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could anyone suggest some good options of digital camera I might pick up second hand for under $1000 that would best suit land based surf photography. Hoping to find somthing suitable for $500 - $700 but have no idea where to start.

Any of them will work. You will probably get better results with a DSLR than a point and shoot, because you will need fast telephoto lenses. The problem you will quickly find is that you need 300mm or more of lens to even begin to reach the line up. Most beach shooters that I've seen use 500mm or more, with image stabilization, and that comes at a very hefty price point. This gallerywas shot with a Nikon D-200 and an 80-200 mm 2.8 zoom. You can see this combo just begins to reach the subject, and these guys were all in fairly close, like 30 yards.

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I shoot the ocean all the time with several cameras. My Panasonic TZ3 does very well. it has a 10X optical zoom and a Leica lens. You should be able to get it for about $200. I also use a Nikon D300 and a leica M8 but that little Panasonic does a great job. You can visit my website here and see my ocean shots, many of which are taken with the Panasonic.
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Caryl