I am fed up of missing out on photo ops as i usually only take my phone, which lives in my bag, by the time i have taken it out and waited half an hour for the camera to open, i have missed the photo, if i get to it in time, the photo is always poor.
what im after is a good sturdy, small camera for taking out on the trails.
What can anyone reccomend.

fji finepix f30 – awesome optics, decent manual settings, hard as nails. about £40 second hand.

I like the Olympus Mju SW, shock & water resistant too.

Do you have a budget in mind?

+1 Olympus Mju (Tough)

Mine has been everywhere and done everthing with me and still works pirfic. Not the gratest Optics for a 12MP Camera but you can't expect everything! I've heard that Canon have a similar tough style that has better optics..

no budget as such, as i will probably scour ebay for a bargain, just after something that will take a bit of abuse, be small and take good pics, needs to handle being used with wet muddy gloves and have some decent manual settings for poor light, low cloud etc.
mju sounds good!

and have some decent manual settings for poor light, low cloud etc.

if a camera required manual control for that I would term it 'broken'…

ive recently got a FujiFilm XP10 after killing my f200EXR in a rainstorm in the lake district…

fantastic little camera!

see my recent photostream for a few examples of the pics ive taken with it 🙂

i've got a Samsung compact, was £130, its great due to its very wide angel lens on it.

http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/camera-camcorder/digital-cameras/compact/EC-WB500BBP/GB/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail

and have some decent manual settings for poor light, low cloud etc.

if a camera required manual control for that I would term it 'broken'…

My current camera, thats too bulky to be bothered to take out is shocking on its auto settings for those conditions. Maybe it is broken but has been like it from new.

+3 for the olympus – excellent camera, though annoying that they insist on using XD cards, and a non standard USB cable, which is annoying when you forget it and want to download pics onto a laptop.

Mine has been snorkelling, kitesurfing, snowboarding, covered in mud, sand and still comes up trumps, and I have a solid record of camera destruction.

Canon G10 here, quite small, big on features and cracking image quality.

There's all sorts of ruggedised cameras around at the moment. I think it was an olympus that started it (water/shock/dust proof).

They usually sacrifice long zoom though by being very flat with no protruding parts.

My requirement is that they take the photo when you push the button – it's amazing how few do (including mine – the Panasonic LX3 – in most modes).

does the FujiFilm XP10 take pics instantly on pressing?

No, it takes a while for the AF to sort itself out. Prefocus!

kinda not what i meant but i wasnt clear enough, can you prefocus / manual focus then once pressed is instant?

Canon Powershot A700 here, gets dropped and battered every other ride and occasionally rained off a bit and still going strong after 5 years. And I regularly get asked whether I shoot my photos using a DSLR, quality-wise it poops all over the competition.

Forget Olympus and Nikon compact cameras, horrible image quality on both.

My next cam will be a Samsung WB600 compact superzoom, after trying out the Canon SX210 and being unimpressed by the ergonomics and UI I'll give them a go.

tamworthcrowd – Member

My next cam will be a Samsung WB600 compact superzoom, after trying out the Canon SX210 and being unimpressed by the ergonomics and UI I'll give them a go.

I've got the WB500 and love it. Great little compact.