Digital Cameras

There are probably currently around 200 digital cameras offered by the major camera makers. You can probably double that if you include makers you've never heard of before! All have their strengths and weaknesses and every one has slightly different specifications. No wonder people are confused by all the choices. I'm not going to analyze every camera and detail every option here. What I'm going to do is to pick a few cameras that someone shopping for a holiday gift (for themselves or for others) might want to take a look at. These are the cameras that I'd look at if I were in that situation.

The Sleeper

Panasonic isn't a name you'd normally associate with still cameras. They've been making video cameras for decades though and digital cameras have a lot in common with video cameras. Panasonic's latest camera is the Lumix DMC-FZ20. It's a 5MP camera, which isn't anything out of the ordinary, but the lens on the camera is. The Lumix DMC-FZ20 uses a Leica DC Vario-Elmarit with a 12x zoom range of 6-72mm (36-432mm equiv) and a constant aperture of f2.8. The lens has three aspheric elements and also uses one ED glass element. Not only that, but it also has optical image stabilization. So at the long end it's like using a 432mm f2.8 lens with image stabilization on a 35mm full frame camera! Pretty impressive.

The rest of the camera is also pretty fully featured. For example it offers full auto, aperture priority, shutter priority and fully manual exposure modes, as well as 11 different "program" modes such as portrait, sports and landscape. Not only is there a built in flash, but there's also a hotshoe for an external flash. There are multiple white balance settings and multiple autofocus modes. An interesting and pretty unique feature is that in manual focus mode, there's actually a focusing ring on the lens that you twist, just like a "real" camera!

The Lumix DMC-FZ20 is no miniature camera, though it is smaller than a digital SLR. It weighs 556 g (1.2 lb) and is 128 x 87 x 106 mm (5.0 x 3.4 x 4.2 in). If I was in the market for a serious digicam, I'd certainly be looking very hard at the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20. It has a great lens, image stabilization and just about all the control you could want from full auto to full manual.

So what's the catch? Well, like many digital cameras, the use of a small sensor means that you start to see image noise once you go above ISO 100. At ISO 400 it's noticeable (the camera range is 80, 100, 200 and 400). Of course since the lens is stabilized, you can shoot about 3 stops slower then with an unstabilized lens and still get sharp images, so you can use ISO 100 a lot more than you might be able to without stabilization.

The list price of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 is $599, but the street price is closer to $530.

Old Faithful

The Canon "A" series cameras have a long (in digital terms!) history of being one of the best mid-range, mid-size digicams. There are currently three models available, the A75, A85 and A95, and there was an A80, beware of Canon's numbering scheme. The successor to the A80 is the A95, not the A85. The A85 is a slight "upgrade" or the A75, not the A80. Confused? So are a lot of people. Here's a chart showing the differences:

A75 A80 A85 A95

Pixels 3MP 4MP 4MP 5MP

LCD 1.8" 1.5"
flip and twist 1.8" 1.8"
flip and twist

Sensor Size 1/2.7"
[5.27 x 3.96 mm] 1/1.8"
[7.18 x 5.32 mm] 1/2.7"
[5.27 x 3.96 mm] 1/1.8"
[7.18 x 5.32 mm]

Lens 35-105/2.8-4.8 38-114/2.8-4.9 35-105/2.8-4.8 38-114/2.8-4.9

Price $180 Discontinued $250 $310

In other respects, these cameras have more similarities than differences. All use CF memory cards, all use 4xAA batteries for power. All offer a multitude of exposure modes including full auto, aperture priority and shutter priority, +/- 2ev exposure compensation and they are all similar in size, weight and appearance. All offer excellent image quality and all are "good buys" depending on how much you want to spend. If you're looking for a mid-size camera with a lot of control options, these Canon "A" series cameras should be high on your list.

All these cameras are similar in size and weight. The A95, for example, weighs around 335 g (11.8 oz) and is 101.1 x 64.6 x 34.7mm (4.0 x 2.5 x 1.4in)

You can read the full review of the Canon Powershot A80 if you want to get a better idea of the general capabilities of this series of cameras. The A80 isn't in production anymore, but it's very similar to the A75, A85 and A95 (see table above).

The Cute

"Cute" here means small and sleek - but still with good to better than good image quality.

The Canon SD300 is the current "hot" camera. Very small, very light - 147 g (5.2 oz) and 86 x 54 x 21 mm (3.4 x 2.1 x 0.8 in). It has a 4MP sensor and a 35-105/2.8-4.9 (35mm equiv.) lens, both an optical viewfinder and an 2" LCD and takes SD memory cards. The price is around $375.

The Sony DSC-T1 is a 5MP camera with a 38-114/3.5-4.4 (35mm equiv.) lens. It has no optical viewfinder, but it does have a large (2.5") LCD. It uses Sony memory stick Duo memory and is slightly larger than the Canon SD300 at 200 g (7.1 oz) and 91 x 60 x 21 mm (3.6 x 2.4 x 0.8 in). Price, around $450
If you want to go really small - 140 g (4.9 oz), and 90 x 47 x 19 mm (3.5 x 1.9 x 0.7 in) - and you'd like a choice of colors too, the SD20 may be of interest. You sacrifice quite a bit to get that small, there's no optical zoom or optical viewfinder for example. You do get a 5MP sensor and a fast 39mm f2.8 lens. You can also get it in garnet, midnight blue, silver or zen gray, so if color coordination is important to you, this could be your camera...for around $320

Even though it's a little bit larger than the others, the HP R707 is still small and sleek. It has a 4MP sensor and a 39-117/2.8-4.9 lens (35mm equiv) in a stainless steel clad 98.5 x 35.3 x 60 mm (3.9 x 1.4 x 2.4 in) body and it weighs around 180g (6.5oz). I wrote a full review of the HP R707 earlier this year, so take a look at that if you want more information. It's a very nice camera with good image quality and lots of user control available and at it's current price of under $270, I think it's the bargain of the "small and sleek" bunch!

The Cheap (but not nasty!)

Actually the Canon A75 (see above) is a pretty good camera for a very reasonable price and that's what I'd recommend if funds are tight. It has ISO setting from 100-400, a 3x optical zoom, a bunch of exposure modes with manual or auto control, manual or autofocus and good image quality. You can get one for under $180. It's really a bargain.

However if you really want something cheaper you might look at these other options.
The Kodak CX6200. It's only 2MP and it doesn't have an optical zoom lens (38mm f4.5 equivalent fixed focal length), but then again it's under $75. It's fixed focus and autoexposure only. If you're looking for something cheap and simple to give to the kids, but which can yield decent snapshots, this may be what you need.

The FujiFilm FinePix A330 is probably the cheapest decent 3MP digicam with a optical zoom (3x). Discount price is around $135. It has a 38-114/2.8-4.5 (35mm equiv.) zoom, one ISO setting (ISO 100), autofocus and automatic exposure. It's not as flexible as the Canon A75, but it is around $45 cheaper.