I just bought a new camera with the same issues in mind. I want to take hi res photos, would love to take HD vid, and need it compact yet affordable. I settled on the new Sea and Sea DX1200HD. A lot of great reviews in all the magazines, many best choice awards. I wish I could give you an underwater report, but I’m not diving with it until next weekend. I have been taking tons of land pics with it though. 12MP photos + HD videos look really nice so far. Software that came with is really easy to use. I can honestly say it’s the easiest camera I’ve owned so far as far as navigating the different modes and various screens. Also tiny pocket size with a very small housing. Another plus is you can buy a wide angle lense to wet mount underwater (bad news is they don’t make a lens caddy for it yet so you have to create something - I put the lens in an old neoprene glove and in a pocket). The entire cost is $599 including the camera and housing. Great deal for what you get. If you shop around you might even be able to shave some money off that price. Happy hunting!