Best Budget Digital Camera

Imaging Resource Picks section. They're well known for their exhaustive testing of digital cameras. They investigate various aspects of each digital camera to help you pick the best one for your needs. But they know that sometimes you just want someone with experience to tell you which digital camera to buy. To serve that need, they've revamped their Picks to get straight to the point, listing your top digital camera choices by category.


Best Budget Digital Camera


Canon PowerShot A570 IS
7.1 megapixels, 4.00x zoom
$152.67



Canon's A570IS: Affordable Image Stabilization and great pictures! The Canon A570 IS stands out for its usable ISO as high as 1600 and excellent image stabilization so useful you'll always want it active. Considering you get that for just $50 over the price of the quite similar A560, it's a bargain, too. Digital zoom was a bit of a disappointment on this 7.1-megapixel digital camera, but otherwise the DIGIC III image processor provided above average performance yielding some wonderfully natural shots in a variety of settings. From the optical viewfinder to the manual modes, whenever we looked for a feature a photographer would appreciate, we found it on the Canon A570 IS. There isn't the huge LCD (with no room for a viewfinder) or extravagant zoom range (with big compromises in optical quality) or any of the frills (frames, in-camera presentations) of many less capable digicams. But if you want a compact digicam that can take pictures like a real camera, you won't go wrong with this solid player


Fujifilm FinePix Z5fd
6.3 megapixels, 3.00x zoom
$138.98



The Fuji Z5fd looks great at a party and brings the best moments home The Fujifilm FinePix Z5fd is an ultracompact digital camera with style, one that brings some unique features to the table. Including fast face detection that works before and after capture, intelligent flash that considers focus distance, and natural light shooting with a flash backup, the Fuji Z5fd has just what you need from a small, take-everywhere snapshooter. And it looks good at a party. Even better, the Fuji Z5fd is a lot of fun to shoot with. Part of the fun is that those unique features are not just useful, but easy to use; and the sliding lens cover makes powering the Fujifilm Z5fd on as easy as turning it off, protecting it well enough to slide back into a pocket or bag. The Fuji Z5 has the usual problems of chromatic aberration at wide angle, as well as trouble at high ISO, but those are standard fare with a camera of this size. Overall, the lens test results for the Fuji Z5fd are quite good, as are the printed results.


Canon PowerShot SD1000 Digital ELPH
7.1 megapixels, 3.00x zoom
$177.25




The SD1000 is wonderfully simple, gorgeous to behold, and produces great images Canon's new PowerShot SD1000 Digital ELPH has a futuristic, yet retro look that is almost identical to the original, film-based ELPH, introduced back in May 1996. In addition to its compact size and eye-catching design, the 7-megapixel SD1000 has a standard 3x optical zoom with a 35mm equivalent focal range of 35-105mm, a 2.5-inch LCD, and an optical viewfinder. Exposure is automatic, and a new on-demand Auto ISO Shift feature bumps the light sensitivity up to a maximum of 800 with the push of a button. White balance options include auto, several presets, and custom (manual). The SD1000 utilizes Canon's DIGIC III processor and offers new face detection technology and in-camera red-eye correction. The Canon PowerShot SD1000 will instantly be usable for anyone already familiar with Canon compacts, and will only take a few minutes for everyone else to become quite comfortable.