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Camera Ready
Our top picks for tough, travel-worthy shooters
Olympus IS-30 DLX | $636
This just might be the market's best 35mm travel camera for beyond-snapshot images, short of schlepping an array of ultra-wide or long lenses. The compact IS-30 squeezes in a flash and autofocus lens that ranges from a wider-than-most 28mm to a respectable 110mm, and it allows you to lock in off-center focus and exposure—no weird happy mediums that
plague many point-and-shoots. Best of all, it's a pleasure to hold, and all controls are logically placed so that your index fingertip can twiddle while you compose.
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| Clay Ellis |
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Nikon Coolpix 990 | $1,000
If you've been waiting for digital to come of age, well, it's happened. The new 990 triples the resolution (3.34 megapixels) of the best cameras of just two years ago; ergo, truly rivals film for clarity. It's almost mindlessly easy to use in basic operation—3x zoom Nikkor lens and automatic focus, flash, and exposure that also allow for creative
overrides. As for the crux move, uploading to a PC or Mac, the 990 comes with a removable 16 megabyte film card (64 and 94 megabyte cards are also available).
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| Clay Ellis |
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Canon Elph Sport | $270
Just possibly the cutest camera on the market, the Elph is also the smallest underwater model (to 16.5 feet) this side of cheap disposable types. It has a big viewfinder, perfect for shooting while wearing goggles, and uses the APS format, so you can frame coral-reef panoramas; then macro mode can nail a sea anemone close up. It's also great for other
watersports—no need to fear splashing or dropping the Elph. Heck, it floats.
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| Clay Ellis |
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Sony DCR-TRV20 Digital Camcorder | $1,700
Video or still? The new and tiny (2.75 x 3.75 x 6.75 inches) Mini-DV-format Handycam does both: Mini-DV-format video and, thanks to a nifty gizmo called a Memory Stick, darn sharp stills that you can transfer directly to a computer. The 3.5-inch color monitor is one of the brightest and largest around, plus with a built-in infrared system, you can take
nighttime videos worthy of Cops. —Robert Earle Howells
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