Will and Wade: thanks for your kind remarks.
Padraig:
I get asked this question a lot, and I'm always happy to give my thoughts. But let me preface this by saying that I'm neither a pro photographer or an expert on this subject. So take from me what you will. Here is what I consider important in a camera:
Size:
I shoot 95% of my golf photos while I'm playing during the round. The other 5% I shoot after the round (I occasionally walk back out on the course to take a few extras). Since I'm often playing with other people, and for my own convenience, the camera needs to be small enough to be unobtrusive. For me, I need to be able to put the camera in the pocket of my pants, and it needs to fit comfortably, even if I'm hitting a shot with it in there. So SLRs are out. To be honest, I haven't found this to be a huge loss, as the quality of mirrorless and point and shoot cameras has gotten so good. I have a DSLR and I almost never find myself using it anymore. Plus, the smaller the camera, the more likely you'll be to bring it with you.
Customization:
As Will mentioned, I don't do a lot of post-processing on my photos. It takes too long, and I'm too lazy. I don't know how to use photoshop. Any editing I do is on an iPad. So it's important that the photos come out of the camera looking how I want them to look. The easiest way to do this is to configure the camera the way I want it before I shoot. So make sure you have one that lets you set it up how you want it.
Quality:
This is almost a moot point these days, because even the low end digitals have gotten so good, but you want a camera that has enough resolution and sharpness to let you crop down your shots, and one that gives good color rendition.
Speed:
It's important to me that my camera is fast since I shoot while I play - I would hate to annoy the people I'm playing with. So it has to be able to go from off to ready to shoot very quickly. Again, this is rarely a problem with today's cameras.
Extras:
These are totally a matter of preference.
Zoom - Do you want to be able to zoom in? If you've got enough resolution and sharpness, this is a luxury as you can usually crop to zoom more than close enough. But having a zoom can also let you alter the depth of a photo - the closer you zoom, the closer objects at different distances will appear. This can be useful, but it can also be a drawback. I use two cameras to shoot golf photos - one has a zoom, the other doesn't. Pros and cons to each.
GPS - this can be a nice feature to track where your shots were taken. I don't use it.
Wifi - how do you prefer to transfer your photos off the camera? I use an iPad adapter myself.
There are many other smaller features, but you really can't go wrong with your choice of camera. Even the later iPhones are more than adequate. It's a matter of personal preference more than anything else. The best tip I can give you is to learn whatever you buy in and out, and to practice extensive trial and error to get the look that you like.
Hope this is useful to you. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss, or if you have any other questions.
Thanks,
Jon