Originally Posted By: Dignan
I know it doesn't meet some of your requirements, but GoPro just announced new cameras today, and one of them was a $129 entry-level camera. It doesn't have a viewfinder, and unfortunately it doesn't have a zoom at all, but it's half your budget and waterproof.

I wouldn't recommend a GoPro for Doug, at all. It's an ultra wide-angle fixed focal length video camera that incidentally has a photo mode. The wide-angle lens is pretty much the complete opposite of his zoom requirement. It's (IMO) clearly not suitable for the type of photography that Doug enjoys, and would want to do on the water.