I too am interested in a similar product.  Waterproof, shockproof, even a little freezeproof would be nice.

Other desired features:
- Unlimited shutter speed, I want to be able to open the shutter, walk away, and have it stay open until I close it.
- Burst Mode, so many good wildlife shots are that one in a series of 4 or 5 burst shots.
- Silent.  I've seen way too many cameras that don't have a true silent option.  Don't ever make a noise.
- Tripod nut in line with the lens.  Too many cameras do not have this basic requirement.
- Not tiny.  Those little cameras take great shots of my finger.  Give me room to hold the camera and not have my finger cutting off the lens.
- Macro Mode, pretty sure all cameras have this.


From what I've seen, these options are only available to snapshot cameras.  Limited zoom, digital zoom is not my preference & I can do this better at home.

On a recent trip to AZ to see sister and terminally ill brother in law, I got to see/use a Panasonic digital camera my sister just bought.

Not sure of model, but it had a lens equivalent to 300mm and built in anti-shake, which worked beautifully.

We did a day trip to Grand Canyon, and the pics were superb. She took a pic of a deer that was crossing the river. I saw the movement and she zoomed in. I was amazed how far the little camera could zoom

Problem was as you guys mentioned was its size
I don't have big hands or at least not compared to guys much bigger than me, but I couldn't use that camera for the life of me.

I ended up hitting the wrong button or switching modes, which didn't endear me to my sister

I have a old school Nikon waterproof IQ 90 zoom. It's a monster compared to the new digital cameras, but the buttons are large, spaced well, and you can actually hold it with both hands and not take a picture of your finger.

I think if I get into a digital, I would make sure it had a tripod mount and make a homemade pistil grip for it. Maybe a wood dowel, with a finger style bike grip and tripod mount epoxied to it. Something I could hold comfortably in one hand and avoid to many chunky fingers on the little buttons

Had a Pentax optio6 that finally died, about 50K shots.

Picked up the Lumix TSC-1.  Spendy. Good optics. HD video. H2O proof to 10 feet.  

The TSC-2 goes deeper and has even better optics.  

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Jeff

Jimmar
I have done a bit of on-line research with different reviews and like what Kheya has except I think I will step up to the dmc ts2. It has a power lcd screen which will help in direct sunlight plus it has imovie capability to interface with my Mac. Written up very nicely from a variety of sources.

I can deal with hordes of bugs, actually like extreme weather and generally ignore or laugh (in a "nice" way   ) at whiners but nothing will ruin a trip faster for me than having my camera go down.

Nice pic BTW Spartan 2 of the wolf spider. This summer one of my crew had one take up lodging in his boot during the night. Up his thigh it went in the morning. We both yelled ("shriek" is probably the right word  ). Dang things are BIG!

Not really looking for a waterproof case.  I'm not going scuba diving, I just want to be able to leave it out in the rain or drop it in the water without worry.