The Newest Digital Cameras For Family Photography

March 1, 2008

The Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show wrapped up, and the new crop of digital cameras reveals a lot about where the technology is today for family photography and where it’s headed. Here’s a rundown of some of the new cameras that were announced.The latest camera announcements this year reflect a seeming consensus among manufacturers right now regarding capabilities. All the latest point and shoot cameras stick to around 7 megapixels, are becoming increasingly compact, and some include newer technologies such as face recognition. The newer entry-level DSLRs hover in the 10-12 megapixel range, and include some niceties that were ‘pro-only’ (if available at all) just a few years ago. Let’s take a look at some of these features.

7 Megapixels = Plenty

7 megapixels are plenty to cover 90% of point and shoot users. You can easily print images up to 8×10 with this amount of image data. There are other features on today’s cameras that are becoming increasingly relevant, such as sensor size, low-light performance, and high ISO.

Watch My Face

baby photography camera graphic Some of the new cameras this year are sporting face recognition technology. Take a look at Canon’s new PowerShot SD 1100 IS Series. It watches the faces of subjects in your frame and adjusts focus, exposure and white balance automatically so that the people in your picture look the best possible. This camera runs about $250, and is available now.

Getting Your Feet Wet With DSLRs

family photography dslr graphic If you are looking at getting started with Digital SLR’s, one option announced this year is Canon’s new EOS Rebel XSi. It features a 12.2 megapixel sensor, a 3 inch lcd on the back, and their exclusive LiveView feature which lets you preview images on the screen before taking the picture. This camera will run about $900 and won’t be released until April, but until then you can check out Canon’s existing EOS Digital Rebel line. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t see the price of existing Rebels start to drop until April. second family photography dslr Nikon announced the D60, an entry level DSLR that serves the same market as the Canon Digital Rebel listed above. Some of its cool features include a rotating image display on the back (activated when you turn the camera for a vertical shot), as well as a new vibration system that keeps the sensor clean. The camera includes an 18-55mm lens, sells for about $750 and is available now.