Len -

I highly recommend the Olympus 850SW. $300 plus a memory card ( about $15 for 1 gig ).

Shock proof from 6' to a hard surface, waterproof to 10', and freeze proof to 14F.

The settings are easy to learn and use - lots of useful modes and some not so useful, flash settings, a couple macro settings, will take short movies ( at low resolution ), etc. etc. etc.

There is a 1050SW which ups the resolution and I believe that model also is good for the 6' drop and 14F but goes to 30' underwater. For what you seem to do, that is probably overkill, especially considering the higher price tag.

Every photo I've posted since early May was taken with the 850SW. I'm sure a good photographer would get more out of it than I do.

John