Digital camera for a hill-walker - any recommendations

[Bummle]

I want to buy my husband a good digital camera for his significant birthday/retirement (so I'm prepared to put out a fair bit of cash for the right thing).
He's no great Colin Baxter so something that does all the hard work for him would be great. As a hill-walker he needs something that will perform well in all weathers, isn't too heavy, can stand a few knocks and that can take a good shot quickly but he's also a family man and social animal so something that's just as good for family get-togethers, parties and pet shots would be the very dab.

Any recommendations?

[Philtaz]

This might help you in making a decision.

http://fwd.channel5.c...tbuys/digital-cameras

[gingejbee]

When asking for this sort of advice, it does help to state your budget expectations. "A fair bit of cash" might be £150 to one person, but £1000 to another.

[Bummle]

thanks philtaz, sorry gingejbee.

[Andyvon]

It also depends on what sorts of shots he will be taking Bummie. The small compact cameras are generally good for 'snaps' of people at parties or objects indoors (such as in museums) but they are not very good at capturing larger subjects such as landscapes or sunsets. Larger and more complex subjects require more complex cameras such as a DSLR, but those are larger and bulkier and they are not so good for indoor subjects.

I would advise you to go into a local camera shop and have a chat with the store staff. Tell them what sort of pictures your husband will be taking and they should be able to suggest the right camera for him.

[jno]

something like this maybe

http://www.panasonic....ew/6915835/index.html

Light but has a long zoom (as well as wide angle) so you can get closer to stuff without falling into crevasses. Fits into most pockets.

It depends on exactly what sort of photos he'd take, though. Most digital cameras aren't terrific in low light, for instance. If you don't actually want a big zoom then there are plenty of smaller, cheaper cameras that have only a 3x or 4x zoom and produce decent pictures.