Video Camera for From-Boat

i'm looking for a good video camera to film wakeboarding from the boat with. I love the idea of the gopro and contour but would prefer to have optical zoom. My main purpose is going to be to have video of riding so I can learn from what I see as I try tricks. Second to that, i'd like to just have fun with it.

I'd like it to be water resistant in case I'd like to shoot video from the water as well. I was looking at the Sanyo Xacti wh1 but after reading a ton of reviews where it died after being in the water, I decided against it. Is there anything similar that has a good enough zoom to use from the boat??

I know you get what you pay for but I'd like to keep it under $300.

GoPro isnt good from the boat unless ur surfing.

That's what I meant about wanting the optical zoom, which gopro and contour don't have. Anyone have any luck with the other Xacti products by sanyo? any other water resistand camcorders to look at?

panasonic fz35 (still camera) will shoot 720p video and also takes great photos. You'd need to get a bag to make it water resistant though.

Canon T3i. Sample of 720p at 60fps:

from John Pretti on Vimeo.

I will have some from boat video up at wakeboardstl.com today. I have one up there now, but it was the first day I used the camera and the lighting was terrible.

Here's a chart I did for my business showing various camcorder options. The Playsport is not a bad bet for the money - waterproof to 10 feet, slow motion playback, and an available remote. 4x zoom is good, not great, but that's about all you get in most mini units. Rob

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B-w...thkey=COPOtdwB

Google says I need your permission to access this accnt, new to Google docs, so maybe i screwed up