We know for a fact that choosing, or rather buying the best digital camera for ourselves is really a dictation of our budget. If form and functionality is the main issue, without further thought to the price, (we so envy you), then it would be best to sieve through the various offerings for professional cameras. These are really the best cameras in the market – bar none. These newer models usually have additional features that should assuage the heavy price tag of your investment.
Our top recommendation as of the moment is the Olympus E-3. The wonderful design alone is enough to make your jaw drop. It’s compact but offers a plethora of techie features that is bound to leave others in the dust. Mind you, this is a complicated piece of contraption, best suited to those who have a lot of experience handling professional cameras. In other words, novices may find themselves having a difficult time working out the kinks, so to speak.
The Olympus E-3 boasts of (among many things) the fastest auto-focusing speed because of its Supersonic Wave Drive lenses. If you do not have a particularly large pocket, we strongly recommend you do not ask for the Olympus E-3 price tag. (But hey, we’ll tell you anyway. It is between $2,000 and $4,000.)
Naturally, there are more sophisticated cameras in the market, like the: Canon EOS 5D, Fujifilm S5 Pro, and Nikon D3. But we like Olympus E-3: it looks particularly smart making whoever is holding the camera look the same (or so we hope.) More high-end models are coming out every month, with their own sets of dizzying features, and rather breath-taking price tags (within the Olympus E-3 price range.) If you really want the professional models, it would be best to keep an eye out for the new models for 2008.
However, if you are like a greater number of the populace who think with practicality and a conscious hand on the credit card expenses, you may want to look into the more affordable compact cameras. A professional camera is certainly grand, but if you are an avid hobbyist on a budget, you can be assured that there are a lot of quality models that can be available of without literally breaking the bank.
For digital compact cameras within the $600 to $1,500 price range, we highly recommend the: Canon Powershot G9, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, Ricoh Caplio GX100, and the Sigma DP1.
For digital compact cameras within the $400 to $600 price range, we recommend the: Canon Digital IXUS 860 IS, Canon PowerShot A710 IS, Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55, and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5.
For digital compact cameras under $400, we will point you to the direction of the: Canon Digital IXUS 55, Fujifilm Finepix E900, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ10, and the Ricoh Caplio R7.
There are also great finds in the digital compact camera market if you really only take the time to read through most product reviews and even ask around for recommendations. Some of the more note-worthy camera to check out include the: Canon EOS 40D, Canon EOS 450D, Nikon D300, Nikon D60, Nikon D80, Nikon L18, Olympus E-420, Olympus E-510, Olympus SP-570 UZ, Pentax K20D, Sony A200, and the Sony A700.
