Help Me Decide On Which Camera I should buy?
I’m thinking about buying a camera for summer and i was hoping to receive some opinions on which cameras are the best
I am going camping at Wilsons Promontory National Park in Victoria, Australia, so I will be in the bush and right by some beautiful beaches.
I am going down this year to celebrate new years with plenty of family and friends, and I really want to remember this year 
The Camera I want should be able to take magnificent photos of my family, friends and I, aswell as beautiful photos of our camping activites, and of course, delightful photography of beach sunsets.
But, I also want to be able to film movies this year, and i would really love to be able to take pictures and movies whilst under or splashing around in water.
The camera would need to be tough as well, considering all the places it will be going. I am hoping that it won’t be effected by sand or dirt, and can resist drops onto the ground or rocks.
I also want a long battery life, because there isn’t many places I can charge the camera, so long life would be really appreciative
A long and needy wishlist, I know, but with your brilliant expertise I think we can find something
Once again, my camera will need:
High megapixels for great photos
HD filming
Underwater photos and movies
Tough and shock resistant
Fairly long battery life
and of course, room for a huge memory card
Also, if I have forgotten any key features you think I could use, please let me know
I will be truly grateful for any hints and tips, thanks
Tagged with: battery life • beach sunsets • beaches • bush • cameras • camping • dirt • family and friends • family friends • hd • magnificent photos • megapixels • memory card • photography • rocks • underwater photos • victoria australia • wilsons promontory national park • wishlist
Filed under: Water resistant
A few clarifications first:
"High megapixels for great photos" is a wrong concept. Megapixels mean size of the image, not the quality or anything else. A 4 megapixel dSLR camera is way better than a 4 megapixel mobile phone camera. These days most of the cameras are over 8MP which usually is much more than enough. A 2MP image will usually fit a normal computer screen, and 8MP will produce good enough images to be printed on a billboard, depending on the image quality of the camera.
So megapixels are the last thing to check in the camera today.
A videographer can probably guide you better about "HD" because that also sounds very controversial to me, I have seen $50 flip cameras with full HD and their video quality is horrible.
@ Question:
No camera is perfect, there will be certain compromises with every camera. But if you have fair amount of budget you might be able to get almost everything you need. For example if you get an Olympus E-5 dSLR camera body with 12-60mm lens plus a water housing; the whole setup may cost between $4000 to $5000, but you’ll get a weatherproof and shockproof dSLR camera and lens, plus a underwater housing for underwater shots. E-5 is a professional camera, so there won’t be any complaints about the image quality, provided that you know how to operate your equipment. With this option your only compromises will be bulky size and price.
A cheaper and more practical option for amateurs would be to buy a compact point and shoot camera, which is waterproof and shockproof. Olympus tough series is a great line of rugged and waterproof point and shoot cameras, with prices ranging from $300 to $600 – you can take those cameras underwater usually up to 10 meters without any water-housing or just bump those on the rocks without any problem.
Your major compromises with the point and shoot such as Olympus tough will be image quality (which still is good enough for a compact camera), battery life (LCD cameras drain the battery rather quickly) and speed etc. Also take a look at Panasonic Lumix camera, both Olympus and Panasonic make great waterproof cameras.
All these cameras have more than enough megapixels and almost all do HD videos as well. Almost all of them also support SDHC memory cards which are commonly available in capacities over 8GB.
Here is a video comparison of waterproof cameras http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfe66TUsK00&feature=relmfu
Hope this helps. Have a nice holiday in Australia.
I think the most determinant factor in your list is: Underwater photos.
This will narrow the search way down.
I reccomend something like the Canon PowerShot D10, its REALLY tough and water resistant.
A alternative if you want even better images would be PowerShot G12 + Corresponding underwater housing.
I do not recommend a DSLR if you are going to shot underwater simply because of the stupid-high price of their underwater housings (+1000$)