Our generation may be getting a few gray hairs but that hasn’t slowed us from embracing new technology, like the switch in photography from film to digital. I only have one friend who is still using film. Everyone else has switched to digital.

I love digital photography, and a couple of things started me thinking recently about getting a new digital camera.

First, was the pain I endured lugging around my Nikon D70s SLR during a hiking vacation in the Swiss Alps last summer. The Nikon can capture outstanding images but feels like a brick on a strap that’s slung over your shoulder. Who needs that weight during a long hike? Give me something lightweight that takes superb photos.

Second, while my other camera, a small and lightweight Canon SD600 point-and-shoot camera, takes pretty good pictures, there have been technology advancements in the couple of years since I bought it. Digital cameras now sport “VR” or image vibration reduction (a nice feature because some of us baby boomers tend to shake a little), wide angle lenses and more megapixels, which the camera manufacturers suggest is better.

So, I set off to conduct my own evaluation and find the best of the latest lightweight point-and-shoot digital cameras under $300. The results surprised me … mostly because some of these new cameras produce professional-quality photos.

While online camera stores have lower prices … and I certainly do my share of online shopping … I am old-fashioned when buying something like a camera. I want to hold it and try it out. The only place is an old-fashioned bricks-and-mortar camera store.

The strategy I suggest to check out new digital cameras is to take along your older digital camera with an empty memory card and test-shoot a few pictures of the same scene at the store on each camera, using the same memory card, and compare those photos against those taken by your older camera. It’s really the only way to conduct a valid test. Explain to the sales person what you intend to do. Then, take the card home, load all the pictures on your computer and evaluate the results.

There are so many good cameras on the market but some have silly limitations. For example, some require only the manufacturer’s proprietary memory cards. Another models only give you a heavy desktop charger, a real nuisance when traveling.

The cameras I selected to consider were Nikon’s ultra-small and lightweight S600, and Canon’s SD870. Both are priced under $300 and have 10-megapixels and 8-megapixels respectively, and both feature wide-angle lenses, a big plus in my book. Other good cameras that deserve a look are Panasonic’s Lumix models, although I have read a few mixed reviews about them. Nikon and Canon are the leading brands and safe bets.

I should note briefly … and it only deserves brief mention … that the megapixel size issue has gotten to be really a mute point in these cameras unless you plan to blow up and print pictures for super-size posters. Other than that, it really doesn’t matter and has become more marketing hype among the camera manufacturers than anything else. What matters most is how you subjectively judge image quality and what you like and dislike in a camera.

The “feel” of Canon’s top-of-the line SD870 point-and-shoot in my hands suggests high quality in a camera, and the shooting menu is outstanding. Canon has smartly carried the intuitive style of their camera menus throughout its models. What I found most appealing about the SD870 is that the photos the small camera captures look natural, much as your eyes see a scene or object.

Here’s a natural light photo taken with a Canon SD870 at a recent reunion of the ’70s rock band, The Desperados.

The shooting menu of Nikon’s new S600 defies logic and intuition. It’s a confusing mess. Even the fellow at the camera store struggled with understanding the settings, and he had attended a Nikon workshop! Image quality wasn’t impressive. Reds tended to be over-saturated and unnatural-looking. Incidentally, I called Nikon to get a better understanding of the S600’s problems and was referred to their PR agency … but no one at the PR agency returned phone calls or emails.

Whether you have a new digital camera or an older one, here are my tips for improving picture quality:

1. Manually set the camera to take the highest possible resolution of pictures. This is the single most important thing you can do to improve picture quality. In the setup menu, find picture quality among the settings … often in the Function menu … and adjust it for the largest possible picture size and superfine quality. You will note that such a setting will reduce the number of pictures you can take on a memory card but that no longer is an issue because large capacity memory cards are cheap. This optimized camera setting will result in dramatically better quality pictures.
2. Consciously think about holding the camera steady when you shoot a picture, and you eliminate any need for “VR” or image vibration reduction.
3. Keep the lens clean. Toilet paper … unused … is ideal for cleaning a camera lens.
4. If the rechargeable battery in your older camera is failing, buy another one. Datamem.com is a great source for camera memory and batteries.
5. Finally, paying a higher price for a digital point-and-shoot camera does not equate to better quality pictures, as I learned with the Nikon S600. Canon’s SD1100, for example, costs less and takes superb pictures. Only big difference is it lacks the wide-angle lens.

If you need a new camera, Canon SD870 would be my first choice followed closely by the SD1100.

By the way, here’s a photo I took recently with my Canon SD600 camera of doves that were nesting outside our house. Click on it to enlarge. Not bad?!

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