Minifinders: Development to Digital Cameras
Today's Best Tech Deals
Picked by Macworld's Editors
Top Deals On Great Products
Picked by Techconnect's Editors
Development and Scripting
July 2003 ).
4th Dimension 2003 Standard Edition ($349), from 4D (www.4d.com): It's not easy to learn or to use, but the company is trying to fix that, as evidenced by its well-integrated XML and Web-services support. If you're an established 4D developer, it's well worth buying this edition (July 2003 ).
RealBasic 5.0 ($100), from Real Software (www.realsoftware.com): With a rebuilt compiler and debugger, and the incorporation of Mac OS X's interface features, RealBasic remains the most enjoyable way to develop modern and muscular Mac applications ( Revolution 2.1 ($149), from Runtime Revolution (www.runrev.com): Revolution 2.1 is an accomplishment: a development environment for newbie programmers and experienced consultants who need to get working apps quickly into the hands of clients (July 2003 ).
TextWrangler 1.0 ($49), from Bare Bones Software (www.barebones.com): This is a moderately powerful tool for sorting, processing, and editing text files. If you spend a lot of time looking at config files or database exports, TextWrangler is a good option (Digital Cameras -- Consumer
Our Favorite Digital Cameras ").
C-740 Ultra Zoom ($499), from Olympus (see "Coolpix 3100 ($349), from Nikon (www.nikonusa.com): This
January 2004 ).
Coolpix 5400 ($699), from Nikon (www.nikonusa.com): With a 4x zoom lens, a 5-megapixel CCD, a complete set of manual controls, a hot-shoe, and an incredible 1cm macro mode, this is one of the best high-end cameras out there (July 2003 ).
Cyber-shot DSC-P72 ($329), from Sony (http://eqmac .station.sony.com): This camera is a little bigger and has a few less features than its sibling, the P8; the trade-off is between size and battery life (the P72's battery lasts longer). The movie mode is the best we've seen (July 2003 ).
Cyber-shot DSC-P8 ($399), from Sony (http://eqmac .station.sony.com): The P8 has a few more features than its sibling, the P72; the trade-off is between size and battery life (the P72's battery lasts longer). The movie mode is the best we've seen (October 2003 ).
Cyber-shot DSC-V1 ($699), from Sony (http://eqmac .station.sony.com): This 5.0-megapixel camera supports full manual mode, has a very good user interface, and includes a hot-shoe. Despite a well-designed metal body, the Cyber-shot disappointed with poor battery life and photo quality (July 2003 ).
D-560 Zoom ($349), from Olympus (www.olympus america.com): This easy-to-use camera provides good-quality images. It has the same feature set as the Stylus 300, without the fancy body (Our Favorite Digital Cameras ").
Digital Rebel ($899), from Canon (see "July 2003 ).
Dimage F300 ($599), from Minolta (www.minoltausa.com): This camera is worth considering. It has a tracking autofocus mode, which keeps moving subjects in focus, and it features sharp images and full manual controls (October 2003 ).
Dimage Xt ($399), from Minolta (www.minoltausa.com): This ultracompact 4.2-ounce, 3.2-megapixel camera has a nice movie mode; however, in our testing, soft images didn't turn out as well as those from a digital camera with a standard lens system (January 2004 ).
EasyShare DX6490 ($499), from Kodak (www.kodak.com): This digital camera has a 10x optical zoom and a healthy number of manual controls. Photo quality is very good, but the most interesting part of this camera is the EasyShare software package, which lets you mark photos for later e-mailing, printing, or saving in photo albums (January 2004 ).
Finecam L3v ($349), from Kyocera Electronics (www.kyoceraimaging.com): This is an average 3.2-megapixel model that's interesting only because of its 2.5-inch LCD. Photo quality is decent, but images are on the soft side (July 2003 ).
Finecam S5 ($599), from Kyocera Electronics (www.kyoceraimaging.com): The Finecam S5 is mediocre in all respects, unfortunately. It isn't a bad camera, but it can't handle the fierce competition in the 5-megapixel category (January 2004 ).
FinePix F700 ($600), from Fuji (www.fujifilm.com): This camera is compact, well designed, and fast, and it produces good-quality photos. In addition to its native 3.1-megapixel resolution, it can interpolate to 6 megapixels. It is a tad expensive, though (January 2004 ).
FinePix S5000 ($499), from Fuji (www.fujifilm.com): This camera can produce 6-megapixel images, but their quality isn't as good as that of the F700's images. In the end, the FinePix S5000 is just average in a growing field of ultrazoom cameras (October 2003 ).
Lumix DMC-FZ1 ($449), from Panasonic (www.panasonic.com): This fast automatic camera has a stabilized 12x zoom, good picture quality, and no manual controls except for white balance. Considering its price, the DMC-FZ1's 2.0-megapixel resolution is surprisingly low (January 2004 ).
PDR-M700 ($449), from Toshiba America (www.toshiba.com): This digital camera has a 2.5-inch LCD, but it's too bad that the resolution of the LCD isn't very high. The photo quality is good, but not spectacular. It's an average ultrazoom camera (July 2003 ).
PowerShot A70 ($399), from Canon (www.power shot.com): A full suite of manual controls, a nice movie mode, and support for conversion lenses and for an underwater case put this 3.2-megapixel digital camera way ahead of the competition (October 2003 ).
PowerShot G5 ($899), from Canon (www.powershot.com): A good 5-megapixel camera with impressive features and excellent photo quality. However, our photos had a surprising amount of purple fringing for a camera this expensive (Our Favorite Digital Cameras ").
PowerShot S400 Digital Elph ($599), from Canon (see "July 2003 ).
PowerShot S50 ($699), from Canon (www.powershot.com): Almost identical to the PowerShot S45, the 5-megapixel S50 has a full suite of manual controls, an AF illuminator, a good movie mode, and excellent photo quality (July 2003 ).
Stylus 300 ($449), from Olympus (www.olympusamerica.com): What makes this point-and-shoot camera stand out is its weatherproof metal body. It's easy to use and its picture quality is good, but it could use an AF illuminator (Digital Camera -- Professional
EOS 10D ($1,999), from Canon (www.powershot.com): The EOS 10D is simply a great digital SLR camera. Its well-balanced mix of features, comfort, image quality, and reasonable price should appease even finicky film-camera stalwarts (Shop Tech Products at Amazon