The Canon EOS 40D is not meant for beginners or amateurs; it is an SLR camera meant only for the professionals. Priced at over a thousand dollars, the EOS 40D contains a powerful and impressive set of advanced features. It contains a powerful 10 megapixel sensor, a DIGIC III image processor, Canon EF/EF-S Lens Mount, and a beautiful 3.0-inch LCD screen. It also contains Live View, sensor cleaning, 6.5 fps, and up to 75 frame bursts.

Canon has also imporved an old problem, which was reading the LCD screen in bright light. The screen is now blacked so that the content or images on the screen are easily read. A new feature, Picture Style, adds convenience that the older 30D did not possess. Instead of scrolling through the menu, photographers are now able to switch from standard shots to landscape shots with the push of a button. The Canon EOS 40D is not a camera for the weak, packed with features weighing over 1.2kg and with complexity that only a true professional could understand and manipulate to create a perfect shot.

The S1000 is ideal for any photographers in need of a trusty and reliable backup. It comes with a 10 megapixel CCD, 12x optical zoom, and face detection. One of its best features is its Panorama mode, which can combine up to 3 shots into one, creating a completely new shot out of the original three. Other important features include its 12x optical zoom and its 5.7x digital zoom, auto focus, AVI Movie Mode with mono sound, 256-zone metering, an ISO range of 64-3200, JPEG file format, 2.7-inch LCD with 97% coverage, 24MB Internal memory, and 4 AA, Ni-MH rechargeable or Lithium batteries.

One thing that makes this camera stand out from the rest in its class is its weight, which is extremely light for this type of camera. Most camera’s that have been created have difficulty taking low light photos, but the Fuji FinePix S1000fd can take low light pictures as well as it takes any other type of photo. An important convenience of this particular model is the AA battery option, which makes it extremely pratical because AA batteries are sold in nearly every pharmacy or drug store in the country.

The Olympus FE - 340 is not a top of the line model, but it is both affordable and an excellent beginner camera. Its built in Help Guide functions are perfect for the everyday user, just looking to take a few nice pictures of family, friends and scenery. This is not a camera designed for use by professionals or amateur photographers. Its functions are limited to automatic settings but it does have a few nice features including Face Detection, allowing the camera to focus on the faces of the people in a group photo or single person shots, Digital Image Stabilization to reduce shaking and inaccuracies, and Perfect Shot Preview.

Other features of this camera include 8 megapixel resolution, a 5x optical zoom, AVI movie with sound, many exposure modes, an ISO range of 64-3200, JPEG File formats, 2.7 inch LCD with Backlight Boost, 48MB Internal Memory, and Li-ion Rechargeable Battery. The FE-340 is priced anywhere from $175-$210 making it an extremely affordable camera for any type of non-professional picture-taking.

The Canon Powershot TX1 combines the high-quality digital still camera with the large zoom and the versatility of a camcorder to create one superb device. With the TX1, you can take large 7.1 megapixel images or high-definition videos. Some features of the TX1 are 10x optical zoom and 4x digital zoom, Canon DIGIC III image processing, Auto focus, an ISO range of 80-1600, Auto and manual exposure, 1.8-inch swivel LCD display, Secure Digital storage media, Image Stabilization (Lens-Shift), and a Lithium-ion battery. Hybrid models like the TX1 are becoming ever more prominent in the present-day camera market, so its important to become accustomed to their presence.

One important aspect of the TX1 is its size. The TX1 measures at only 1 inch in thickness, making it one of the smallest and most compact advanced cameras on the market. This convenience bodes extremely well with all those people with small hands and camera’s too big for them. Its price of $500 is a complete bargain for such a feature packed camera.

The G9 features a wonderful 3.0-inch screen, 6x optical zoom, and 12.1 megapixel sensor, placing it firmly in the upper tier of today’s digital cameras. The exclusion of the RAW format from the former G7 left some users wary of buying the G9. However, Canon has made it k own that the RAW format has been reintroduced in the G9 and has urged its customers that they will never exclude it from this style of camera again.

The G9 also includes an exceptional Movie mode with sound (max 4GB/1 Hour), JPEG and, of course, RAW file formats, 6x optical zoom with 4x digital zoom, Lens-shift image stabilization to reduce the effects of shaky hands, Auto and manual focus, Auto and manual exposure, an ISO range of 80-1600, Secure Digital memory storage, and the usual Lithium-ion battery. The G9 32 MB memory is only capable of holding 5 photos at highest quality, and it is suggested by other customers that the user invest in the 1GB Secure Digital card capable of storing almost 170 photos. The G9 is an excellent device for the intermediate and professional photographer.