Digital Camera Hottest Gift for 2004

The news that digital cameras are a hot seller this year is not really that surprising. Heck, I picked up a Kodak 3MP for $99! For that price, I am amazed that they have not been completely sold out all together!

Catapulted by cutthroat competition, digital technology is transforming the $85 billion global photography industry by creating new ways of capturing, developing and storing pictures.

At age 75, Marilyn Smith discovered a wealth of reasons this holiday season to switch to a digital camera.

Snapping away until she gets the right shot, without worrying about film, sounded enticing. So did packing a palm-size gadget on a baggage-laden trip to Hawaii in February. But she especially liked the idea of an image stabilizer that negates wobbles.

“Why? Because I sway very easily,” the retired nurse’s aide explained with a hearty laugh.

Taking along her grandson, Brad, for technical advice, Smith spent over an hour sorting through digital cameras at a Best Buy store in suburban Rochester before settling for a $399 Canon with 3.2 megapixels and 10X optical zoom lens.

While her late husband’s fancy film camera with telephoto lens will be hauled out for family portraits, Smith already expects it to start gathering a little extra dust.