Ah summer is here and it's time to hit the beach, the back yard, the barbecue and the parties. Today more than ever, people are attending these events with their digital cameras. What's that you say you don't have one of the hot new digital cameras yet? No worries, now is the time to buy.

Just a year ago we were talking about digital single reflex (DSLR) cameras in the 6, 7, & 8 mega pixel range that were costing as much as $1000. What a difference a year makes, this summer you can get a great 10.... count em' 10 mega pixel camera with a lens for around $800!  Oh Yea there goes the tax refund check.

These new cameras not only cost less and have a higher mega pixel rating, they are also designed for the weekend & holiday camera warrior.  Light weight, smaller bodies mean less bulk and easy storage. They also have features that you are used to seeing on a point and shoot camera. Modes like portrait or landscape have become the new automatic on these beauties. For the hard core, die hard old schoolers like me, theres still a manual setting.

The first camera we want to talk about is the Nikon D40x. The "x" here is important because it not only means Nikon knows it's roman numeral system but uses it creatively to mean XTRA! The original D40 consumer camera was released just last year and took off among it's peers. Just a few months later, Nikon announced the D40x. Using the D40 body and changing the chip to a whopping 10 mega pixels of power. Designed to compete with the Canon Rebel XTi, this new offering from Nikon delivers. It has a minimum ISO rating of 100 and can shoot up to 3 frames per second. Offering other high end features like 3d color matrix metering for accurate exposures like it's bigger brothers the D80 & D50 and a huge 2.5" view screen.

Our weekend warriors will be happy with the extra bells too. The camera also offers limited in camera retouching. Items like D-lighting ( shadow/highlight enhancement), red eye reduction, monochrome ( B&W) and other filter effects will allow users to customize their pix even before they download them to their computer. Street price for this little gem is around $799 with a standard 18-55mm zoom lens. Awesome.

Next on the list is the Canon Rebel XTi. This too is a 10 mega pixel camera with some of it's own cool features. Canon has integrated it's sensor cleaning system into this camera. While the jury is still out on the effectiveness of this feature, it is obvious that something needs to be put into service to assist photographers with dust or particles adhering to their image sensor. Canon has incorporated Anti-static coatings on the sensor surface as well as the body. Additionally they use a low pass filter with ultra sonic vibration to shake the particles from the sensor and finally if all else fails there is a software based dust mapping/removal option available. Why is all this important? The answer is simple if you have ever had a black dot on 100 or more of your images because of dust on your sensor. One of the most striking features of this camera is its long exposure noise reduction capabilities. Canons CMOS sensor vs. Nikon's CCD sensor is smoother in the long exposure department and with firmware aided settings to reduce noise even further, those night time or low light shots will appear smooth and noise free even at higher ISO settings. The street price for this camera is the same $799, however lenses are sold separately.

With the trends in this arena moving to smaller, lighter cameras with monster mega pixel chips, in just a year. Imagine what will happen a year from now?! We will likely see these cameras drop in price as newer, faster bigger mega pixel cameras take their place. I don't see the price point of this level of camera dropping much lower though. If you recall just 10 short years ago, when film was still king, SLR 35mm cameras came in around the $500 - $700 range. You could occasionally find intro kits for less but I believe that like the older film style cameras, rather than seeing the higher end digital camera prices drop,  the industry will simply replace the current models with newer models at the same price point.  Wanna save a little on these cameras? Wait a year or so, the camera will still be available, but will be second in line and you will save a few bucks. You will however miss out on recording your favorite summer events this year. It might be worth it to invest now, after all this could be the best summer of your life, you would want to remember it with great high resolution digital images. - Aloha