(requested by Bruce C)
First off.... and this is the kind of messed up part :-( ....the series of cameras I most highly recommend, the Canon A-series, are not being made anymore :-( It's a long story, but in a nutshell (and I learned this from a lot of time on the Canon forums) Canon was losing too many sales of their more expensive cameras, because these cameras did too much, too well, for too little $$$....
However, if you can find one of the following cameras sitting around in a camera shop, unsold.... or on E-bay, new, or like new.... wherever, however.... Snatch it up FAST !
Canon
A620, A630, A640, A650is
The great features off these cameras are;
1) They use AA batts.... so first off, you can (and should) use rechargeable NiMH batts, which are easy to come by, and last a LONG time + you can / should always carry a set of old school alkalines, which have a REALLY long shelf life (10 to 15 years) This way, even if you have not pulled your camera out for many months, you won't need to worry about having juice.
2) These cameras have a flip and twist (articulating) LCD screen, so you can take photos, of yourself and your trophy catch, by yourself, and be able to easily get everything lined up correctly, because it's like looking at your photo, while you take it :-) {this is the feature that most new Canon's have lost)
3) These cameras have a feature called the "C" custom mode. In this mode, you can set up virtually every aspect of your camera... F-stop, exposure, flash, focus distance, etc, etc > ahead of time, and the camera remembers it ! So, you catch a monster ! Your so stoked your shaking.... but no need to fiddle around with your camera settings. Simply turn it on in the "C" mode, and Bam ! It's ready to go ! You can still adjust things, away from your presets (example; brighten or darken) and then either save these new settings, or simply turn the camera off, and back on, and it will revert to the previous settings.
Anyway, enough rambling. Here's a few photos I took of myself, by myself.
Hope you can find one of the cameras I mentioned....
Oh ! And BTW, I just ordered an underwater housing for my Canon A630 and A640 ! That should be really fun ! :-) I'll try to get some underwater shots to post here :-)
Peace,
Fish