Travel Photography - Weatherproof Compact Digital Camera Wanted

Going on a trip to places that won't have battery charging facilities and where it's a bit sandy & windy, so I'm looking for a camera that is both weatherproof and uses AA (LR-7) batteries. So any suggestions?

None that I know of - all the major brands use Li-Ion packs.

I think there are a couple of no-name brands that have a waterproof AA camera, but I wouldn't expect good photos from them.

Sadly, your only alternative may be something like the Panasonic TS1 or Canon D10 with a couple of battery packs. Alternatively, perhaps a camera that can be charged/powered off MiniUSB?

If all else fails, you could consider a normal AA capable battery pack and one of those waterproof bags for around it?

The Nikon Coolpix P50 takes AA cells. You can get one of those waterproof pouch to protect it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360195464354

Sadly, your only alternative may be something like the Panasonic TS1 or Canon D10 with a couple of battery packs. Alternatively, perhaps a camera that can be charged/powered off MiniUSB?
As I found out, whenever you have multiple unique battery packs, one of them will always drain itself totally for no apparent reason - I did think of the MacGyver approach but whilst I had plenty of duct tape and a a Swiss army knife, I couldn't extract any wires from the camels nor did I have time to grow a mullet.

I was wondering if there's any way of using an emergency phone/ipod charger - the sort that takes an AA battery and gives out USB power levels - and connect it directly to the battery. As an alternative I could take 8 AA cells, put them in a battery pack and use that to power a 12V car charger

How long are you going for and how many pictures are you likely to take? Access to a vehicle for 12V charging?

Haven't any idea of the number of photos I'd be taking - I just don't want to end up in the situation I had last week where batteries spontaneously discharged and cameras broke leaving me with a pile of unusable - but fully charged - AA batteries for a camera that didn't work and one very low charged battery for a camera that did and which I resultedly used sparingly.

And I didn't have ANY access to cars, motor bikes, generators or any other form of external power supply

So I want a camera that will work under most weather conditions and which I have a chance of replacing / recharging batteries by buying a set of AA batteries at the local market and either putting them in the camera or in a charger

What kind of quality do you need/want?

The GoPro camera is designed for sports, but it runs off AA's, does HD video (and 5MP photos). It is 100% waterproof, but it doesn't have a flash.

http://www.goprocamera.com/

I have used a Canon waterproof case for a Powershot 850IS. The case was grossly over engineered but it worked really well. There was a sale for Canon specific cases this summer, I think I paid around $60 for mine. The only drawback is that it's model specific, therefore when you upgrade the camera you have to get a new case as well.

I don't know of a weatherproof with AA batteries. The main players I know of are Olympus, Pentax, and recently Fuji and Panasonic for weatherproof compact digitals. They all have custom batteries.

Getting an external housing would be an option but they are bulky.

I've come to the conclusion that I'll have to grow a mullet - so the theory is to get a USB charger for the camera and connect it to 4 AA batteries.

Now where's the duct tape & Swiss Army knife?

It seems you are set on what you want to do. A set of AA cells have about the same amount of energy as in a typical LiIon camera battery. Just get an AA powered camera plus a zip lock bag when it gets ugly.

Have a look at the Pentax Optio 33WR
http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/pentax/optio-33wr/pentax-optio-33wr-review.html

Its old but is waterproof and takes AAs.

Here's an article with some reviews

http://www.canoekayak.com/gear/accessories/digicams/#

Two of them, the Optio and the Cybershot, are waterproof and use regular batteries.