I have never owned a waterproof camera for kayaking and its about time i got one. the big questions is, whats the most durable one on the market (as tested by kayakers)? I would like to be able to carry it in my pfd. an ability to hold up over drops is a plus. i saw that most are rated for "drops" >7 feet. i don't know too many drops >7 feet i want a picture of. let me know of any thoughts you have on the subject. thanks!

Here is a recent review- The article has three or four pages, have to click the faint arrow at bottom to advance to the next page:

http://tinyurl.com/cwx8gnz

I'll bite too...a camera that is rated for a "drop" of 7 feet means it should be able to survive hitting a hard surface. Which means that unless your lines consist of chest spats onto rocks off Big Kahuna, that camera should last fine on Canyon Creek.
Hard to argue with the $300 price tag of the Go Pro. Some paddlers prefer to keep it in their pfd and just use it for pictures. It's a pretty awesome versatile piece of technology. Once I got over how I look and what people might think of me when I wear the thing, the footage I get makes it well worth the trouble. Most of the "Go Bro" and whatnot seems to come from people that have never owned a GoPro.
I've owned a Canon PowerShot D10 for a couple years. It's been in my PFD for some waterfalls and some big water. Haven't had any problems except that I rarely get good shots with it because of water droplets on the lets. Cold water seems to affect it a bit also. I've decided that if I'm going to the trouble of taking pictures from kayaking trips it's best to keep the camera dry.

Maybe the Contour line of cameras, jP? Used on the Congo, readily available from good 'ol NRS (or Aqua Sports, since Charles is worth supporting).

I'm stoked for GoPro, I remember when they first came out, and I doubted them. They did it right, though, and have done it well.

Fiddleyak nailed the drop ratings, which I thought the O.P. was joking about as well as the "GOBRO" thing.

Still, for in pocket digi-cam, I'm pretty stoked on my Tough.

I have a Sony waterproof digital camera, the DSC-TSX (something like that) that I really love.  I am a bit of a camera snob, and I have been thoroughly impressed with this camera's ability to shoot in low light conditions.  This is super important considering we kayak when it is cloudy, rainy, and not much light gets into gorges.  The camera also has fantastic contrast, shoots beautiful HD video and it has survived my lifejacket pocket for a while now with no problems.  Two thumbs up.

I have the older version of this camera...
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A5862491&ST=Camera%20Photo%20Video&dgc=ST&cid=72662&lid=1838860&acd=s_pla_dhs:000001,,901pdb6671

why don't you post some pics for ideas on the quality that's available... I'm currently using a little 60 dollar camera that is rated for being dropped from 4ft and ... ok, is only suppose to be waterproof up to 3 meters. I'm waiting for it to implode. so far, I've liked it ok for something cheap and small I don't have to worry about. It's a kodak playful (big lot special, but also seen on amazon.) It's about credit card size and a a bit over a quarter inch thick. I haven't used it much and I'm on #2. The first one i think I burned out by using a cheap car charger on it. It seemed to do fine in water. low pixel rating. seems pretty quick for taking snap shots. I had it taped to my life vest. Here is a pic and a movie for an example of the type quality. actually scratch the video, I couldn't down load it.    here is a link of some on you tube; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vcJkyJtL8U Many better quality ones on youtube. I think a pin hole camera is the only answer to fogging or water droplets.. (no lens and totally unrealistic.) Yes, I know these pics are not great quality. :)