Camera Newb, Help

[GCast]

Im completely new and oblivious to the world of digital cameras.
Anyway Im looking to buy a half decent cam to take pictures of waves with, 95-100% of its purpose will be shots from the beach.
Im hoping to max out at around $400, not really looking to spend more than that on my first cam.
So obviously, Im going to need a cam that will take a good long range shot, and work well with sun and glare from the water.
If you guys could even point me in the right brand direction that would be great.
Thanks!

[Canuck935]

Don't worry about brand right now. Since you want to take shots from a distance you'll want to look for something with a good long zoom. Optical zoom, not digital zoom. As for what camera's cover that I don't know, but that's probably what you want to look for. If you don't mind getting closer physically I believe Pentax and Olympus both make camera's that are sealed and waterproof right out of the box.

[GCast]

Thanks! I am actually kind of leaning towards the H2 right now, but the frames per second are a little too low for the shots Im going to be taking.