Gift Guide

It's A Snap!

BY LISA BRODY

I

'm the designated family photog-
rapher. Every family vacation,
holiday, school event, soccer
game, or "photo op", there I am,
snapping away. We will have a record
of every moment in our children's
lives, whether they like it or not.
Problem is, sometimes I forget to
get the pictures developed right away.
Or I'll only use half a roll of film, and
then not pick up the camera for a
month. By the time the film is devel-
oped, the memory is almost forgotten.

It's time to catch the newest wave.
The digital camera wave.
Digital cameras, once the province
of camera aficionados only, are now
more affordable and available for any-
one who wants to take a picture.
Ken Dworkin, owner of Century
Camera, says that one great aspect of
digital cameras is that you do not
need to buy film, and processing costs
are much less. "You just need reusable
memory cards, and then you can
eliminate images that you do not like,

and just print the best ones," he says.
"You also can download images onto
your computer, and you can e-mail
them to friends, or use the photos on
your Web site."
Jim Rose of Birmingham loves his
Minolta digital camera for exactly
that reason. "I send digital photos to
people, and it's easier to send if you
start out in the digital format to begin
with," he says.
Earl Band, sales associate at Ritz
Camera at Somerset Collection in

Troy, points out that more people are
choosing digital cameras because of
the immediacy these cameras bring.
"The picture you take, you can see
on the screen in the back of the cam-
era, immediately," he says. "If you
don't like the picture, you can erase
it. The only images on your memory
card can be the ones you want to
keep." Before printing the picture,
you can edit the image on your com-
puter, cropping it, cutting -out
IT'S A SNAP on page G30

The Best Digital Cameras This Holiday Season

ByLisa Brody

ou are ready to plunge
i nto the great digital
divide. But what should
you look for? First,
decide what you are going to use
the camera for. If you just want
to e-mail pictures to friends, you
won't need to spend as much as
if you want photo-quality prints.

Joel Waldbott, sales associate at
Ritz Camera at Somerset
Collection in Troy, says that, like
regular photography, the bigger
the camera lens, the better the
quality of the photo. He explains
that photographers need at least
2.1 megapixels for decent pho-
tography.
"If you just
want point-and-
shoot type snap-
shots, you want a
2x200m or
3x200m lens
camera," he says.
"The longer the
zoom, the better,
but that takes a
bigger lens."
Waldbott also
suggests you check
out the power
supply of the cam-
era. Check to see

whether you can use lithium
batteries, nickel metal hydride
batteries, or rechargeable. Here
are the hot cameras for Holiday
2001:

Fuji A101—$170

If someone is seeking the sim-
plest, most user-friendly digital
camera, this is the perfect
choice. It has a compact b-
ounce body, and 8MB
SmartMedia and video record-
ing capability (without the
sound). Also, the A101 pos-
sesses a fun PC Cam mode.
Home users can print photos
up to 8 x 10 inches from
home.

fully automatic, 2.31 MP reso-
lution and 2x digital zoom. It
makes it easy to save photos to
an 8 MB internal flash memory. •

Fuji A201—$250
This model has the same great
compact body and features as
the A101, but also carries a
16MB SmartMedia Card, and
allows users to print photos
up to 11 x 14 inches.

Fuji FinePix 2600 Zoom—
$300

HP Photosmart 318
Digital Camera—$199

This camera is compact and
lightweight at just 8 ounces.
The 2600 offers a 3x Optical
Zoom• lens, and has a 16 MB
SmartMedia Card. It also has
fun videoconferencing and PC
Cam features.

This camera enables inexperi-
enced users to point, shoot and
click with great results with its

DIGITAL CAMERAS

on page G30

11/23
2001

G29