Zander on the field taking surf fishing pictures with his DSLR camera gear

 
Digital Cameras: Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Fujifilm, Kodak, Pentax, Minolta, Casio, HP… you pick the brand. Some cameras have more features, some are more flexible in terms of controls/settings, some are more rugged than others, and of course these cameras and brands vary in price. So which one should you buy? Any brand will be able to take good pictures if you’re under the right conditions. It’s just that the more expensive, feature packed ones will allow you to adjust your settings and take better pictures in more difficult conditions – options that may not be available in the lower priced cameras.

Point and Shoot digital cameras come in all sizes, shape, and each one is packed with different sets of features

Also, another suggestion before you buy your first or next digital camera is to think about what you are trying to achieve with it and for what purpose you will use the digital camera. As an example, anglers will be taking the camera on the water, which means the camera will eventually get wet. It might be a good idea to get one that’s more rugged and water-resistant or even waterproof to some extent.

Here's an example why one should position better to get the correct lighting or a bad picture like this would be the final result. No flash used.

Though still the same position as the previous picture, this photo was taken with controlled fill-flash. You can definitely see the improvement!

For most anglers a point-and-shoot digital camera will do it all, but for those Angler-Photographer buffs there are the Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras. DSLRs are an entirely different level that we won’t cover here, but these DSLR cameras give you all the flexibility and control over shutter speed, aperture, ISO/film speed, the ability to have different lenses such as ultrawide/fisheye to telephoto, and much much more.

Sometimes getting the shot takes patience, like waiting for Zander to actually catch a fish

Here’s a list of the cameras we use regularly:
DSLR: Nikon D200, D100, D80, D50, Canon 5D and 20/30D, with various lenses ranging from macro to wide to telephoto (17-55 f2.8, Nikkor 105VR micro, 18-200 DX VR, 70-200 f2.8 VR, 18-70, 50 f1.4, 60 f2.8 micro, etc)

Point-and-Shoot: Pentax Optio W10/W20, Olympus C5050, Canon Powershot G6, Olympus Stylus 720 SW, Olympus Stylus 770 SW (highly recommended digital camera).

Highly recommended camera for anglers: Olympus Stylus 720 SW and 770 SW. These two models from Olympus are very rugged, shockproof, freeze-proof up to -10C/14F, and waterproof up to 33 ft.

The waterproof digital cameras have their uses and have proven to be the most rugged of all the cameras we have tried. The latest cameras by some companies are more durable and even sporting armor all around the camera body like the Olympus Stylus SW series. The Olympus Stylus 770 SW is one that we highly recommend for anglers because it’s the most rugged, compact, shock-proof, affordable (~ $379), and waterproof up to 33 feet!

JIP takes pictures along the coast while Zander surf fishes

One final word on digital cameras, especially while fishing, make sure you have it around your neck or have the lanyard around your wrist when in use. With a wet or slimy hand, or just because today’s digital cameras are so tiny, they can easily slip out of your hands and end up the bottom of the lake or ocean.