Dave's Picks

Good build, great speed, and excellent image quality from ISO 100 to 3,200... (more)

Good build, great speed, and excellent image quality from ISO 100 to 3,200
Many features stand out to make the Canon EOS 50D a great digital SLR camera. What will really catch and hold users is the impressive image quality they'll get from the Canon 50D across the standard ISO range of 100 to 3,200. The Canon 50D's new gapless microlenses allow greater light gathering ability, making for surprisingly detailed images, even at ISO 800 and 1,600. The Canon 50D's 14-bit analog-to-digital conversion doesn't slow the frame rate down, either, as the camera clicks along at 6.3 frames per second. UDMA support gives the Canon 50D the ability to write to the card at 45MB per second, with support for future cards that will allow writing at up to 133MB per second, making followup shots with the 50D quite fast. The addition of face detection gives the Canon 50D the most complete set of Live View features in an EOS camera, and other operational enhancements make the Canon 50D both easy to work with and provide more depth to explore than ever before. Canon offers more than one kit lens with the 50D, and one is definitely better than the other. Click here to read our full review of the Canon EOS 50D for more! (minimize)

A pretty good SLR at a pretty astonishingly low price!... (more)

A pretty good SLR at a pretty astonishingly low price!
The Canon Rebel XS is a bargain 10-megapixel, image-stabilized digital SLR kit with impressive low-light performance and great optical quality. Though it's not made for enthusiasts, the Canon Rebel XS offers a lot to the consumer photographer, with a 2.5-inch LCD, a 7-point AF sensor, and a very good quality 18-55mm zoom lens with optical image stabilization. The Rebel XS is light, with a good grip and an interface that is easy to learn and use. Image quality is tuned for printing crisp images straight from the camera, and you can print even without a computer thanks to the Canon XS's built-in Print/Share button. While Canon left a lot of high-end features in the Rebel XS, like Live View and AutoLighting Optimizer, the frame rate isn't quite as fast as its sibling the Rebel XSi. Autofocus, though, is very fast, and the Canon XS's high ISO performance combines with the sharp, image-stabilized zoom lens to make a great camera for both indoor and outdoor photography. The Canon Rebel XS is a quality consumer digital SLR camera worth a closer look. Click here for our full Canon Rebel XS review! (minimize)

Canon answers the competition with Live View, image stabilization, and higher resolution... (more)

Canon answers the competition with Live View, image stabilization, and higher resolution
Sporting a new look, the Canon Rebel XSi showcases many new technologies, currently besting the semi-pro camera in the line in several areas. Its 12.2 megapixel sensor exceeds the resolution of the EOS 40D, the new Live View mode uses phase-detect and contrast-detect autofocus modes, and the Rebel XSi's kit bundle comes with a good quality image-stabilized lens. The large 3-inch LCD makes viewing your images easy, and the new Live View mode can help in difficult shooting situations. The Canon XSi's high ISO performance is really impressive, especially for a 12-megapixel camera. The Canon XSi's redesigned body is simple and handsome, and the grip has a little more room for medium-sized hands. The real story is in the Canon Rebel XSi's image quality, and there's plenty to tell. Click here for our full review of the truly excellent Canon Rebel XSi. (minimize)

A surprisingly excellent SLR that will take the market by storm... (more)

A surprisingly excellent SLR that will take the market by storm
We've been pleasantly surprised with the Nikon D40's excellent performance in low light and its simple grace as a day-to-day shooter. The Nikon D40 is a natural fit in most hands. Its controls are where they should be for easy use, and the D40 is a well-behaved guest at parties with its soft shutter sound. A big, bright LCD is great for reviewing photos from a wide variety of angles. The Nikon D40's low light performance at ISO 1,600 is startling, even without noise reduction turned on. It's so good that we don't really feel like we're pushing the D40 until we jump into ISO 3,200. The Nikon D40 stands up well against the competition -- even those with higher resolution -- with great image quality at all speeds, and near-perfect utility as a family camera. It's tough to ask for more. The Nikon D40 lives up to our expectations, and even exceeds them. See the full review for more on the superb Nikon D40. The Nikon D40 is one great camera! (minimize)

Nikon's flagship prosumer SLR model is the first SLR capable of video recording, but that's just one of its many exceptional features!... (more)

