« Return to: Top 10 Digital Cameras, Under $500
| Rank | Digital camera under $500 | Street price (5/30/01) | Overall rating1 | Output | Ease of use | Battery life (shots)2 | Pixels (millions) at maximum resolution3 | Bundled media/ capacity(MB) | Picture capacity at highest4/lowest resolution | Focal range (35mm equivalent) | Aperture range | Shutter speed range (seconds) | Optical/LCD viewfinders | Manual focus override | Manual exposure controls5 | Photo output connections | Video/audio recording | Weight with batteries and media (ounces) | Batteries6 | Comments |
| 1 | Best Buy HP PhotoSmart 618 800/752-0900 www.photosmart.com | $399 | 78 | Good | Good | Good: 199 | 2.1 @ 1600 by 1200 | CompactFlash/16 | 15/165 | 34-108mm | f2.4-f4 | 4-1/1000 | Yes/Yes | Yes | M, A, S | USB, IRDA, video | No/Yes | 10.6 | Four AA | HP includes some nifty features with the 618, such as the ability to group pictures into categories inside the camera, create watermarks, and add audio memos. |
| 2 | Best Buy, New Toshiba PDR-M61 800/288-1354 www.dsc.toshiba.com | $399 | 77 | Good | Good | Excellent: 312 | 2.3 @ 1792 by 1200 | SmartMedia/8 | 7/112 | 38-114mm | f2.8, f3.2 | 3-1/500 | Yes/Yes | No | None | USB | No/No | 14.3 | Four AA | Somewhat bulky and heavy, and no manual controls, but very sharp images and lengthy battery life. |
| 3 | New Olympus Camedia Brio D-100 800/622-6372 www.olympus.com | $249 | 77 | Good | Very good | Limited: 29 | 1.3 @ 1280 by 960 | SmartMedia/8 | 8/82 | 35mm | f2.8, f8 | 1/2-1/1000 | Yes/Yes | No | None | USB, video | No/No | 7.1 | One 3-volt disposable lithium or two AA | A small, simple point-and-shooter that's easy to use and very inexpensive, but has pathetic battery life. |
| 4 | New Kodak DX3500 800/235-6325 www.kodak.com | $299 | 77 | Very good | Very good | Very good: 218 | 2.2 @ 1800 by 1200 | Internal7/8 | 12/50 | 38mm | f4.5, f8 | 1/8-1/1200 | Yes/Yes | No | None | USB, video | No/No | 8.9 | Two AA | Superb images for the under-$500 crowd, but few extra controls. A useful docking station is $80 extra. |
| 5 | Olympus Camedia C-2040 Zoom 800/622-6372 www.olympus.com | $499 | 77 | Good | Good | Adequate: 147 | 2.11 @ 1600 by 1200 | SmartMedia/8 | 7/82 | 40-120mm | f1.8-f10 | 16-1/800 | Yes/Yes | Yes | M, A, S | USB, video | Yes/No | 13.7 | Two 3-volt disposable lithium or four AA | A close cousin to the C-3040, this camera offers lower maximum resolution but nearly equal image quality. It's a nice looking camera and solidly designed, but won't capture audio with the video recording. |
| 6 | Fujifilm FinePix 2400 Zoom 800/800-3854 www.fujifilm.com | $399 | 76 | Good | Adequate | Very good: 259 | 2.1 @ 1600 by 1200 | SmartMedia/8 | 10/89 | 39-114mm | f3.5-f8.7 | 1/2-1/750 | Yes/Yes | No | None | USB | No/No | 12.1 | Four AA | Above-average image quality and a zoom lens, all for a moderate price. Menu controls, however, could be better. |
| 7 | New Canon PowerShot A20 800/652-2666 www.powershot.com | $399 | 73 | Good | Adequate | Limited: 66 | 2.1 @ 1600 by 1200 | CompactFlash/8 | 7/87 | 35-105mm | f2.8, f4.8 | 1-1/1500 | Yes/Yes | No | None | USB, video | No/No | 12.6 | Four AA | Solid and easy to use with average-quality images, but short battery life. Built-in panorama mode helps you line up photos for later stitching in software. |
| 8 | Ricoh RDC-5300 800/459-3968 www.ricohzone.com | $499 | 73 | Adequate | Good | Adequate: 153 | 2.3 @ 1792 by 1200 | Smart Media/8 | 9/165 | 38-114mm | f17.2 | 1-1/500 | Yes/Yes | Yes | None | Serial, USB, video | No/No | 15 | Four AA | Ricoh adds basic features and short support hours to the RDC-5300, but includes a varied photo software bundle and easy-to-use settings. |
| 9 | Sony MVC-FD87 800/222-7669 www.sony.com/di | $499 | 71 | Good | Good | Adequate: 161 | 1.3 @ 1280 by 960 | Floppy disk/1.44 | 6/30 | 39-117mm | f2.8-f2.9 | 2-1/725 | No/Yes | Yes | None | Floppy | No/No | 21.3 | One rechargeable | Sony outfitted this digicam with both a floppy drive and enough pixels to produce adequate images, but it can only fit six images on a floppy at best resolution. |
| 10 | Minolta Dimage 2330 Zoom 201/825-4000 www.minoltausa.com | $475 | 66 | Good | Adequate | Good: 203 | 2.31 @ 1792 by 1200 | CompactFlash/8 | 8/99 | 38-114mm | f3.4-3.6 | 2-1/500 | Yes/Yes | Yes | None | USB, video | No/No | 13.5 | Four rechargeable | Lots of pixels for a sub-$500 digicam, but very dark images and cumbersome controls. |
1Overall rating is based on price (30 percent), picture quality (20 percent), ease of use (15 percent), features (15 percent), battery life (10 percent), and support (10 percent). For all ratings, higher is better. Data based on tests designed and conducted by the PC World Test Center. All rights reserved.
2Measured as number of shots taken before battery runs out.
3Number represents maximum noninterpolated image resolution. Some manufacturers don't use the entire CCD to capture an image; others interpolate using software to create a larger image.
4Capacity at highest noncompressed resolution. Many cameras can take uncompressed TIFF images but store fewer of them.
5Abbreviations stand for full manual (M), aperture priority (A), shutter priority (S), and program priority (P). All cameras offer basic EV (exposure value) control, unless otherwise noted.
6Type and number of standard batteries used in the camera. In most cases, optional rechargeable batteries are available for cameras that use AA batteries.
7This camera also provides a CompactFlash media slot.