Digital Camera Holiday Buyer's Guide

As the holiday shopping season gets underway, shoppers who are looking for digital cameras are in luck. There are scores of models available geared towards people with many different photographic interests, from those whose main interest is in taking snapshots of family members and scenic vacation spots, to others who won't settle for anything less than the perfect photograph, and to still others whose interest in photography lies somewhere in between.

A host of new models were announced over the summer that are just coming onto the market. In addition, there are many excellent cameras that were released earlier this year whose prices have come way down and are great buys. You can find digital cameras at prices ranging from less than $150 to many thousands of dollars. Obviously, higher priced digital cameras can enable you to take better pictures, but good results can be had with less expensive cameras as well.

This guide will cover four different classes of digital cameras, three of which – ultracompacts, compacts, and ultrazooms – are variations on the point-and-shoot camera. The fourth class is made up of digital single lens reflex cameras, or DSLRs for short – larger, high-performance cameras that use interchangeable lenses. Each camera class contains recommendations within different price ranges. Our goal is to help you find the digital camera that will make the perfect holiday gift for family, friends and last, but not least, for yourself. 

Jump to: Ultracompacts | Compacts | Ultrazooms | DSLRs