Best Mom 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 Mom Digital Camera


Nikon D40
6.1 megapixels, 3.00x zoom
$494.78




A surprisingly excellent SLR that will take the market by storm We've been pleasantly surprised with the Nikon D40's excellent performance in low light and its simple grace as a day-to-day shooter. The Nikon D40 is a natural fit in most hands. Its controls are where they should be for easy use, and the D40 is a well-behaved guest at parties with its soft shutter sound. A big, bright LCD is great for reviewing photos from a wide variety of angles. The Nikon D40's low light performance at ISO 1,600 is startling, even without noise reduction turned on. It's so good that we don't really feel like we're pushing the D40 until we jump into ISO 3,200. The Nikon D40 stands up well against the competition -- even those with higher resolution -- with great image quality at all speeds, and near-perfect utility as a family camera. It's tough to ask for more. The Nikon D40 lives up to our expectations, and even exceeds them. See the full review for more on the superb Nikon D40. The Nikon D40 is one great camera!


Canon PowerShot SD950 IS Digital ELPH
12.1 megapixels, 3.70x zoom
$366.56



A versatile take-anywhere camera with excellent print quality Canon's PowerShot SD950 IS is blessed with image stabilization, a longer zoom lens, and a stunning 12.1-megapixel sensor. We're not usually impressed with increased pixel counts, but Canon tweaked both optical and image quality to handle the higher resolution and output impressive 16x20-inch images from the Canon SD950 IS that frankly blew us away. A new 3.7x lens graces the Canon SD950 IS, offering just a little extra reach; the bright 2.5-inch color LCD monitor is excellent for framing and reviewing shots; and the overall design and layout of the Canon SD950 is user-friendly and hassle-free. If you're looking for a good, take-anywhere camera with great versatility, good color and tonality, and striking printed output, the Canon SD950 IS deserves a very close look.


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.