I have done photography seriously since I was in 7th grade. Had a dark room in my parent's laundry room type serious. I have some great Canon cameras, even my favorite Pentax, but my husband, after researching the heck out of cameras, bought the Nikon Coolpix AW100. I LOVE IT. The pics are AMAZING. I even take video and pics underwater with it. It ran about $300 and was worth every single penny...and then some. It sucks battery like an alcoholic at a bar, so get another battery. Don't waste your time researching - my husband is so anal retentive (um, I mean, er...particular) that he did it all for you. I've stolen this camera from him and told him to get another one. LOL