Step 1: How Will You Use Your Digital Camera?

How you plan to use your digital camera can influence what size camera is best and which features you may want.

Step 2: Resolution- How Many Megapixels Do You Need?

How do you decide how many megapixels you should get? Some tips to help you understand just what megapixels are and why they are important.

Step 3: Features- Which Features Do You Want?

Digital cameras offer many features that allow you to have more control over the photos you want to get. This article explains some of these features and what they do.

Here’s to better photography…

Al Hannigan

CNET offers these short video reviews on some of the more popular digital cameras. You will have to sit through a very short product commercial first, but the review video will give you some good information on the latest additions to the digital camera marketplace

• Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
  
  The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 is a camera that people will either love for its speed, photo quality, and interchangeable-lens flexibility, or hate for its large-ish size, electronic viewfinder, and occasionally frustrating design.
  


• Canon EOS 50D
  
  The Canon EOS 50D is a compelling--but not necessarily a must-have--midrange dSLR choice for Canon upgraders.
  


• Canon PowerShot SD880 IS
  
  Simply put, the Canon PowerShot SD880 IS is an excellent point-and-shoot camera.
  


• Fujifilm FinePix F60fd
  
  Fujifilm's FinePix F60fd is a nice full-featured compact camera, if you can overlook its slow shooting speed.
  


• Canon PowerShot SD770 IS
  
  A solid ultracompact, the SD770 IS nevertheless faces stiff competition from its closely priced line mates, the cheaper SD1100 IS and the better SD790 IS.
  


• Canon PowerShot G10
  
  The Canon PowerShot G10 is a solid enthusiast digital camera for those who want something compact to complement a dSLR.
  


• Canon PowerShot A580
  
  The PowerShot A580 features nearly identical hardware as the A590, but with a slimmed-down feature set. It keeps the same 8-megapixel resolution and 4x optical zoom lens as the A590 IS, but forgoes the optical stabilization system and accessory lens compatibility. Worse yet for skilled users, it lacks the A590 IS' manual exposure controls.
  


• Kodak EasyShare M1033
  
  Kodak's EasyShare M1033 is a better-than-average budget ultracompact.
  


• Sony Alpha DSLR-A900
  
  Sony's 24-megapixel digital SLR is finally official. We've tested it in the lab and shot with it in the field; here's our preliminary verdict.
  


• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50
  
  Though it can't match the stalker creds of Olympus' SP-570 UZ, Sony's latest top-of-the-line megazoom has its own attractions. Like the recently announced H10, the H50 offers a modest update over its predecessor.