Nikon's flagship prosumer SLR model is the first SLR capable of video recording, but that's just one of its many exceptional features!
Nikon rocked the DSLR world when they introduced their D90 SLR early this Fall, the first SLR that can record movies. Its video capabilities won't replace dedicated camcorders, but will provide welcome relief for photographers tired of carrying along a pocket digicam just for taking "video snapshots". Its movie recording is only one of the many exceptional features the Nikon D90 has to offer. It also incorporates the chromatic aberration correction capability first introduced in the D3 and D300 high-end models. This feature works regardless of the brand lens you're using, so the D90 promises to improve the quality of most any lens you use it with. Speaking of lenses, the Nikon D90 ships with one of the nicest kit lenses we've seen yet, a 18-105mm VR (vibration reduction, Nikon's name for Image Stabilization) model that delivers very good sharpness, and (thanks to the aforementioned CA-reduction capability of the camera) very little chromatic aberration. The Nikon D90 brings much, much more to the table, though, far more than we can go into here. If you're in the market for a high-end prosumer digital SLR camera, the Nikon D90 deserves to be near the top of your list for consideration. Read our Nikon D90 review for all the details! (minimize)

Small and capable, it's a great choice for the enthusiast photographer... (more)

Small and capable, it's a great choice for the enthusiast photographer
Significantly refined over its predecessors, the Olympus E-520 offers an excellent set of features in a small package. It's not as small as the E-420, but it has what it takes to get you sharper pictures: namely, a bigger grip and built-in image stabilization. The E-520's Live View mode is improved, with several autofocus options to choose from, a 10x zoom to confirm focus, and a Face Detect mode to help the camera confirm focus for you. Overall, Live View AF is faster than before, at least in good light, better tuned to deliver sharp pictures with less shutter lag. Paired with the 14-42mm kit lens, the Olympus E-520 covers most common shooting situations with ease with good image quality and light weight, not to mention a small overall size. Click here to read more about the Olympus E-520, a great choice for the photography hobbyist. (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)

Panasonic's first Micro Four Thirds camera is a real winner!... (more)

Panasonic's first Micro Four Thirds camera is a real winner!
Our early impressions of the Panasonic G1 were quite positive, and our subsequent in-depth testing of a full production sample confirmed that it's a really excellent little camera. While it can't quite compete at high ISO shooting with the best DSLRs with larger, APS-C size sensors, we were pleasantly surprised by how good its ISO 1,600 images looked. Color and detail were also very good, and the included SilkyPix RAW processing software can pull incredible detail from the G1's RAW files. We were particularly impressed with the performance of its 14-45mm kit lens; it's one of the best-testing kit lenses we've seen to date. (We suspect Panasonic is using post-processing in the camera to correct for chromatic aberration and distortion, but for JPEG shooters, what you see is what you'll get, and what you get is just excellent.)When we first heard about the Micro Four Thirds concept, were concerned about focusing speed, but the Panasonic G1 tested pretty fast (at 0.4 second, its shutter lag is just slightly slower than that of many entry-level consumer SLR cameras) but the camera felt very responsive in our hands: We never really felt that we were missing shots due to shutter lag. The camera's design and soft-plastic body coating are also incredibly inviting: It just makes you want to pick it up and take pictures with it. All in all, the Panasonic G1 is a really excellent little camera; a very viable alternative for people looking for a smaller yet still capable alternative to carrying an SLR. (minimize)

Good quality, simple digital SLR with a very fast Live View mode... (more)

Good quality, simple digital SLR with a very fast Live View mode
With two other choices in Sony's consumer digital SLR lineup, it's no surprise that it's the middle model that again finds the sweet spot: The Sony A330 has all that most consumers will want from a starter digital SLR, including a tilting LCD, a Live View mode that doesn't slow anything down, and a 10-megapixel sensor that can produce a very good quality 13x19-inch print at the lowest ISO. It's also not too bad as the ISO rises. The Sony A330 is also better in low light and has a more powerful flash than its sister digital SLR cameras, two important considerations for shooting indoors with any digital camera. Simplicity is its final selling point: You can get deep into full control of the Sony A330, or just point and shoot with ease. The menus are smartly designed and the revamped body design helps most functions flow. Click here for the full review of the Sony A330. (minimize)