Digital Cameras for the Holidays

Things to Consider

Readers have been screaming that we are ignoring photo beginners and the point-and-shoot crowd. We hope that this year those readers no longer feel ignored. It's amazing to us how fast the P&S market has dropped in price and consolidated features. That made it much easier to find and recommended the $100 choices and the superzoom point-and-shoots. If you have suggestions for future recommendations, we would welcome hearing from you.

Last year when we looked at the DSLR market we commented, "It certainly appears that the DSLR camp is going to be split by manufacturers in the near future to full-frame pro models and APS C entry to prosumer models. This will require companies to support two lens lines with some overlap, but the pros will win this one and we will still be using mainly 35mm glass for quality results on the APS C cameras. There will be cheaper 'small sensor' lenses, as there now are, but perhaps fewer of these in the future."

The split has happened and we have a pretty clear delineation these days of the full-frame and crop-sensor markets. We did not see it coming last year, but there is also change coming from the bottom of the market in the next couple of years. In case you missed it, we are firmly convinced that the Panasonic G1 is truly revolutionary and will bring dramatic change to both the point-and-shoot and DSLR markets. The large sensor point-and-shoots are coming and they will push up into the DSLR market with new models without mirror boxes, new smaller lenses, and a Live View and easy Movie Mode that will push even higher into DSLR space.

Panasonic has proved with the G1 that you can take today's point-and-shoot features like Live View that all DSLRs are now featuring, rework it so it's faster and more useful, and make that feature palatable and desirable to real DSLR photographers. That means we will see new cheaper and smaller lenses at the middle, pushing their way up into prosumer DSLR space. That could also mean a lot of new lenses in new form factors - with current lens offerings from the current DSLR players just moving up the food chain.

Then there is the subject of movies on the DSLR. One industry analyst believes all pros will be shooting mainly HD video on interchangeable lens DSLRs within 2 years. Editors will grab frames they want for "still media" from the HD movie clips the pros shoot. That's a pretty wild prediction - or is it? Perhaps the Canon 5D Mark II is just the beginning of a deluge.

One thing we can be sure of is that the lines between image and electronics are getting ready to go through a major blurring in the next few years. What is now a camera, or a DSLR, or a movie camera, or lenses, or optics, are about to change in definition faster than we can think of new ways to use the evolving technology. Photo purists who complain about things like noise reduction on a Sony sensor or image processing chips in Panasonic cameras that correct for lens distortion are likely to find some of these changes very frustrating. This level of upheaval is always a time of frustration as things we know change very rapidly.

By this point, we hope we have shed some new light on your holiday shopping for a digital camera. Our recommendations may not be popular with some, but we have personally spent time with every camera discussed in this guide and we call them like we see them. Have fun shopping for the best buy in a digital camera this holiday season - whether your treasure is a $100 point-and-shoot or a $3000 full-frame DSLR.

There are many great buys out there and you will likely see lots of super prices as manufacturers fight for market share in this worldwide economic slowdown. Performance is good enough on most of these entry cameras that you would not be wrong to shop for the best price you can find in a category. Just make sure you ask the right questions to get exactly what you want. Whatever you choose, be sure to take lots of digital pictures of your family and friends opening their Holiday presents.

Happy Holidays from AnandTech!