Digital Focus: Camera Shopping for the Holidays

What to give, what to ask for, and what to buy for yourself.

Dave Johnson

Feature: Camera Shopping for the Holidays

It's that time of year again. You know, "Jingle Bells" and all that jazz--if I can mix musical metaphors, so to speak. And if I know my Digital Focus readers like I think I do, then there's one burning question on all your minds: What can I buy Dave for the holidays?

It's sweet of you, really, but save your money. Unless you can somehow arrange an all-expenses-paid Caribbean scuba diving vacation for me, let's concentrate on you and your friends. What digital camera holiday treats should you be looking for this year?

Thinking About Cameras

Have a hankering for a new digital camera? This is the best year in the history of digital imaging to be shopping (or begging) for a new model. Across the board, cameras are better and more affordable than ever.

Want small and light? Try the Casio Exilim series on for size. The EX-S3 is a 4-megapixel, $350 model so thin that--excluding the lens--it's about as thick as about four credit cards sandwiched together. I can't think of a smaller, lighter, less obtrusive camera. Heck, it's a little expensive for a stocking stuffer, but it'll fit in one like a champ. (You can find it for about $300 at the PCWorld.com Product Finder.)

Then there are budget cameras--models like Kodak's EasyShare CX6200, which runs less than $100, and Hewlett-Packard's PhotoSmart 435, which costs about $150. The EasyShare CX6200 is a solid 2-megapixel camera, good for digital snapshots; the PhotoSmart 435 captures 3 megapixels, adequate for 8-by-10 prints. These are great models to introduce someone to the world of digital photography.

Big, Beefy Cameras

If you want a more powerful camera, consider the $699 Olympus Camedia C-5060, one of the best 5-megapixel cameras ever made. It has a 4X optical zoom that starts much wider than most comparable digital cameras. It's ideal for indoor and landscape photography, as well as professional applications like real estate; and it features dual memory card slots (CompactFlash and XD Picture Card).

The 5-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F717 is a close competitor. It packs a 5X optical zoom, multiple metering options, infrared night photography, and a dozen other features. You can even edit video clips while they're still in the camera! At press time, I found the Cyber-shot DSC-F717 for around $600 at our Product Finder.

While I really like the Cyber-shot DSC-F717, it's about to be overshadowed by the soon-to-be-released Cyber-shot DSC-F828. It's so new that I haven't held it in my hands yet, but based on features alone I'm almost ready to marry it. This camera boasts a 7X optical zoom lens, an 8-megapixel sensor, and a slew of automatic and programmed exposure modes that make my own Nikon D100 already feel dated. Downside? It'll cost $1200, so if you want to put one under the tree, start saving now. You can find a thorough early look at the Cyber-shot DSC-F828 at the Digital Photography Review.

Do Your Homework

To learn more about your options, check out "Digital Cameras: Impress With Pixels," the current PCWorld.com digital camera roundup.

No matter what camera you're interested in, I suggest running it through our Product Finder. I'm not saying that just because my editor says I have to--it's a great way to find the best price on hardware and software.

I hope that look at digital cameras has helped get you into the holiday spirit. Next week I'll wrap up our shopping spree with a look at some digital photography accessories, software, and books.

Dave's Favorites: Make 3D Photo Albums With FlipAlbum 5 Standard

The popularity of digital photos has had one regrettable side effect on our lives--the decline of old-fashioned photo albums. Sure, digital images are great, but there's something to be said for the quaint experience of smelling those musty old albums, turning pages, reading hand-lettered captions, and anticipating what will be on the next sheet of paper. FlipAlbum 5 can't help bring back the smells of those old albums, but it does a great job of simulating a real photo album in most other respects.

FlipAlbum is a blast to use. It has a handy wizard that lets you specify a folder full of photos and a "theme" for the album design; from there, the program does the rest. You end up with a full-screen album filled with virtual photo pages. You flip through pages by clicking and dragging the a page across the screen. The effect is really cool: The pages curl realistically as they turns. You can add background music, narration, and captions for a complete multimedia album experience. The program automatically creates a table of contents and index that complete the fantasy that this is a real photo album--but they're also functional, since you can click any item to go directly to that page.

When you're done, you can upload FlipAlbum to a Web site (your own site or space on the FlipAlbum server) and e-mail access info to friends and family. With the $60 version of the program (called FlipAlbum Suite), you can also burn the completed album onto CD, which is a more practical approach for larger albums--and a great gift idea. The Standard version lists for just $20. The FlipAlbum viewer is free, so anyone can easily view your creations.

For more info, go to FlipAlbum.com (to download a trial version, click the "Try" link under any product listing). At press time, I found the Standard version for less than $15 at our Product Finder.

Q&A: Which Photo Sites Accept TIFFs?

I have heard that many online photo processors accept images in JPEG format only. Could you post a list of those that accept TIFF files?

--Amber C. Will, San Diego

I don't believe that any do, Amber. And there's a reason for that: JPEG images are very compact, making them easy to send via the Internet. TIFFs, on the other hand, have either no compression at all or minimal compression, so they are huge. A typical 3-megapixel TIFF can be several megabytes in size, far too large for practical use on the Web. None of the online photo services I am aware of take TIFF files, and I wouldn't expect that to change any time soon.

Hot Pics

Get published, get famous! Each week, we select our favorite reader-submitted photo based on creativity, originality and technique. Every month, the best of the weekly winners gets a prize valued at between $15 and $50.

Here's how to enter: Send us your photograph in JPEG format, at a resolution no higher than 640 by 480 pixels. Entries at higher resolutions will be immediately disqualified. If necessary, use an image editing program to reduce the file size of your image before e-mailing it to us. Include the title of your photo along with a short description and how you photographed it. Don't forget to send your name, e-mail address, and postal address. Before entering, please read the full description of the contest rules and regulations.

This week's Hot Pic: "My Prince," by Mary Ann Bozzetti, Bradenton, Florida

Mary Ann says that she took this picture when checking on the ripening bananas on her front porch; she used an HP PhotoSmart 618 she keeps handy. "I went out to fetch a few fingers for our cereal and found My Prince sitting there waiting for me," she says. "I couldn't resist the photo op."

Hot Pic of the Month: Each month we choose one of our weekly winners to be the Hot Pic of the Month. For November we chose "Pelicans," by Gloria Gordon. Gloria captured this picture at a wild bird sanctuary in the Florida Keys.

Congratulations to Gloria and to everyone who won the Hot Pic of the Week this month. Keep those entries coming!

We want your feedback! Send your comments, questions, and suggestions about the newsletter itself to comments@bydavejohnson.com. If you have a question that you'd like to see answered in the weekly Q&A, send it to question@bydavejohnson.com.

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