Cameras & Camcorders

[dani]

hey! i'm going to be going on a trip pretty soon and am looking to purchasing a new camera. i'm looking for something that can take good quality pictures. but i'm a bit concerned because i know that i will be around the beach and desert so i don't really want anything bad to happen to the camera (i take great care of my camera nonethelss). any suggestions on what to get?

i was looking at either the canon powershot sd1100is, the nikon coolpix s220, the nikon coolpix s230, or the fujifilm finepix z33?

anything would help please? (and it doesn't have to be whatever i mentioned)

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi dani,
 
I would suggest taking a look at the Olympus Tough (formally called the SW series) cameras. These cameras are designed to be both waterproof, shockproof, and freeze proof. The 790SW, 850SW,1050SW, and the Tough 6000 are designed waterproof to ten feet and shockproof to five feet; the 1030SW, and the Tough 8000 are designed to be waterproof to 33 feet and shockproof to 6.6 feet. Olympus is also very respected for its lens quality, and I feel like one of these cameras would meet your needs perfectly.
 
Thanks for posting,
Allan
Community Connector
Best Buy® Corporate

[Terrence]

Hi dani!  Where are you going on your trip?  Do you have an extra ticket... I could use a vacation! 

Seriously though, Allan is correct in the durability  merits of the Olympus Tough series.  Those cameras are fantastic forsituations where other cameras would easily get damaged.  My only concern would be that those camera do lack a certain flexibility in the types of pictures you can get.  The specifications for the performance of the cameras in that series are fairly basic.  The 3x zoom is probably my biggest concern for you in this situation.  If you are going to do some outdoor site-seeing, I would suggest that a 3x zoom may not allow you to really get the best pictures you could.  I normally suggest something with a larger zoom capability (and don't forget to look for optical image stabilization).

You can get much more out of a higher performance camera if you don't have any preference on the physical size of it as well.  I would suggest that you visit a local Best Buy store to get a hands on experience with the Tough series cameras and decide if that is going to be suitable.  I would also take a look at the capabilities of the Nikon Coolpix S630 or (if you're not concerned about size) the Canon Powershot SX10IS

Remember to consider the long term use of the camera as well (indoors/outdoors, sports/action, people/still life, etc.) so that you get a camera that will do well for you in everyday situations and doesn't turn into a one-time use or vacation-only camera.

Good luck and have fun on your trip!