There are just so many new digital cameras dropping at PMA this year, we don't really know where to start, so we'll boil several days of gob-smacking coolness down to just two things.
First off, Cannon decided to kick the legs out from under the el cheapo point-n-press camera market by releasing a bunch of high-end cameras at low-end prices. No joke. We'd expect something like the Canon PowerShot A590 IS to run somewhere in the $300 range... it's an 8 megapixel with 4x optical zoom lens and optical image stabilization, which is enough to bump up the price, but it's also got an interchangeable lens - telephoto, wide, and close-up. All this, and it's expected to retail at $180. Incredible. If you don't want converter lenses and have a steady hand, the Canon PowerShot A580 drops the price down to $150. Expect these around March.
Meanwhile, over on the SLR front, things are just getting ridiculous.
Who in their right mind needs at 14.6 megapixel camera? YOU do, sailor! Pentax has reconfigured their old K10 mainstay into the K20D DSLR, a beast of a camera running off an all-new sensor, with six preset shooting options, a huge amount of in-camera development options and a special high contrast function for bright settings. That's good, because at 14.6 and a top 3200 ISO (expandable to 6400) we've got to figure there's going to be some grain creeping into the snaps you take in anything less than broad daylight. Still, it's got a custom noise reduction settings, and Pentax is claiming higher resolution than even 35mm film, so we'll have to see. At $1300, this one is not a budget camera. Unless you're Sir Richard Branson, and you want to take a really cool "Earthrise" pic. It'll be out around April.
So, it'll be really inexpensive to put a SquareTrade warranty on the new PowerShots, and vital investment protection on the Pentax, especially with Accidental Damage coverage. Every other camera in the world will pretty much fall somewhere in between. You can get an instant quote with the sidebar widget to see if the price is right for you.
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