Here I am, money in hand, ready to buy, but I can't find the product I want. I'm looking for a combination digital camcorder/still camera that is rugged (BWCA/Quetico rugged), waterproof (or highly water resistant, and can stand up to the rigors of a typical paddling trip. Sturdy housing a must; maybe even one that can take underwater shots. I basically want a single unit deal that won't bust the first time it bumps up against a rock or tree. Any suggestions?

I have no answer for you. We are taking oug digital camera....it's not water proof or water resistant....but it takes great pictures, is easy to use and downloads photos easily....it's a Kodak....Our outfitter sells special waterproof bags for this type of equipment......and we're go'in to go with that....and try to stay dry!

I take 2 digital cameras and a 35mm for slide film and unless you get a marine housing for the camera you just have to take care of it. Many outdoor stores offer plastic waterproof boxes or bags, which I use, but you always have to have the camera ready to get "that shot" when it happens, you never know! So my camera is rarely packed away unless in a downpour. Once you get used to the conditions, it'll be a snap to take care of any digital/video cam you bring in. There's nothing better than having the camera firing away on a beautiful, quiet BWCA morning. Happy shooting...I'll be there in July!!

Just purchased a Olympus stylus 500... with it you can take still pictures and also video depending upon the size of your memory card. Uses Xd memory cards... with 512 we can take over 400 stills at high quality, and/or around an hour of video with sound at lower quality... Look at Amazon.com got the camera for $299. Spare battery for $36.00 and the 512 for $65. Packages are avaiable too...
Picture Quality is unbelievable too....

Bruce

I went with a Canon A85 digital camera - 4 megapixels, video with sound, runs on AAs, good pic quality, manual settings to allow long exposures for things like northern lights, small. $180 Pick up the waterproof housing for this camera which allows FULL control use - every knob and button for another $169 and you'll have a rig ready to take on any paddling adventure.

Just my opinion.

Digital cameras are great, but they tend to be battery hogs, especially for video. Even the rechargeable batteries do not last me more than 2 days when I take mine with on family vacations.

I would suggest if you are going to bring a digital camera you bring either a lot of extra batteries &/or a film camera as back up. you can always have your film scanned in to digital pictures at most photo labs.

One other point for the Olympus... It is weather resistant... I have carried it in the snow in March of this year and dropped it in the snow, carried next to my body when walking in the snow and snowshoeing... no problem... Pentax is making a new camera which should be out now, called the optio 50 waterproof... supposedly can take pictures under water... quickly and not too deep... basically same features as the Olympus, I just did not want to April to get one...

Bruce

One other point on the Olympus as well... Olympus makes one of the, if not the best true colors digital cameras out there!

battery life in digitals is completely dependent on the particular camera and the batteries used. I've been using the Canon A85 over the past 9 weeks or so - both video and photo modes + flash for about 20 min of video clips and approx 230 shots. I've switched batteries once (the 2nd set is still being used in the camera now).

Use of the LCD sucks batteries faster too. Running the telephoto in and out drains juice too.

I have a friend with a camera (HP I think) who gets approx 50 shots on a fresh set of rechargeables. So, don't discount digitals en masse. You have to look at each camera make and model and their energy use. There are several good evaluation sites one is www.stevesdigicams.com. For instance, the above site mentions this for the A85: "Canon claims with AA Alkaline batteries you can capture approx. 250 shots (LCD on), 800 shots (LCD off), and 280 minutes of continuous playback time. With NiMH cells Canon clams approx. 500 shots (LCD on), 1200 shots (LCD off), and 360 minutes of continuous playback time"

FWIW, digital DO use off the shelf NiCads much more quickly than rechargeables.

I am not at all worried taking the A85 with 2 sets of batteries into the BW. I know I'll come out with 300-500 shots to keep or reject in a week whereas with film I might shoot 2 or 3 rolls.

i hope i can add to this, i have a cyber shot by sony, 4 mega pixels. they sell a 5 pixel cam. then i bought a 512megabite card so i have the 16 meg card that came with it and the 512. it takes digital video and pictures. and because im so clumsy i bought a water proof housing on ebay for 130.00 dollars. you can use all of the controls when its in the housing,and its even the zoom add and delete pictures,view the pictures. its really sweet. i highly recomend it
good luck i hope it helped