Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS4
We've been using one of these for the last few months. So far I like it. Sort of the same scenario. My wife is a serious amateur photographer and sometimes doesn't feel like lugging all the gear around. She's been impressed with the speed and photo quality. It survived two days at a waterpark and a month of hail claims with every direct report I have pawing at it all day because it's so much faster than work issued cameras. -J
Amazon.com: Panasonic Lumix TS4 12.1 TOUGH Waterproof Digital Camera with 4.6x Optical Zoom (Orange): Camera & Photo