Sorry, Casio, but you’re just not at the top of my list when it comes to thinking about digital cameras. I mean, aren’t you the folks who specialize in creating cheap digital watches?

Yet something gives me pause. The Casio Exilim EX-S880 appears to have won a following.

Comparable to the Canon PowerShot A470 I wrote about last time, this one can be found for a fairly low price (starting at $119.99), weighs less than five ounces (sans batteries and media card) and has a 3x optical zoom. It actually beats the PowerShot in the resolutionary war — 8.29 vs. 7.4 megapixels.

What I like about this camera — without having held it in my hands — is what one reviewer says on PriceGrabber: skidlin writes: “I got this camera for my father, who is a devoted follower of Casio. At first, I thought I should get him a Canon but decided to let him have what he wanted. I never expected the Casio to turn out so great…” That’s great writing. Why? Because it so captures my initial opinion. skidlin goes on to say, “The design is slick and clean, the presentation of the menus is very nice. The great playback option especially with the musical background captures my heart.” Plus, apparently, the pictures are “great.”

Ramkib likes the big LCD screen (2.8 inches vs. 2.5 for the PowerShot).

And mspute from GA appreciates the widescreen video format, which is 848x 480 at 30 frames per second. With a four gigabyte SDHC memory card, it can record up to two hours of video. Plus, says mspute, there’s a dedicated video recording button.

Julian3399 from MA considers one weakness the fact that you have to recharge this in the docking station. Since I’m used to that with my current camera, an old PowerShot, that’s not such a burden to me.

OK, Casio, maybe it’s time I took a new picture of you.

A recent article in Forbes, “Digital Cameras for the Road,” got me thinking about another strategy for selecting just the right digital camera for a family that can be hard on its gadgets: Don’t spend a lot. Then, should it need replacing, we won’t have to eat macaroni for a month. In fact, author Michael Patrick Brady recommends a specific model: The Canon PowerShot A470.

The A470 is fairly small — 4.2 inches by 2.2 inches by 1.6 inches and weighs less than six ounces without the battery or media card. It runs on two AA batteries. It shoots up to 7.4 megapixel resolution and has a 3.4 optical zoom.

You can choose from four colors, gray, blue, red and orange. And it includes something called the “Print/Share” button, which makes for easy printing and downloading. The software runs on Windows and Mac computers.

Two reviewers call the camera a bit “bulky” or “clunky.” But wcorman bought it for a 10-year-old who is having “a great time with it.” Bhagwan from CA says the picture quality is “very good” outdoors and the LCD is “bright and sharp.”

All in all, a nice little camera in a fairly modest price range ($109.50 to $163.99). Next time I’ll check out another comparably priced camera to see if this one can be beat.

In my last blog entry, I wrote about the Olympus Stylus 850 SW. Today, I’m going to look at the Olympus Stylus 770 SW. Both are digital cameras. Both are labeled as “rugged.” Both, presumably, are kid-proof, a primary consideration when you have an “active” child in the household. (For you non-parents, that’s a code word for somebody who sneaks into the garage and experiments with power tools when Mommy is taking a nap.)

Why am I looking at the 770 SW? Isn’t it just like the 850 SW? No! The 770 comes in brown (as well as blue and silver). That’s my favorite color these days because dirt doesn’t show as much. When dirt doesn’t show as much, there’s less to clean, right?

Also, the 770 has some user reviews posted on PriceGrabber, and I wanted to see what folks had to say.

But first, the facts.

This 7.1 megapixel, 5.5 ounce camera is designed to withstand a five-foot drop, immersion underwater down to 33 feet and temperatures as cold as 14-degrees Fahrenheit. That’s not bad. But, it can also withstand up to 220 pounds of pressure. I don’t know what scenario this would be important for, but I’m sure my son could figure it out. It has a 3x optical zoom and a 5x digital zoom, and it includes 27 shooting modes, including “fireworks,” “behind glass” and “underwater wide macro” (for those up close and personal shots of that octopus you’ve just discovered while scuba diving in a cave). Of course, my camera usage usually requires two modes — auto-everything still pictures and moving pictures. But should I ever have spare time on my hands, say, in another 13 years, it might be fun to experiment!

But what do people say who have had their hands on one of these? christina_shonts calls it an “awesome” system for something that’s waterproof. All she’d change is the zoom range.

Esprod considers the 770 “easy to use.” Plus, it fits in a pocket. But he or she doesn’t’ care for how well it takes indoor photos.

