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The Big Pixel

We review 15 new digital cameras, ranging from a $199 point-and-shoot to 4-megapixel professional models, to help you find the best deal.

Carla Thornton

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It's been a big year for digital cameras. With 4-megapixel models hitting store shelves, photography buffs are getting more for their money than ever before. Priced between $500 and $1000, these new high-end cameras take digital photography to new heights, producing images that look as good as--and in some cases even better than--images on film.

As high-end models have increased in resolution, so have those at the low end. Digital cameras capable of taking 2.1-megapixel pictures, priced at over a grand just a couple of years ago, now sell for less than $500 (some for less than $200). Industry experts predict 3-megapixel cameras will gradually follow suit.

The 15 digital cameras under-$1000 in our review mirrored this trend--9 of them are priced under $500.

Picture This

To put each of the cameras through its paces, we took a variety of pictures indoors (at our photo studio) and outdoors, at both the highest and the lowest resolutions, with and without the flash. We evaluated the resulting images in three forms: as low-resolution shots viewed on screen and as higher-resolution 4-by-6 and 8-by-10 prints. The big news, at least for budget-watchers: Though this year's batch of (relatively) low-cost digital cameras may still lack the bells and whistles of models priced in the $700 to $1000 range, they reproduce details better than ever. And the colors generated by this year's crop look particularly good when compared with those of last year's sub-$500 group.

That said, 4-megapixel cameras still hold the print quality edge in our tests. Canon's $899 4.0-megapixel PowerShot G2 took the overall prize for best pictures, followed by Toshiba's $699 4.2-megapixel PDR-M81. And Sony's $799 4.1-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-S85, while not ranked as high in overall print quality, posted the best score in our evaluation of a cropped image, where resolution plays a big part.

For producing low-resolution pictures for e-mailing and posting on Web sites, lower-pixel-count cameras hold their own against the 4-megapixel powerhouses, with Canon's $399 2.1-megapixel PowerShot A20 claiming the top honors in our low-resolution on-screen test.

Enlargements? Use Film

Not all is picture-perfect for digital camera enthusiasts. Traditional film cameras are still better equipped for the price. For less than $500 you can get a single-lens reflex model with a zoom lens, extensive exposure controls, and the option to add more powerful lenses.

Consider also the issue of picture quality. Affordable film cameras maintain a slight edge over digital competitors in producing sharp, color-accurate pictures. And if your work requires poster-size enlargements beyond 8 by 10 inches, you should probably stick with film. According to Sally Smith-Clemens, product manager at Olympus, to begin to approximate the fine grain in a 16-by-20 enlargement produced by a film camera, you would have to invest in a 6- to 8-megapixel professional digital camera, for which prices start at around $3000.

However, any of the top digital cameras on our charts will easily serve your needs for 4-by-6 or 5-by-7 snapshots and 8-by-10 images at very close to film quality. You can squeeze even better pictures out of one of these cameras by investing in extra equipment, such as a dye-sublimation printer.

The instant gratification that digital cameras provide outweighs their drawbacks, both for casual shutterbugs and for businesses needing quick photo-based documentation. Andrew Johnson, analyst for the research firm Gartner Group, predicts that digital camera sales will surpass film camera sales in 2005.

New and improved accessory products are making it easier to use a digital camera to its full potential. Image editing software, photo-sharing Web sites, and photo-quality ink jet printers that can use better papers and inks to produce longer-lasting prints all allow you to easily tweak and share the pictures you take. For tips on putting together an image editing suite, see the July 2001 article " Desktop Darkroom," and to find out how to keep your prints vibrant, see the same issue's " Fight Photo Fade-Out."

Goodbye, Serial Port

One digital camera trend that owners of older PCs may not appreciate is the disappearance of the serial connection. Many of last year's cameras still had one, but now even low-end models rely exclusively on the faster, more modern USB port to connect to your PC. If you're determined to keep your older PC and you have a new digital camera, you'll have to spend about $40 for a USB expansion card, which plugs into an empty PCI slot.

More welcome is the inclusion of lithium ion batteries and rechargers with many digital cameras (typically those priced above $500). Rechargeable batteries are a must, unless you enjoy spending your hard-earned dollars to endlessly replace standard alkaline AA batteries. Fortunately, you can buy a set of rechargeable AA nickel metal hydride batteries and a charger for around $30.

Whether you desire a digital camera for fun or business, and whether you want to take quick pictures to e-mail to the family or make high-quality, framable prints, there's a good chance you'll find just what you're looking for here. If not, visit www.pcworld.com for reviews of cameras that missed the chart. And head over to find.pcworld.com/15782 for reviews of new high-end models that reached our lab too late for inclusion in this roundup.

Best Buys

Canon's $899 PowerShot G2 ranks highest on our $500 and over chart. Though heavy and a bit difficult to use, the PowerShot G2 took the finest pictures and lasts a long time on one battery charge--almost 350 shots.

Toshiba's $299 PDR-M61 offers basic settings and controls, takes about 330 shots on one battery charge, and produces generally sharp printed photos.

Carla Thornton is a contributing editor for PC World.

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