I chose today’s bag because it reminded of an old fashioned camera case brought into the modern day. The brown leather design is simple, but elegant. And, of course, the sturdy leather protects your camera.

This camera case features a magnetic closure to help make sure it’s always closed. The removable leather shoulder strap lets you choose how to carry this case. You can remove the strap and toss the case in your purse or tote bag, or you can leave it attached and carry it solo, giving you plenty of camera carrying flexibility.

I found the style to be reminiscent of what my dad had for his camera when I was little. He was always snapping pictures and showing me how to use different lenses and filters on the camera. I wish a little more of his camera-smarts had rubbed off on me. I’m definitely more of a point and shoot kind of gal.

This year I dove head first into the wonderful world of photography.  Okay, so I’m not that good at it yet, but I am getting better.  The first thing I learned is that a camera isn’t just a camera.  I used to think that any point and shoot camera would do just fine.  Then when my camera died on me in the early spring I decided I would go out there and compare cameras and get serious about my picture taking.

I shopped around, read photography and camera blogs, compared cameras, and talked to other photographers online.  I came up with a great recommendation for the Canon Powershot S5.  My friend Alli had the previous model and very much loved it, and after reading some reviews online I decided the S5 was perfect for me.  It’s as close as you can get to having an SLR camera, but with all the ease of a point and shoot camera!  It literally is the best of both photography worlds.

On a recent trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium I really put my camera to the test. There were crows of people to see all the recent new additions to the zoo. A baby tiger, two baby elephants, and plenty of other babies to be seen! It was hard to get up close in some of the viewing areas, especially to see the elephants! There was a large crowd gathered in all three viewing areas for the elephants.

Everyone was trying to get close to the front to snap pictures of the baby elephants while they played in the wet clay. I was way in the back and didn’t feel like pushing through to the front and then fighting to get back out again. But, that didn’t stop me from getting great pictures!

I flipped open my viewing screen, held my camera up high enough that I could see over people’s heads and snapped away. A few of my shots did end up with random people’s hair in the view, but for the most part I got some good pictures without even trying hard.

My old camera would have never been able to zoom in like that and get the shot from far away. I have to say that I’m really pleased with my Canon Powershot S5, it gets the job done and makes me look good even when I have no idea what I’m doing.

Cameras and photography have come a long way and Polaroid is a very familiar name in photos. It took them awhile to get on the digital bandwagon, but when they did they did so with style.

Everything else is mobile, why shouldn’t your photo printer be mobile too? We snap away with our digital cameras on a daily basis. If you’re anything like me, you probably hardly ever order prints. Sometimes I forget, sometimes I just put it off. It was probably a year after our trip to Disney World that I ordered physical prints for our photo album on the shelf. But, I had a digital album up online before we even came home! At least I remember to do that most of the time.

The Polaroid PoGo prints 2 x 3-inch borderless color images in under a minute. And the coolest part is that it does so without any messy ink cartridges! Printing is done using ZINK Zero Ink Printing Technology from ZINK Imaging.

Using your camera phone you can wirelessly transfer images from a Bluetooth-enabled camera phone to the Mobile Printer and print instantly. Using the built-in OBEX (object exchange profile) Bluetooth in the phone and the printer, connecting and printing becomes instant.

Or you can use it with your digital camera, of course. Just hook up the USB cable to the PictBridge-enabled camera and printer. Once connected, follow the PictBridge screen on the camera display. Simply select what image to send to the printer and within 60 seconds, the print is ready to be shared. Easy peasy…. and super fast. What could be better?

Perfect for sporting events, graduation parties, wedding receptions and just about any event where you want to take pictures. Print and share photos right away, no waiting until later for film to get developed, no emailing big zip files, and no waiting in line to pick up your pics at the store either.

I love to take my camera with me when we go out. Of course the problem with that is that my camera takes up half my bag and it’s not always the most conveinant thing to carry around. It does take fabulous pictures though.

1So, with all our day trips and place the kids like to go, and for those times when you unexpectedly need a camera to snap a picture it’s helpful to have a smaller camera that still takes a decent picture. It might not the 8 megapixel, multifeatured wonder that my regular camera is, but the Fuji FinePix V10 still has some great qualities about it and the pictures aren’t half bad.

This tiny wonder of a camera comes in black or orange casing styles and has 5.1MP image resolution and sensitivity up to ISO 1600. And oddly enough along with all the little picture taking details this camera has games on it? I thought that was odd, but still interesting. I’m not sure how often I would use the game feature, but it never hurts to have a video game around when you’re stuck in traffic or waiting in line.