ForSpud in California, who used seven other digital cameras before this one, likes how it’s “built like a tank.” After dropping a Minolta on the floor from about three feet up and having the focus go bad, he or she believes the 770 will be able to hand that. ForSpud took the 770 on a trip to the Caribbean and came back with these impressions: Because it’s waterproof, the shutter button is “very stiff.” That meant many of those beachside photos turned out blurry, “due to camera shake” when pressing the shutter. Also, “the flash pictures were terrible.” This camera aficionado took a Minolta, Panasonic and Canon on the trip, and all of them produced much better pictures than the 770 SW, even at a lower resolution.

So, maybe the search needs to continue. I’m already taking pictures of a little boy in motion. I don’t need any more assistance getting blurry shots.

I’m on the hunt for a camera, and since the young heathen in our family can be hard on mom’s toys, I’m thinking a rugged-style camera might be a good bet for us.

So today, I’m looking into the Olympus Stylus cameras. Recently, Focus blogger Richard Schneider wrote about the Stylus 850 SW, a 7.9 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom. This one, according to Richard, is supposed to be “shockproof, waterproof, freezeproof, and dustproof.” Does that make it kid-proof too?

The company says its “shock-absorbing” technology can survive the impact of a five-foot drop. That’s good. My guy is still under four feet. So, unless he whales it purposefully across the yard, it should survive his terrestrial aerobics.

In the water, it has rubber gaskets and o-rings to keep out moisture. Plus, it’s supposed to be able to work under water to depths of about 10 feet. Since our kiddie pool is only about three feet deep, it presumably can withstand sudden submersion too.

Plus, it’s supposed to do well in freezing temperatures. That’s less of a problem. All my son wants to do when it’s that cold is build snow aliens. I’ll be controlling the camera, and keeping it warmed up in my pockets between shots.

But here’s where it really gets interesting: You can wash this camera if it gets dusty. Now, I don’t really know about dust permeating the casing and inner-workings. But I do know that sticky, grimy fingers can really muck up sensitive electronic equipment. This sounds like a winner to me for that feature alone. Next time, I’ll look at another Olympus camera, comparably priced, a bit heavier and a bit older. Why? Because it has user reviews attached, and those are worth gold when making a purchase.

The digital camera we bought on the birth of our son nearly six years ago is giving out on us. The flash makes an ominous crack! whenever we take a shot — though I’m sure I can’t blame that for the fact that my spouse shuts her eyes the very instant I click the button to shoot a picture with her in it. So I’ll be doing a little shopping around to find our the next camera. In the course of my initial research, I came across a resource on PriceGrabber.com that I wanted to share with you: A “How-To-Buy Guide” for cameras.

For example, I didn’t know there were two types of digital cameras — point and shoot (the kind I currently own) and digital SLRs (the kind pros use because they can switch out lenses).

Also, according to the guide, a five-megapixel camera will probably be fine for most of my needs. Here, I was fantasizing that I’d be getting a 10-megapixel or greater device. It even suggests going with a 2- or 3-megapixel camera if all you’re going to do is post photos to the web. As the guide explains, “Paying for pixels you don’t need is a waste of money.”

There’s plenty of other advice in this brief guide too, touching on what to look for in a viewfinder, how to choose the right lens for a point-and-shoot and the advantage of buying a camera that works with the same memory cards you already have or that will fit into other flash devices you own.

I won’t even touch on some of the newer features that have cropped up in the latest generation of cameras. Go to the guide to read up on those.

If you’re shopping for a GPS, an MP3 player or a TV, you’ll find guides for those too.

Now, if only I could figure out what camera has an anti-blink device , I’d be set.

Have you ever wondered how those 360-degree product or people shots are put together to show on websites? For example, check out t-shirt vendor the-affair and this iPod site.

Now I know. The marketing mavens behind those memorable images could be using a sub-$1,000 tool from Ortery Technologies called the PhotoCapture 360XL. This kit includes a turntable that holds up to 500 pounds and image creation software.

You hook up a compatible camera (including many PowerShots from Canon and C Series Olympus digital cameras).

You compose the pictures you want by zooming in or out or cropping through the software. Once that’s done, the software synchronizes the picture taking and turntable movement as the object rotates 360 degrees. What it does, apparently, is take a whole bunch of photos in sequence — between four and 72 pictures for a single revolution of the turntable. Finally, the software stitches those together to create an animated GIF or flash file.

If you’re not into the 360-degree idea, you can also use the software to synchronize the workflow of photo shoots. (I wonder if Annie Leibovitz used one of these on that Miley Cyrus job from Vanity Fair. Doesn’t Hannah Montana strike you as the kind of girl who’d get a kick out of spinning around?)