Digital Cameras

PENTAX just announced the new 10.1 megapixel Optio E60 compact digital camera. The Optio E60 gives you the high resolution images you desire and comes loaded with easy-to-use features--all at the budget price of only $140.

The PENTAX Optio E60 features an optical 3X zoom lens with a wide angle of view (equivalent to 32mm to 96mm in 35mm format) – a first for the E series, Auto Picture mode, Face Recognition, High Sensitivity Digital Shake Reduction, and a Green mode that sets exposure, sensitivity and other parameters by just a touching a button. Read more

The Canon PowerShot A650 IS is based around a 6x optical zoom lens -- the 35mm equivalent of a 35 to 210mm zoom, an excellent range for all-purpose photography. It also includes a high resolution 12-megapixel sensor, more than enough for tack-sharp 13x19-inch prints. Despite its high resolution, the Canon A650 IS offers an ISO range that's been extended at the top end for an equivalent of ISO 80 to 1,600 (with the ability to extend this to ISO 3,200 in one of the Scene modes, albeit at a lower resolution).

The Canon A650 IS sports an articulating 2.5" rear-panel LCD and a real-image optical viewfinder. In addition to fully automatic shooting, it features aperture-priority and shutter-priority exposure modes and even fully manual shooting, welcome options for more sophisticated users. There's also a wide range of 14 scene modes, including an Underwater scene mode that adjusts color balance and exposure for use with an optional underwater housing. The Canon PowerShot A650 also offers a range of metering modes, including evaluative, center-weighted, spot, and face detection-linked metering. Read more

I bought my first digital camera soon after my son was born. I took so many photos that I turned the picture counter back to 0000. Yes, my bundle of joy was the subject of more than 10,000 shots—and why not? That's the beauty of digital: click away, delete the rejects and develop the photos you want. With the vast range of digital cameras on the market, I'm clearly not their sole fan. But like all products digital, the choices are both overwhelming and confusing. Following are the eight most common mistakes made by first-time buyers, plus which digital-camera features really matter.

Megapixel mix-up
Digital photos are made up of tiny dots called pixels. Simply put, the more pixels your camera has, the sharper your pictures will be. But don’t let the higher numbers mislead you. What's considered the minimum nowadays -- 3 megapixels -- will result in crystal-clear photos that can be developed as large as 20 in. x 30 in. without degradation in quality. In fact, a 3-megapixel camera is more than enough if you want to showcase your photos in a traditional photo album and e-mail them to friends and family. So why consider a camera that boasts as much as 7 megapixels? Anytime you crop a photo to hone in on your subject, you are actually reducing the number of pixels and, therefore, losing some picture quality. If you start with more megapixels at the outset, the diminishment is less likely to make a difference in the quality of your photos. Read more

PENTAX just announced the PENTAX Optio V20 compact digital camera with a 5X zoom lens, 8.0 megapixels, and a 3.0 inch LCD monitor. The camera has three features to help consumers optimize portrait photographs – Face Recognition, Smile Capture and Blink Detection.

• Face Recognition function automatically detects and focuses on faces, then sets the optimum exposure.
  
• Smile Capture detects the key facial expression of happy people and releases the shutter automatically.
  
• Blink Detection reports to the user whether any subjects closed their eyes in an image, so that the shot may be recaptured if necessary.
  

Additional features include Auto-tracking AF for continuously focusing on a moving subject, 52MB of built-in memory, and an Auto-Macro mode that allows close-up photography as near as 4 inches (10 cm) without changing the normal focusing mode. Read more

With so many different options, shopping for a digital camera can be a hassle. The best approach is to find one that suits your needs. YouTube has quickly become a media for the common person and if you are one of the many who enjoy uploading and sharing videos from your digital camera, Casio has just the product for you. The EXILIM Zoom EX- Z9 is the newest digital camera from Casio America Inc. This model features 23 camera modes, one of which is the YouTube Capture Mode that allows you to upload your videos directly onto YouTube without uploading onto your hard drive. Read more

New LUMIX TZ5 and TZ4 Offer 10x Optical Zoom, 28mm Wide-Angle Lenses and Advanced Intelligent Auto Mode Technologies for Increased Ease-of-Use

Panasonic is serious about digital photography. A friend of mine recently went camera shopping and took home a Panasonic point and shoot digital camera and two other similar digital cameras (from two other very well-known brands). After shooting with all three over a weekend, he purchased the Panasonic and has been more than pleased with his decision. Earlier this month, at PMA (the annual photo trade show) the company introduced two additions to its award-winning TZ-family of LUMIX digital cameras, the DMC-TZ5 and DMC-TZ4 – both packing a 28mm wide-angle, 10X optical zoom Leica lens in a compact design. By combining a 28mm wide-angle lens, which lets you capture a wider-framed shot as opposed to most other compact digital cameras, using the TZ-Series 10x optical zoom –you can take expanded shots, both wide and far. Adding to these feature-rich digital cameras, Panasonic also expanded its Intelligent Auto technologies with new Intelligent Exposure and Digital Red-eye Correction. Read more

At PMA, Nikon just introduced the compact COOLPIX L18, perfect for those looking for a full featured digital camera at an affordable price. The L18 features 8 megapixels, a 3x Zoom-NIKKOR lens, Anti-Shake AE, and a bright 3.0-inch LCD screen.

The camera is also equipped with an Easy Auto Mode, for those who want to shoot pictures without having to adjust any settings or controls. Just press the button and let the camera do the rest. The COOLPIX L18 will be available in March for $139.95. Read more

I have three digital cameras, and I cannot tell you how many times I run around looking for a USB 2.0 cable. I mean, my phone uses the cable, my cameras, and countless other technology I own requires this cable. I have many of these cables, but always misplace them. Now Nikon integrates the 802.11b/g format into the digital camera, and that is just one reason why I will own a Nikon COOLPIX S51c. Not to mention, Nikon always delivers on its products.

My wife is always asking why I download all the photos to my computer and not hers. Now we can each easily download to our computers, and edit/email/print and share our images with friends and family without ever having to find those cables!

The COOLPIX S51c is feature rich, and delivers a maximum of 8.1 million effective pixels. All on a 1/2.5-in. CCD image sensor. The focus range on this little powerhouse is one foot to infinity, and Macro close-up mode of 4cm (try using a magnifying glass for those bug pictures for the kids in this Macro mode!). Read more

How many pictures do you have of your children from Far, Far, Away? Not the made up place from the movie “Shrek,” but the pictures where a zoom lens would have helped. Sony now delivers a small package with a BIG zoom function, with a realistic price in the new DSC-H3 camera. The 10x optical zoom lens comes with Super Steady Shot to guarantee the image is steady and clear. This little camera can shoot an ISO of up to 3200!

Another great feature is the ability to plug the camera directly into an HDTV, and run a slide show in all its glory in HD. Then, to make an amateur look more like a Pro, the camera has the DSLR system that can analyze captured data and determine the best exposure, and tonality of each picture before JPEG compression. Read more

Small and appealing, the Olympus E-410 brings memories of days gone by, when 35 mm film single-lens reflex cameras were small, mechanical, and manual. But the DSLR E-410 is capable of both full auto and manual operation, and its 10 megapixel Live MOS sensor and optical design are quite advanced. Its specially designed sensor is capable of showing a live image on the E-410's 2.5 inch rear LCD. Called Live View, this mode is very handy, and available on very few DSLRs, but there are a some small catches along the way. Read more