Hi folks,
I know there are a dozen "What's the best camera for...." threads and I'm sure it gets old but I've searched through the reviews and threads and done a good bit of online shopping and just wanted to get your advice on a camera.
My nephew is in the ARMY and is about to go out on his second deployment in Afghanistan. He went through 5 yes FIVE point and shoots in his first deployement and finally gave up trying to get any decent pictures. He's in an artillery platoon so granted his cameras have to stand up to abuse but I was hoping I could find him something that atleast stood a chance.
For soldiers in Afghanistan the cameras have to deal with:
-Shock
-Heat
-Dust, LOTS of dust
-Rain
I looked around a lot and I see lots of water/shock proof point and shoots but I dont see anything mentioning heat.
So here are the following models I'm looking at, I was hoping someone could give me an opinion or suggest something else if I've missed anything.
Fujifilm FinePix XP30
Olympus Stylus Tough-8010
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS10
Pentax Optio WG-1 Digital (I saw PJ's review of the old Optio model and the WB issues he brought up concerned me also I've seen reviews of this model saying the image quality is really bad, true or not true? I only elaborate on this one because I was really leaning in that direction before I read the reveiws)
Price really isn't an issue (I mean you know, in the under $1k range) I'm not trying to make myself sound wealthy, but he's my nephew and he's risking his neck for all of us, the least I can do is buy him a decent camera. So I just want whatever camera represents the best quality camera that can stand up to these conditions. I'm also considering best white balance because you have to consider that everything he photographs is going to have a sea of light brown sand in the background.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.