Dave's Picks

Canon's latest A-series delivers great images, and is well-built and reliable... (more)

Canon's latest A-series delivers great images, and is well-built and reliable
The Canon A2000 IS generally does a good job upholding the strong tradition of Canon's A-series cameras. Its 6x zoom lens shows very good optical quality, and its 10-megapixel sensor delivers plenty of detail at low ISOs. It does pretty well at high ISOs as well, as you can make 8x10 inch prints from its output up to about ISO 800, and ISO 1,600 images are usable at 4x6 inches. Important for family photography, the Canon A2000 IS also handles household incandescent lighting unusually well, producing very nice-looking images. The A2000 uses AA batteries, something many users look for in a camera, figuring they'll never be far from finding replacements when needed. Really, the Canon A2000IS has only a single defect, a slow flash recycle time. Still, there's no arguing with the high image quality, and the Canon A2000's ISO 800 setting ought to allow you to get good shots without a flash, making the Canon A2000 a Dave's Pick. (minimize)

A delightful, versatile digital camera with a long zoom and plenty of charm... (more)

A delightful, versatile digital camera with a long zoom and plenty of charm
Canon's most refined entry into the pocket long-zoom digital camera category, the PowerShot SX200, features a gorgeous 12x zoom ranging from 28-336mm, but slips into a jacket pocket with ease. A big 3-inch LCD leaves no room for an optical viewfinder on the Canon SX200 but at this zoom range it would be woefully inaccurate anyway. Just packed with popular Canon features, the Canon SX200 also sports optical image stabilization, an HD movie mode, and face detection that can track your subjects around the screen even when they turn away from the camera. The usual stack of automatic modes graces the Canon SX200, but you'll be pleased to find Shutter and Aperture priority settings, as well as full Manual exposure modes. The Canon SX200 IS a good take-anywhere digital camera, great for the novice and enthusiast alike and is worth a closer look. Click here for our review of the Canon SX200 IS. (minimize)

First of a new breed, the Olympus E-P1 has charm, presence, and takes a snappy image... (more)

First of a new breed, the Olympus E-P1 has charm, presence, and takes a snappy image
Though technically they didn't invent Micro Four Thirds, Olympus really defined its advantage with the introduction of the Olympus PEN E-P1, a camera whose size creates a whole new category of interchangeable lens digital cameras. Its 12.3-megapixel sensor produces sharp images that rival larger digital SLR cameras, but both kit lenses are small enough to make the Olympus E-P1 easier to take more places. With most of the features that grace Olympus digital SLRs -- things like Live View, face detection, the SuperSonic Wave filter for dust reduction, image stabilization, and multiple exposure -- the Olympus E-P1 only leaves out the optical viewfinder and phase-detect autofocus. New features like digital leveling, HD video, and 324-area matrix metering make their debut in the Olympus E-P1, so it's not just a smaller camera with a retro look, it's also quite forward looking. We've spent quite a bit of time with the Olympus E-P1, click the links to read our full review of this groundbreaking new design. An issue with the 14-42 kit lens at some shutter speeds and focal lengths meant the kit with that optic just missed being a Dave's Pick (although it's fine for 8x10 prints under any condition, and good for 13x19s on a tripod or at shutter speeds above 1/200 second), so our official thumbs up is for the kit with the 17mm lens. Great for street photography, and lots more convenient for a carry-around camera than any SLR on the market! (For zoom shooters, if you don't print handheld shots in the range of 1/80 - 1/200 second larger than 8 x 10 inches, the 14-42mm lens delivers really excellent images for a kit lens.) (minimize)

Rugged never looked so good... (more)

Rugged never looked so good
Finding a good quality waterproof digital camera is one thing, but finding a waterproof digital camera that takes great pictures like the Panasonic TS1, that's another. Most waterproof digital cameras lean heavily on their rugged capabilities to attract users, but the Panasonic Lumix TS1 delivers better quality images thanks to its 12.1-megapixel sensor, excellent 4.6x optical zoom, and optical image stabilization. The quality is so high, in fact, that we're pretty sure Panasonic is doing special post-processing in the TS1 to nearly eliminate chromatic aberration and other forms of distortion. That translates into better image quality from center to corner, despite the 28mm wide-angle lens, supporting some pretty big prints. We haven't seen a better rugged digital camera than the Panasonic TS1. Click here to read our Express Review of the Panasonic TS1. (minimize)