Photography - in the search of a perfect paddling camera

My kayak and canoe paddling involves some racing and a lot of training
and workouts and this is reflected in my requirements for a perfect
"paddling" camera:

* waterproof, it doesn't need to be suitable for diving though
* small size, so it can be carried for training and racing
* good image and video quality
* simple operations, so it is possible to shoot from a tippy kayak
and/or when paddler is tired
* some manual control, a customized setup
* a tripod mount, so it is possible to mount it on a bow or stern (a
flexible waterproof housing will usually cover a tripod mount)

The new breed of waterproof digital cameras including Pentax Optio
WP/WPi/W10 and Olympus Stylus SW 720 comes close to these requirements.
In fact, I bought the original Optio WP specially to take for Texas
Water Safari 2005. My requirements for video and mounting capability is
needed not only to shoot some paddling movies for fun, but also to
analyze my paddling technique. I am ready to accept some compromises in
these cameras like a poorer image quality than in top level cameras or a
lack of viewfinder.

If you enjoy a more relaxed style of paddling and can resist that
temptation to submerge your camera you may be happy with a
non-waterproof one. You can get better features for a similar price as
Pentax Optio. I would recommend a recent survey of 10 new compact
cameras from BeHardware as really helpful.

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