Hi all,
Newbie here 
I’m after a digital camera. Doesn’t have to be too special beyond a) a high resolution (12MP minimum) and b) reliable and likely to last a while. I’m looking into this - http://ubuyhardware.com/p~p-1848567000~b-402~Olympus-Stylus-Tough-8010-14-Megapixel-Digital-Camera---Silver.aspx - do you guys think it’d be appropriate? Any suggestions of an alternative?
Thanks in advance!
After several camera upgrades, I’m using a Kodak 10MPXL with 10X optical zoom and 5X digital zoom. It’s really the optical zoom that is most meaningful to me and 10MPXL seems enough for me. It only cost $125 so on this basis I feel the Olympus is too costly for the value.
A 5X optical zoom is so puny after trying the 10X that I could never step down. I can stand down the block and bring everything up close with nobody noticing. Take a picture of a passing plane and pick up some detail.
Resolution (megapixels) is not a very good measure of a camera’s quality. In fact, for most P&S cameras with tiny sensors, more megapixels leads to poorer image quality. So, my advice is simply ignore MP. There’s very little you can do with images that big anyway, most folks throw away most of those pixels.
The “tough” cameras like the Olympus you linked to are great if you are going to be in a wet environment, like on the water, or in a very hostile environment such as a construction site. The problem is that their image quality is poorer than a “normal” camera; it’s the trade off you get for that type of camera. Most cameras on the market from the major manufacturers are pretty good quality and will last a while with reasonable care.
You didn’t list a price range or what you are looking for in zoom or other features, such as HD video. Some good budget choices are the Canon SD1300/1400 or the Pentax H90. If you are looking to spend more money and or get more zoom take a look at the Panasonic ZS5/7 and the Canon SX210.
Hi, mhthegoblin, welcome to the SDMB! I’m going to move this thread to IMHO, which is a better forum for advice like this – that’s where I posted my thread asking the same question a couple of years ago. (I ended up getting a $100 Canon that I love, based on the advice given.)
twickster, Cafe Society moderator
For a huge majority of people, 12 megapixal is a waste. Unless you are taking that image and cropping it down to just a small portion of the picture, you probably don’t own anything that can display an image that large and let you see the difference.
Then you need to decide if it is worth it to pay more for a “tough” camera, or if you would be ok with buying something that won’t last as long, but will cost you a lot less. Yes, a cheaper camera may only last you 4 years, but you may have paid only 1/3 of the cost. In addition, we’ve found that when we go to replace a camera every 4 years or so, the new ones that are on the market blow away the one we are replacing.
Another thing to think about - What kind of battery do you want?
We tend to take our cameras travelling, sometimes in places where it isn’t easy to plug in an recharge the battery every night. So we like to get cameras that take AA batteries. Usually we use rechargables, but if we need to, we can buy a pack of AA in a store. That’s not so easy to do with most of the proprietary batteries.
Thanks for the replies 
I do a lot of cropping, hence the 12mp requirement. (I’d settle for 10mp though, especially if it had stellar zoom).
Bad pixels are bad pixels. Having more of them doesn’t really help you. Getting a moderately better zoom lens will allow you to get closer to your subject than any amount of cropping. You’re making the wrong trade-off.
Consider a compact ultrazoom, like the Panasonic ZS5/7 if you want to get closer images. Or just move yourself physically closer to the subject if you can. Relying on a 12MP image and cropping is not a good strategy, unfortunately, and the practical difference between 10MP and 12MP is extremely small anyways.
What sort of photography are you doing that you are just planning on doing a lot of cropping?