Send us your digital camera questions

Digital camera manufacturers keep coming up with new and innovative features. On the surface, these should make cameras easier to use and help you take better pictures. Face detection, for example, tries to set focus, exposure, and color balance so that faces appear sharp, well exposed and the proper color.

But is face detection really all that helpful to you? Have you seen an improvement in your photos? Did you know that when a little green box appeared around your subjects, that the camera was trying to change the exposure, focus and color balance so that that particular subject looked the best? And what if you didn't want to use this feature?

We're interested in hearing questions like these from you about every aspect of digital cameras and digital imaging, which we can answer as part of our summer photography feature that will post online in June. We'll choose the questions of interest to most people.

The questions can include not only queries about digital cameras, but also lenses, digital imaging software, printing, and camera accessories. Also, if you have any questions on how digital imaging technology works, or particular features, we'd love to hear them.

Your input will help us create upcoming content on digital cameras and related products.

PMA2008: Consumer SLRs continue to evolve

As I mentioned in my PMA preview, the SLR market continues to be very competitive, especially for consumer-targeted models. The two that caught my eye at the show this year are, not surprisingly, the Nikon D60 and the Canon Rebel XSi, both of which were announced within the past week and a half. I got to check out each up-close and personal since both camera manufacturers had them at their show booths.   (Click on the image at right for a closer look at the Rebel XSi. You'll find a clickable image of the Nikon D60 SLR further down.)

Of the two, Canon's specs appear a little beefier (although we'll reserve final judgment until we get both models into our labs for testing.) As I mentioned in a previous post on lenses, Canon now includes an image-stabilized lens in the Rebel XSi kit. (Nikon is also shipping an image-stabilized lens with the D60.)

On the camera body, Canon has bumped up the megapixels to 12.2 from 10.1 on the Rebel XTi (which is still staying in the SLR product line). Canon claims that while they've increased the number of pixels on the CMOS sensor, they’ve engineered it in such away as to keep the visual noise low.

PMA2008: A Glimpse through the Looking Glass

There are lots of SLR lenses on view here at PMA2008. I'm not sure if there is more emphasis than previous years, but from low end to high, photographers are finding lots of intriguing pieces of glass.

On the low end, one intriguing development is that both Canon and Nikon are offering image-stabilized kit lenses in their consumer-targeted SLRs. You can tell when you look at the labels: Nikon's 18-55mm lens (click on the image at right for a closer look) has a "VR" (for "Vibration Reduction") at the end of the name. Canon's 18-55mm lens has the more commonly used "IS" at the end.

The primary benefit of  image stabilization is that you can get sharper photos in low-light, which often requires a slower shutter speed that makes your shots  more susceptible to camera shake. But word from the manufacturers is that these lenses have a better construction than previous kit lenses and have been tweaked to perform better. We’ll have the final word on how good these lenses are when we get them in to our labs, but if the claims true, better kit lenses in SLR packages would be good news for camera shoppers.