Help me pick a new digital camera!

I've been meaning to get a digital camera for a while and now that I am going snowboarding in 2 weeks I want to have one for the trip. So I went to best buy to get some games and on the way out I looked at the digital cameras.

Here's the problem. They all look like the same freakin thing and the only thing I really understand about them is the picture resolutions. And the prices are all over the place. I'm actually pretty good with technology just never had any experience with cameras.

So can anyone recommend a digital camera that has pretty good quality pictures, can take video, and is small enough to fit in your pocket and not weigh you down too much, and not too fragle so that it would break if I fall when snowboarding or end up stabbing me if I fall on it :p

Price range is something like 200 - 350 ish. Maybe a little more if there is some awsome camera for the money but I'd probobly like to keep around there.

Oh also I HATE how almost every digital camer I ever used does like 10 flashes and beeps and takes so long before it takes the picture. I bet you can disable that but I just want to be able to click and have it take the picture instantly cause its really hard to time a jump 5 seconds ahead.

I'd highly recommend something in the Canon Powershot S series, probably the SD300 or maybe the model right below it, depending on the price. I have an S230 (which is virtually identical, just older), and even though it's small, the thing seems totally bulletproof, with a thick metal shell, and a retracting lens. I've taken mine snowboarding, and I couldn't even tell it was in my pocket, and I doubt that I could've broken the thing even if I had tried.

In your price range though, you're not going to get a super fast camera. You'll just have to make sure you pre-focus with a half-press of the shutter, and then the shot will be virtually instantaneous after that.

Welcome to the forum. Here is a link to a thread with very similar questions and demands that you are looking for. I don't know too much about what you are looking for, but this link should give you a place to start.

http://forums.photographyreview.com/...ead.php?t=9077

"Oh also I HATE how almost every digital camer I ever used does like 10 flashes and beeps and takes so long before it takes the picture"

i think the camera manufacurers are begiining to realize thats exactly what most folks hate.. with the current breed of small cheapish cameras they do seem to be trying to improve things..

a couple i have looked at due out soon have some new tricks.. one was going into fixed focus mode when the shutter is pressed all the way down in one go.. another had a selectable fast focus mode..

not quite instant yet but they are getting there.. certainly a lot better than a couple of years ago when the mega pixel race was the only thing they bothered about..

trog100