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Topics > Products > Hardware > Peripherals and Components > Imaging and Photography > Digital Cameras > High-End > | |
| Rank | Digital camera: $500 and up | Street price (7/6/01) | Overall rating1 | Output | Ease of Use | Battery life (shots)2 | Pixels (millions) at maximum resolution3 | Bundled media/capacity (MB) | Picture capacity at highest4/lowest resolution | Focal range (35mm equivalent) | Aperture range | Shutter speed range (seconds) | Optical/LCD viewfinders | Manual focus override | Manual exposure controls5 | Photo output connections | Video/Audio recording | Weight with batteries and media (ounces) | Batteries6 | Comments | |
| 1 | Best Buy Nikon Coolpix 995
800/645-6689
www.nikonusa.com | $899 | 85 | Very good | Adequate | Excellent: 363 | 3.34 @ 2048 by 1536 | CompactFlash/16 | 1/42 | 38mm-152mm | f2.6-f14 | 60-1/2300 | Yes/Yes | Yes | M, A, S, P | USB, video | Yes/No | 16.2 | One rechargeable | Offers a huge, sometimes intimidating list of features. Some of the best images we've seen, plus battery life that doubles that of its predecessor. | | | 2 | Best Buy, New Epson PhotoPC 3100Z
800/463-7766
www.epson.com | $779 | 84 | Very good | Very good | Very good: 229 | 3.34 @ 2048 by 1536 | CompactFlash/16 | 12/199 | 34mm-102mm | f2-f8 | 8-1/1000 | Yes/Yes | Yes | M, A, S, P | USB, video | Yes/Yes | 16.9 | Four AA | An upgrade to the easy-to-use, former Best Buy 3000Z, this new model adds an interpolated 2544-by-1904 maximum resolution and a new print tagging button.  | | | 3 | Olympus Camedia C-3040 Zoom
800/622-6372
www.olympus.com | $799 | 81 | Very good | Good | Adequate: 147 | 3.34 @ 2048 by 1536 | SmartMedia/16 | 6/165 | 35mm-105mm | f1.8-f10 | 16-1/800 | Yes/Yes | Yes | M, A, S | Serial, USB, video | Yes/Yes | 13.7 | Two 3-volt disposable Lithium or four AA | Boxy but stylish camera produces great shots. Loads of control options, but too many of them in the menu system. Fast f1.8 zoom lens and flexible battery choices. Supports USB Storage Class for connecting to a PC without software. | | | 4 | New Casio QV-3500EX
800/836-8580
www.casio.com | $599 | 81 | Very good | Adequate | Very good: 223 | 3.3 @ 2048 by 1536 | CompactFlash/16 | 10/89 | 33mm-100mm | f2-f8 | 60-1/1000 | Yes/Yes | Yes | M, A, S, P | Serial, USB, video | Yes/No | 15.9 | Four AA | Not an especially easy-to-use camera, nor is it the most attractive, but it takes great shots and has a bargain price. Novel Best Shot feature helps you compose your shot and use the best settings for the situation.  | | | 5 | Fujifilm FinePix 6800 Zoom
800/800-3854
www.fujifilm.com | $899 | 80 | Very good | Adequate | Good: 186 | 3.3 @ 2048 by 1536 | SmartMedia/16 | 6/163 | 36mm-108mm | f2.8-f10.8 | 3-1/2000 | Yes/Yes | Yes | P | USB, video | Yes/Yes | 10.3 | One rechargeable | This small, light, Porsche-designed digicam looks technically refined and takes very good pictures, but the menus are difficult to navigate. Can capture short movies. | | | 6 | Olympus Camedia E-10
800/622-6372
www.olympus.com | $1799 | 79 | Good | Very good | Limited: 69 | 4.0 @ 2240 by 1680 | SmartMedia7/32 | 11/397 | 35mm-140mm | f2-f11 | 8-1/640 | Yes/Yes | Yes | M, A, S | USB, video | No/No | 40.2 | Two 3-volt disposable lithium or four AA | Four megapixels, through-the-lens viewing, and a huge number of control dials and buttons make the E-10 an attractive addition to the serious digital photographer's camera bag. Now $200 less. | | | 7 | HP Photosmart 912
800/752-0900
www.photosmart.com | $599 | 78 | Good | Very good | Adequate: 155 | 2.24 @ 1600 by 1280 | CompactFlash/16 | 2/159 | 34mm-107mm | f2.5-f17 | 4-1/1000 | Yes/Yes | Yes | M, A, S, P | USB, IRDA, video | No/Yes | 21.6 | Four AA | A $200 price drop moves the 912 up the chart. It offers an SLR-like case, extensive and intuitive controls, and solid images. It should interest anyone switching from a though-the-lens 35mm camera. | | | 8 | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P1
800/222-7669
www.sony.com/di | $699 | 78 | Good | Outstanding | Adequate: 115 | 3.34 @ 2048 by 1536 | Memory Stick/8 | 5/118 | 39mm-117mm | f2.8-f5.3 | 2-1/2000 | Yes/Yes | No | P | USB, video | Yes/Yes | 8.8 | One rechargeable | Innovative design, easy-to-use controls, and diminutive size make this camera ideal for trendy snapshooters. The optional $250 underwater case is light and easy to use. | | | 9 | New Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S75
800/222-7669
www.sony.com/di | $699 | 78 | Good | Good | Very good: 252 | 3.3 @ 2048 by 1536 | Memory Stick/8 | 5/118 | 34mm-102mm | f2.1-f8 | 8-1/1000 | Yes/Yes | Yes | M, A, S, P | USB, video | Yes/Yes | 15.7 | One rechargable | This solid, good-looking camera takes fine photos; it has a wide range of exposure controls, but they can be confusing and frustrating. | | | 10 | Toshiba PDR-M65
800/288-1354
www.dsc.toshiba.com | $599 | 77 | Very good | Good | Very good: 259 | 3.34 @ 2048 by 1536 | SmartMedia/8 | 6/77 | 38mm-114mm | f3.2-f3.7 | 1-1/500 | Yes/Yes | No | None | USB, video | No/No | 14.3 | Four AA | A simple camera with few fancy controls compared with other cameras offering the same resolution. Can capture sharp, detailed images, but doesn't reproduce color well. |
1Overall rating is based on price (30 percent), picture quality (20 percent), ease of use (15 percent), features (15 percent), battery life (10 percent), and support (10 percent). For all ratings, higher is better. Data based on tests designed and conducted by the PC World Test Center. All rights reserved.
2Measured as number of shots taken before battery runs out.
3Number represents maximum noninterpolated image resolution. Some manufacturers don't use the entire CCD to capture an image; others interpolate using software to create a larger image.
4Capacity at highest noncompressed resolution. Many cameras can take uncompressed TIFF images, but can store fewer of them.
5Abbreviations stand for full manual (M), aperture priority (A), shutter priority (S), and program priority (P). All cameras offer basic EV (exposure value) control, unless otherwise noted.
6Type and number of standard batteries used in the camera. In most cases, optional rechargeable batteries are available for cameras that use AA batteries.
7This camera also offers a slot for CompactFlash media.
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