in a camera. I know there's a newer model, the TS4, but I haven't had a chance to really look at it yet, and mine has shown no signs of stopping anytime soon.

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-TS3 ... B004KKZ0J2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ok, I'm very well educated on digital cameras..........there is a lot of talk about Canon, does anyone have an opinion on the Nikon Coolpix cameras?

I like the 3" screen, and the 1080 Video and a high degree of zoom.

What is the difference between optical zoom and digital zoom.

I was considering the NIkon S9300 or S8200

nkan02 wrote:

Johnson wrote:

prestone818 wrote:tough cameras are great if you plan on dropping it in water/sand/rocks etc. if you are looking for a high quality picture that is not the avenue you want to take.

That's what I was thinking but the expert at BB thought my thinking was flawed.

I have a Canon Powershot G10 (which is not waterproof and on the heavy side), and a friend has Stylus Tough. I was really impressed with the quality/clarity of her photos. Thinking of getting one myself.

they might be a step above a cell phone camera, but quite a ways off of an s100, g12, lx5. i had an Olympus tough camera for a short time. worked well enough in the water etc but the picture quality was much lower than my canon sd 800 at the time.

I have a Coolpix S8000. It's decent, but if it died I would probably get a Panasonic instead. On the S8000 the image quality leaves something to be desired. I really like the small panasonic point-and-shoot cameras. You can take a look at http://www.dpreview.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and see how they rate the small P&S cameras.