I see lots of people posting there own pics. Any recs on a good, triathlete-friendly (i.e. semi-rugged, maybe slightly water-resistant or otherwise “tough”) digital camera. Looking for something that I could bring to races/training camps/etc. so that I can take pics. Anyone out there that has a camera that has served them faithfully in this kind of environment, let me know.
Thanks.
You forgot about “price is no object”… Your parents are buying it, right? 
What is this abuse? Where are you getting this information from?? Do you have a spy in my headquarters??? But, probably, yes… 
Price is still an object. I can’t be getting some fancy “Made in Portugal” type camera…
I have a Canon SD 400 and love it. It takes great pictures and is very small and thus easy to carry. I try to stay away from water though. 
Well, I don’t swim with it, and when it rains I put it in a ziploc bag
Cheers,
Herbert
I second the Canon Powershot S400. Actually it’s the S500 now I believe.
But if you want a little more performance check out the Fuji 550, it’s super light, not the smallest though and I guess not the ruggedest but the main reasons I bought it are:
-lightning fast shutter speed, sub 1-sec shutter lag and 4 fps burst mode in 6 mega pixels, this way you actually get those action shots.
-super fast start up
-uses standard AA akaline or rechargeable batteries.
-4X zoom and optional 8x zoom extender
-a real flash, aka works at 10+ feet no problem
-good price, around $350
Actually there’s a difference between the S400 and the SD400…the SD version being the newer, much more compact version. I have the SD300, which is one MP less than the 400 and enjoy its slim figure very much–slides right into the pocket. Larger than most LCD on the back is nice also. Good luck.
Here is some general ranting on the subject that may give you some things to think about when evaluating…
I don’t think they make cameras that are all that rugged overall especially in terms of wetness and general grime. You really need to keep them clean. If you get a camera for around $200 (2 to 5 megapixels), you wouldn’t feel all that bad if it did get wet or broken. If you spend around $500 you could get something pretty nice IMO. Of course they go higher but a couple things to consider with high dollar cameras are that the files are huge. This is something to consider because you will be backing up the photos. Remember a cd rom nor your hard drive is considered permanent storage. Additionally you will probably need to reduce the quality in order to put them on the web or email them. Finally, many suck battery like crazy (some even when the camera is off) which can suck.
These are pretty decent sites for reviews. Take a look at some sample photos and you will be able to see that some are clearly better than others. Look for sharpness and color depth.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp
http://www.imaging-resource.com/DIGCAM01.HTM
As an example, this shot was taken with a Olympus D490 (2.1 megapixel) camera that I purchased several years ago for about $550. Now you can get the same one for $149.95. In fact, I think they have cell phones with 2.1 megapixels now…
Anyway, it’s not all that bad for browsing photos and dropping a few on the web. Natively this photo would be a 1600x1200 image and prints decently on 8 1/2 x 11 paper (how often do you share photos that large?). I have taken several thousand shots with it and it has taken a fair amount of abuse. A higher quality camera will get you some better color depth and will allow you to crop/zoom in more which can be nice. I would look for at least a 3x optical zoom - digital zooms aren’t that great imo. I have been eyeing some of the new sony cybershot cameras. They seem to take great shots and are pretty small.
I’d go with the Canon SD500. Great camera that takes great pix.
ot
I recently bought a Canon IXUS 50 (5MPix). This camera is not bigger than a cigarette box and takes great pictures. I like the children/animal mode (moving objects) for taking sport picture.
And with this size you can take it with you in a bike shirt or bento box.
Felix
Here’s a great site for digital camera reviews and recommendations:
I bought a sony cybershot 5.1 MP (dscp93?) a bit over a year ago for about $500 AUD wholesale. My wife has probably taken about 8,000 photos with it since then. I can’t fault much about it technically and it has all the features you could want for the price.
The thing is, we have taken the same shot with our camera vs 3 different canon ixus cameras and the ixus takes such a vastly superior photo that I am starting to wonder if there is some sort of ‘get the colours right’ button that we have forgotten to press on ours. the ixus i have seen only had 3 MP but they took a much nicer picture. ours is also terrible whenever the ‘5 point autofocus’ is put uinder strain, noticeably in action shots, shots with reflections and shots around water.
the ‘new’ cybershots with the carl zeiss lense may be a bit better and hopefully they have improved the ccd since i bought mine.
I bought a Pentax Optio S5i to go to Brazil this year. It was great. Nice and small. I took it out on my bike when we rode the course and the results were great. I was able to take a picture and a vid of the group whilst I was speeding along. Seems very reliable. I then took it into the Amazon, and again, the results were very impressive. Some of the results are on a website - send me a mail and I’ll pass on the details… if you like
In my “other” hobby, I am an amateur photog. In digital cameras I own everything from a full SLR setup(Canon D20), to a full-featured, high-end digicam that is back up to the SLR(Canon G6), to the standard family snapshot camera (Canon S30), and a super-tiny carry-everywhere camera (Sony T-1). From your post, I’d say the SLR is a no-go…particularly because its expensive…at least a grand for the camera…and then you’ll need a few lenses, and other odds and ends…its a high price to be able to take most pics you’ll want to take. Although the high end digicams like the Sony 808, Canon G6, Nikon 5800, etc…are worth their price in terms of flexibility and picture quality…the one thing that they lose out on is real portability. They are smaller than an SLR setup…but still bulky, obtrusive gadgets. Even my S30 is a bit large (for me) for carrying around all the time. It doesn’t quite work in a pocket, requiring you to just hand carry it or to have some sort of gadget bag. So…for the triathlete on the go, who wants to take quality pics, even while out on the road…I’d say go with one of the super tiny, nearly credit card sized cams out there. The Sony T-1 I have is barely larger in length and width, and maybe 8 times as thick as a standard credit card. It takes better pics overall than the S30. But the real bonus is that I have it on me just about everywhere I go. You can stuff it in a jersey pocket, in the $ pouch of a fuel belt, or in a shirt pocket while you’re out clubbing with friends. It never gets in the way, but is always there when you find a moment you want to capture. There are several good, similar models from other manufacturers as well…Pentax makes a very similar “Optio”…and Canon has their tiny Elph-based cams that are only fractionally larger, but still eminently carryable. Frankly, they are all capable of taking great pictures…
Hope that helps…