Fuji’s Real Photo Technology helps remove the blurry factor or the the grainy look from the pictures you take and gives you the sharpest, most focused picture it can give you. Of course the quality of picture is going to also depend on the lighting, and photo subject too.

As my friend Richard points out, reviews on this camera were pretty mixed by camera lovers.

Reviews on this camera were a mixed bag, some reviewers complimented the V10’s performance, and some disliked it very much. It is available now for about $189.95 - $344.11.

I was surprised to see that General Electric, the company well known for just about everything else … released a digital camera. Of course GE always does a good job of combining the greatest features available on the market they are seeking to conquer, and the digital camera world is no exception. This little picture snapper has image stabilization, red eye reducer, and face detection.

All my favorite camera features, and it even has smile detection and blink detection. Now, those are two new features I’ve never seen before. These new and interesting features are supposed to help you snap the picture at just the precise moment when it’s best and everyone has their open and their smiles bright. Smile detection detects when the folks in your pictures are smiling and captures the photo at that point. Blink detection lets your know if anyone is blinking, immediately after the photo is captured and then allowing the photo to be retaken.

Just another step toward point and shoot perfect pictures!

JVC is great at delivering light weight camcorders that pack a punch and the Everio is no exception to that rule. It’s compact, lightweight and easy to use. Almost sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

Remember those big bulky heavy camcorders we used to think were fabulous? Yeah right. Good luck shooting anything with a big heavy camcorder for more than 10 minutes at a time. It’s just difficult. But, you still want a great, bold, quality picture! Well this beautiful lightweight HDD/micro SD Hybrid camcorder comes with a Konica Minolta Lens, 35x optical zoom, easy to navigate Laser Touch Operation and 30GB HDD for up to 37.5 hours of recording. It might be small in size, but it gets the job done!

Everio has been redesigned to offer more satisfaction in a smaller, lighter body. It’s the world’s smallest and lightest hard disk camcorder, so you can shoot actively without fatigue, and travel with lots of space left over when you pack your bags.

Now that you know how well it gets the job done, let’s talk about how great it looks! It comes in silver, blue, black, and even pink. It’s definitely the cutest camcorder I’ve ever seen. Cute,compact, and very functional. What a great combination!

It’s that time of year for summer vacations, days at the beach, and trips to the swimming pool. Your camera probably gets a lot of use during vacation times, but what about that times you need to protect your camera from getting wet? Maybe you’re spending a day at the water park or taking the family snorkeling while you’re on vacation this summer.

The Sealife EcoShot Waterproof Digital Camera can help you get great pictures underwater without the risk of ruining your camera. It’s made just for times like these, and with a great price tag it’s worth every penny to not have to worry about your camera getting wet. This camera is an easy to use point and shoot style digital camera. No fancy SLR skills needed to get fabulous underwater coral and sealife shots!

And your day at the beach isn’t the only time you can use this great digital camera. In addition to being waterproof and drop proof, all these features make it a great camera for almost any day.

6.0 mega-pixel Digital Camera with a 4x zoom lens and a big 2″ display for easy on-camera viewing, offers instant focus from 2′ to infinity. It is depth tested to 75′ (23 m) allowing you to take photographs as you explore the ocean world both above and below the water. As a weather proof and shock proof camera, (to a dropping height of 6′) it is ideal for taking worry-free pictures in the rain, at the beach, or on the ski slopes as well as underwater. Automatically take photos every 3, 10, 30 seconds, 1, or 5 minutes with the cameras “Spy Mode” feature. Shoot shy creatures with the EcoShot mounted on a tripod, without your presence to scare your approaching subjects. An optional Mini Wide-Angle lens is available allowing you to get even closer to your subjects. The Built-in Flash has auto, fill, off, red-eye reduction and External flash modes for normal, far and Macro shooting. The digital EcoShot SL321 also offers a video mode at 24fps.

Save $41 off the Sony Cybershot S780 8.1 MP 3X Zoom Digital Camera! Coupon code: T64G0BD6?3X196. Expires 5/28/08.

To use this coupon to get your Cybershot this weekend start off on the Sony Cybershot S780 page here at PriceGrabber, then select shop at Dell, add the camera to your cart and enter the code: T64G0BD6?3X196 during the checkout process. Enjoy your savings. That’s it!