Three digital cameras

June 12, 2000

$79-$120

*Vivitar eCom

*Relisys Dimera 640

*Ixla Digital 640

*Agfa eSmile

Features to look for:

*Interpolated resolution up to 1.2 megapixels

*Built-in flash

*Swappable memory cards

*Software

*Color cases on the Vivitar and Agfa

What they're good for:

*Mostly photos to post on the Web or e-mail, not print

$300-$700

*Olympus D360L

*Nikon Cool Pix 700

*Fuji Fine Pix 1400

*Kodak DC240

Features to look for:

*Resolution of 1 megapixel to 3 megapixels

*Zoom lenses

*LCD screens

*Optical viewfinders

*Some automatic exposure controls such as daylight, backlight, fill flash, and indoors

*Burst feature for taking several pictures in a short period

*Memory of 8 to 10 megabytes

*White balance control for shooting in various types of artificial light

What they're good for:

*Just about any personal point-and-shoot photos and prints up to 8x10 inches

$700 and (way) up

*Canon EOS Digital

*Fuji S1Pro

*Nikon Coolpix 950

*Sony MVC-FD95

Features to look for:

*Swappable lenses

*Single-lens reflex technology

*Full control over exposure

*Short digital movie capability that can do stills as well

*Resolution of 3 megapixels and up

What they're good for:

*Professional and serious amateur photography