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Like its predecessor, the N2 is a very nice compact digital camera. Offering great performance, pleasing image quality, various exposure modes, and let us not forget the massively “Cool” 3.0-inch touchscreen LCD, I do believe that the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-N2 is sure to be a very popular model this year. With an MSRP of US$399, there won’t be too hard of a tug on your pocket book, especially for a feature packed 10-megapixel digicam. And with that much resolution, printing ideas are almost endless!

With a street price of $250 or less, the Pentax Optio W20 is a very sporty digital package. With JIS Class 8 waterproof and Class 5 dustproof ratings, this model can be taken almost anywhere, without the need for extra protection against the elements. Image quality is great for a 7- megapixel model, and the anti-shake/anti-blur technology performs well in less than perfect lighting conditions. The W20 adds another great model to Pentax’s waterproof digital line.

The S6000fd is a very capable prosumer digicam. With its 6.3-megapixel imager, 28-300mm mechanically controlled zoom lens, extensive exposure and in-camera processing controls, automatic and advanced shooting modes, there’s little that you can’t do with this camera. And if you’re looking for a digicam that can also capture high quality video, you’ll enjoy the S6000fd’s VGA resolution 30fps movies—they’re gorgeous, and you can zoom while recording! With an MSRP of $499 and a street price of under $400, the S6000fd is also a terrific value.

Nikon’s D40 is not only an awesome little dSLR that captures great photos with robust performance, it also has a very pleasing price tag of $600 or less (and remember this is for the body and the lens.) In fact, we bought our D40 from B&H Photo for about $572 shipped! The only annoyances I had with the D40 was that you have to enter the Setup menu to “unlock” the rest of the available settings… That said, I feel this model will make an excellent camera for any user who wants a more versatile camera over their consumer digicam, and don’t feel like breaking the bank in the process.

While the Olympus FE-200 has the ability to capture nice photos, includes several user-friendly exposure modes, and offers a 5x optical zoom with a nice wide field of view, shooting performance is comparable to the speed of a snail at full sprint, which really turned us off. I was disapointed to see that there were not more advanced controls offered for novice users, however this model is aimed more toward the complete novice.

Keeping in line with its Optio S predecessors, the Pentax Optio S7 offers some great features, an easily carried pocket size, an all-metal durable case, all in a 7-megapixel file format. The 23 MB internal memory will only be good for around 10 pictures with the average file size of 2.2MB, so we strongly recommend that you purchase a memory card of at least 256MB. With a street price of US$300 or less (check our buy box below) the S7 gives you a lot of camera for your money.