Top 10 Digital Cameras Under $500

The news about four- and five-megapixel cameras may interest photo enthusiasts with lots of disposable income, but the other 90 percent of consumers for whom money is an issue may harrumph at the four-figure price tags. This month our new Best Buy, the Olympus Camedia D-370, rings in at just $199, making the point that pixels may drive the digital camera market, but a low price frequently will drive the sale.

The Camedia D-370 is a starter camera designed for people moving from point-and-shoot film cameras to digital. If you can figure out a low-end film camera, you can probably figure out the D-370: It requires a small number of configuration choices, and the camera tucks into easily accessible menus the few it does have. Of course, you have to give up something for the rock-bottom price, and in this case, you'll give up resolution. With only 1.3 megapixels--a pittance compared with the other models we looked at--you can forget about print enlargements. But we found the D-370 capable of producing attractive 4-by-6 prints--perfect for its intended audience.

The other new camera we tested this month, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P50, costs twice as much as Olympus's D-370, but it offers nearly twice the resolution (at 2.1 megapixels) and does a better job on large prints. But the DSC-P50's battery life with its standard AA batteries came up far short: We only got 57 shots out of a set of two batteries. An optional lithium ion battery and charger provided three times as much battery life, but they cost an extra $100.

Next month we'll recharge our own batteries: We're working on a big camera roundup, for which the PC World Test Center is revising its test suite and analyzing approximately 16 cameras. The comparison will appear in the December 2001 print edition of PC World, and online in late October.

For our review of the HP Photosmart 618, please see our "Sharp Shooters" feature story (December 2000).