One of our favorite holiday gifts to both give and recieve is a good digital camera. For the giver, count on seeing many pictures taken from the recipient and sent to you via email. For the receiver, ditching that old cam for a new shiny toy is always a fun gift. Read on as we break down our holiday gift guide for our top 10 digital camera picks this season. 

Bargain basement

Like most people, I don't consider myself exactly rich, which is why I tend to give and receive cameras for Christmas that fall into the bargain basement territory. While the days of a $50 film camera are likely gone for good, bargain cameras have improved in quality tremendously this year. Our bottom of the barrel camera costs less than $100, and our fav budget cam is only a shade under $200.

Nikon Coolpix L18

While it's not exactly the king of the pack in image quality, shot to shot time or featureset, the L18 does stand out in one key area: Price. We hit an online retailer and found this eight megapixel cam for $100 even. Unlike their high-end brethren, low-end Nikons aren't exactly known for their fabulous quality, but they do take decent pictures and have some extended features like built-in red eye reduction.

Sony Cyber-shot W120

Just because it's light on price doesn't mean it has to be light on style. Sony's low-end Cyber-shot DSC-W120 is an inexpensive camera that looks pretty attractive too. The 7.2 megapixel imager will fit nicely in a gift recipient's pocket, and with a brushed finish it'll draw some eyes. At $130, it's not going to break the bank either. We hear performance on the camera from shutter press to picture take isn't too shabby as well, making it a good gift for the style-conscious shutterbug.

Canon A590

No standard point-and-shoot camera will ever have the manual controls of a DSLR, but Canon has done a pretty good job shoehorning some of the basics of pro-am photography into a somewhat small case. While it certainly isn't as sexy as the Sony, the eight megapixel Canon A590 runs for a bit over $100 and has manual exposure controls which make it a good value for gift recipients who'd like to dabble with their photos a bit more than your average point-and-shoot photographer.

Fujifilm FinePix J150

 

While we don't necessarily subscribe to the myth of the megapixel, Fujifilm's Finepix J150's most impressive feature is the 10 megapixel sensor in a small and cheap package. Costing in the range of $150-$200, the camera has a 5x optical zoom factor and a three inch LCD. The specs say the camera can shoot as dark as 1600 ISO, though we're going to go out on a limb and say it might get a tad noisy that dark.

Canon PowerShot SD790 IS

One of the cameras that we've repeatedly heard great things about, and had some good hands on experience with ourselves, is Canon's PowerShot SD790IS. The 10 megapixel camera has a 3x optical zoom and optical image stabilization, meaning your photos might turn out despite having shaky hands. Canon's new model changes the design a bit from the norm, and while it's not as stylish as the Sony W120, it definitely isn't the plain-ol' camera look Canons have had in the past. We recommend this camera to people looking for the best image quality possible in a smallish inexpensive form factor.

High-end point and shoot

For you "rich" types who like to give extravagant gifts to others, or even yourself, these cameras are at the high-end of the point-and-shoot pack. They'll have more megapixels and more features than their budget brothers, but will also pile on the price in the neighborhood of $250-$400.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5

 

Panasonic's Lumix DMC-TZ5 has a few good features, most notably the 9.1 megapixel imager and 10x optical zoom. While the specs might be the attention getter, the Lumix DMC-TZ5 has the ability to zoom while movies are being recorded, a feature which is missing in many still cameras doubling as video cameras. The next step up, the TZ50, also includes WiFi, but packs on the price. All in all, this is a versatile camera that likely fits with someone looking to take a range of photos and movies, rather than standard "party shots."

Samsung TL34HD

While it certainly isn't the cheapest camera we've used, the Samsung TL34HD is a pretty solid shooter. With an astounding 14.7 megapixels, the TL34HD is a pretty versatile pocketable camera. With a three inch touch screen and 3.6x optical zoom, the camera has a certain "wow" factor, especially in the all black variety. I've actually been trying out this camera for a few weeks and haven't had too much grief with it. However, the 14.7 megapixel sensor is a bit overkill and while the image is large, my D50 still takes much higher quality pictures despite having less megapixels. Even still, as a pocketable cam for roughly $200, I'd have no qualms picking a camera like this up.

Nikon Coolpix S60

Also in the "wow, it's a touchscreen" category is Nikon's Coolpix S60. With a 10 megapixel sensor and 5x optical zoom, the S60 and Samsung TL34HD go neck in neck in the feature department. Samsung may have 4.7 megapixels on the S60, but we're hard pressed to tell the difference past 10, since we're sizing most of our photos down anyway. The S60 has some fun touchscreen features, and includes a stylus for writing messages on the screen. However, we hear the interface is a little bit laggy, and without any hardware controls but the power and shutter buttons, it might cause a bit of frustration. Add in the price point of around $300 (though we've seen it as low as $280) and buyers might to check out the other options in the class before being sure to settle on this model.

DSLRs

Have a loved one itching to make the jump from point-and-shoot slacker to pro-aspiring photographer? Check out some of our favorite Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras of the season.

Canon XTi

Canon's entry level DSLR was the first to really define the entry level market back in 2003, and it's still blazing a fun trail. While higher-end photographers will miss some of the features on the Digital Rebel XSi, first-time DSLRers will find the XTi a gentle jump from point-and-shoot cameras to more manual control. The XTi isn't cheap at about $600, but it'll be a sound investment for someone looking to try their hand at taking better quality photos.

Nikon D90

Our favorite new DSLR this year happens to be the most expensive of our list, but it also boasts something that no other DSLR has ever done: Record video. The Nikon D90 is a serious gift at nearly $1,000, but that serious gift also offers some serious benefits. Other than ridiculous amounts of manual control, the camera (and its interchangeable lenses) can shoot three to four minute videos whose quality rivals high-end $100,000 professional video cameras. This 12.3 megapixel cam is perfect for someone who's been a photographer for a while and has invested in Nikon lenses. The D90's video shooting mode isn't exactly a replacement for a standard camcorder, as there's no autofocus mode, but it'll give photographers yet another toy to play with and create some beautiful videos.

Which one should I get?

Our favorite of the budget cameras is the Canon PowerShot SD790, though for many price might be the only factor which would lead us to opt for the Sony Cyber-shot W120 or Nikon Coolpix L18, though we'd definitely pick the Sony over the Nikon if all things were equal.

In the high-end point-and-shoot arena, our pick is the Samsung, but not based on megapixels alone. We like it mainly because of the relatively good price, good touchscreen, and mode selector wheel.

With DSLRs, our two picks are motivated by entry level photographers opting for the XTi, and pro photographers who'd start dabbling in video checking out the D90.

Which camera are you hoping for? Sound off in the comments and let us know what kind of camera you expect to give or get for the holidays. Also be sure to check out the companion digital camera comparator that includes all of the models we mention in this feature and their specs side by side:

[Image: Tim Ellis]