Whats a good digital point-and-shoot camera to take backpacking?
I’m a backpacker and geologist, and my cameras take a beating. So far I’ve loved Canons – I’ve dropped them, taken nasty falls with them in my pack and my hand, gone through snow, rainstorms, and boats, and never had any real, it-won’t-ever-work-again problems. I recently got a Canon Powershot A640, and I’m really happy with it. It’s got a really good viewfinder, enough pixels that it doesn’t make every pebble in a rock picture 1 pixel, and actually fairly decent telephoto capabilities. I can even turn off the LCD display and save battery power when I’ve been in the woods for a few days and need just that many more shots, and have no trouble using the viewfinder. Although I have heard some people complain the viewfinder isn’t as accurate, I haven’t had many problems. I admit, though, I haven’t had a real chance to test its ruggedness, but I have slung it around some airplanes, trucks, and field sites, and its been in my backpack a few times with some tools and rocks. Since I tend to wa
