Anyone over the age of 30 can fit the number of childhood photographs they possess into a small shoebox. In the days of Instamatic cameras, film processing and Polaroids, it was expensive to record special moments; Mom and Dad took a few shots, and when the pictures came back from the local Fotomat, or finished magically "developing" before your very eyes, the packet contained two, maybe three good ones"if you were lucky.
In today's digital age, anyone can be a photographer. Digital cameras have transformed our ability to capture daily life, and they allow just about anyone the chance to get the shot just right. Furthermore, sharing pictures with family, friends and strangers is easier than ever thanks to email, photo-enabled cell phones and social networking Web sites. If the number of pictures taken by the average parent today is any indication, children born after 1995 will be able to fill whole DVDs with imagery from their youth, filed by month and year. (Photo albums? You're kidding, right?)
The proliferation of digital cameras"and the need for ever greater capability to produce captivating photographs"makes buying the right model more important than ever. The J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Digital Camera Usage and Satisfaction StudySM measures consumer survey responses about various makes and model series across four market segments: Ultra Slim, Point-and-Shoot, Premium Point-and-Shoot, and Digital Single Lens Reflex, or DSLRs as they're commonly called. The study asks consumers who bought digital cameras about picture quality, performance, operation, and appearance, as well as other questions about how and why they purchased their camera, their research and shopping experiences, and other aspects of photo taking and photo making. Based on consumer survey responses, picture quality is the most important factor driving satisfaction and camera appearance is the least important factor"but don't tell that to the highest-ranking camera maker in our first segment....
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