Best compact digital camera

[chunky]

I know we have had heaps of discussions in past but the models change all the time.

What's recommended?

For throwing in the ski jacket to take pics with ease rather than carting around my DSLR in a backpack. And other things like that.

[Snow Yeti]

IXUS/IXY are the best compact point and shoots in my opinion ... get snow in it, drop it, still works!! Have had quite a few models, damaged some by sitting on them or other people running over them [img]smile.gif[/img] lol

[Farty The Snowman]

No to the ixus for me. If you are going to use it at beach and snow, you need one where the moving parts are behind an impervious glass lens protector.

ie I bought a konica minolta (a few years old now), because my ixus got condensated in my jacket pocket, and water went down the lense extensions and that was it for that camera.

Having said all that I would ask that question again for ourselves as we are due for a new one. I just got my wife a new sony ericsson cyber shot phone and it has an awesome camera in it.......8.1 megapixels!!

[Jahoota]

Just brought J1 a waterproof camera for x-mas - a pentax w60. It does HD video as well

Don't know how good it is though until she uses it tho. That said I'm going to borrow for japan sking this year so I if you wait 2 months I'll report back!

In my research I formed an opinion that the pansaonic lumix fx38 would be a really great buy.

[whatajoke]

The Nikon Coolpix S610 is excellent. Cant fault it.

[tambo]

haven't been happy with the waterproof camera we bought. It's not a pentax. It always looks fuzzy, not clear at all. Been very happy with our ixus. I think you need to check out the controls... are they easy to use with one hand, Ie turning on/off, swapping to movie mode etc. Also check the movie quality, as there are lots of times a little clip can be used. Is the format for movies compatible with your movie editing software and camcorder stuff? And the screen size too, bigger can be better at the snow. Also, the on/off... will it turn on accidentally in your jacket? That's why we went ixus rather than the other options, but things change all the time. Good luck!

[SA]

If you're buying it for use at the snow and want to be able to take action shots, make sure you get something with a decent zoom, ie >7x.

That rules out about 90% of the compact digicams out there, leaving the Ricoh R series (R4-8) and the Panasonic Lumix TZ3/4/5 (TZ11/15 in Oz).

(There are a few other 'compact' models that won't really fit into the pocket, eg. Canon Powershot SX 1S).

[size="1"][ 13.12.2008, 08:44 AM: Message edited by: SA ][/size]

[Princess]

I bought another camera last season purely for that reason Chunky as my Canon A710 while compact is too big for my jacket pocket. Only wanted something cheap so if it broke it didn't matter, but with good zoom so I ended up with the Pentax M50. Size of a pack of cards, big screen, lots of modes and a 5x zoom. Photos have been good out of it (although I still prefer my Canon).

I lost it on the last day of the season as it fell out of my hoodie pocket. Did the same run again about an hour later and my mate found it!! It was only in a mobile phone type sock and it was damp with condensation in the screen - put in on the back shelf of the car on the way home to dry out and it still works fine!!

[size="1"][ 13.12.2008, 09:30 AM: Message edited by: Princess ][/size]

[Snow Yeti]

Most of the time, I'll take my camera back indoors and hang it off something from the strap. Water will come out of the lens extendable bit, whatever it's called... Once dry, it works again and again Have done this so many times!

[Snow Yeti]

On my last one I cracked the screen from sitting on it.

I had another one that I broke the lens because the lens actually hit a rock when I dropped it.

So I did an operation and after 30 screws, I swapped LCDs and now I have a camera that works again

But don't try this at home unless you are prepared to break it, I'm sure it voids the warranty