Minolta DiMAGE 7i Minolta has improved its excellent 5-megapixel DiMAGE 7 consumer digital SLR by making it faster, and easier to use. Featuring a 28-200mm (35mm-camera equivalent) f/2.8-3.5 zoom lens, the Minolta DiMAGE 7i offers three metering options (multi-segment, spot and center-weighted), single-shot and continuous autofocusing with a three-point wide AF area and Flex Focus Point (which lets you precisely control the focus point) plus direct manual focus, shutter speeds from 4 seconds to 1/4000, and a full range of shooting modes (shiftable program AE, shutter- and aperture-priority AE, metered manual, and several subject programs). Other features include 2-fps advance at full resolution (7 fps at reduced resolution), built-in autoflash with wireless off-camera TTL flash capability, interval recording, digital enhanced bracketing, movie mode, special effects, PIM and DPOF compatibility and more. Maximum resolution is 2568x1928 pixels, with images stored in RAW, uncompressed TIFF or compressed JPEG form on CompactFlash Type I or II cards or Microdrives. There's a 1.8-inch LCD monitor plus a TTL electronic viewfinder. Dimensions are 4.6x3.6x4.4 inches and 18.5 ounces. Street price is just under $1000. Minolta U.S.A. Inc., 201/825-4000; PHOTOFAX 800/528-4767; www.minoltausa.com. Nikon Coolpix 5000 Nikon's teeny five-megapixel Coolpix 5000 incorporates a 28-85mm f/2.8-4.8 Zoom-Nikkor lens, offers four metering modes (256-segment Matrix, center-weighted, spot and spot AF area) and four exposure modes (shiftable program AE, shutter- and aperture-priority AE and metered manual), and provides five-area and spot AF, single-shot and continuous AF, plus manual focusing. Other features include a 1.8-inch color LCD monitor that swivels 270° plus an optical viewfinder, 2560x1920-pixel images saved on CompactFlash cards, uncompressed TIFF or compressed JPEG file formats, automatic exposure bracketing, macro focusing down to 3/4 inch, built-in Speedlight plus dedicated flash hot-shoe, up to 3-fps continuous shooting, ISOs up to 800, shutter speeds from 8 seconds to 1/4000 plus B, and more. Dimensions are 4.0x3.2x2.7 inches and 12.6 ounces. Street price is around $1000. Nikon Inc., 800/NIKON-US; www.nikonusa.com. Olympus Camedia E-20N Olympus' top consumer digicam, the five-megapixel Camedia E-20N is a digital SLR with all-aluminum body, a 35-140mm f/2.0-2.4 ED glass zoom lens, 2560x1920-pixel resolution, RAW, TIFF and JPEG file formats, storage on SmartMedia or CompactFlash Type II cards and Microdrives, an SLR optical finder plus 1.8-inch color LCD monitor, USB auto-connect, up to 7 fps shooting (4.5 fps at full resolution), shutter speeds from 60 seconds to 1/4000 plus B, built-in flash plus hot-shoe with sync up to 1/640, Auto-Connect USB and more. Dual active IR/passive autofocusing plus manual focusing down to 8 inches, three metering systems and a host of exposure modes (program, shutter- and aperture-priority AE, manual, auto exposure bracketing) add versatility. TruPic Technology uses all of the camera's pixels to produce every image, even at lower resolutions. Measuring 5.0x4.12x7.0 inches and weighing in at 37 ounces, the E-20N has a solid "real-camera" feel. Street price is around $2000. Olympus America, Inc., 631/844-5000; www.olympus.com. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC5 Panasonic's new 4-megapixel Lumix DMC-LC5 features a razor-sharp 33-100mm f/2.0-2.5 Leica DC Vario-Summicron zoom lens with color filter specifically designed to optimize the lens's performance. The 2240x1680-pixel images are stored in TIFF or JPEG form on SD or MMC cards. Other features include an optical finder plus large 2.5-inch color LCD monitor, movie and audio recording, built-in red-eye-reducing autoflash plus hot-shoe for external flash, hybrid autofocusing plus manual focusing down to 11.8 inches (down to 2.4-7.9 inches in macro mode), 3- and 5-frame focus and exposure bracketing, multiple metering and exposure modes (program, shutter- and aperture-priority AE plus manual), and more. Dimensions are 3.2x5.0x2.5 inches and 16 ounces. Street price is $800. Panasonic, 800/272-7033; www.panasonic.com. Pentax Optio 430 A tiny (3.6x2.3x1.2-inch, 7.2-ounce) 4-megapixel model that produces 2240x1680-pixel images, stored on CompactFlash cards, the Pentax Optio 430 features a 37.5-112.5mm f/2.6-4.8 zoom lens and a 1.6-inch LCD monitor and provides automatic and manual control of exposure (including multi-segment, center-weighted and spot metering) and focusing (including both seven-point and spot AF). An optical zoom finder with built-in dioptric eyepiece adjustment makes for easy composition. There's a movie mode, a histogram display for more precise control of critical exposures, a mode memory function that allows a combination of settings to be saved, built-in red-eye-reducing autoflash and more. Street price is $600. Pentax Corp., 303/799-8000; www.pentaxusa.com. Sony Mavica MVC-CD400 Sony's Mavica MVC-CD400 burns its 4.0-megapixel (2272x1704-pixel) TIFF or JPEG images onto 3-inch CD-R or CD-RW discs—very economical (a 156MB CD-R disc costs about $4). Other features include multi-point laser AF plus 13-step manual focusing (down to 1.6 inches in macro mode), 49-cell matrix metering plus spot metering, pre-set scene modes, a 34-102mm f/2.0-2.5 Carl Zeiss lens, MPEG movie and three-shot burst still modes, auto and manual exposure, built-in red-eye-reducing autoflash plus hot-shoe, picture effects and more. The camera comes with a rechargeable InfoLithium battery and charger and an AC adapter. Dimensions are 5.4x3.7x4.0 inches and 22.5 ounces. Street price is $899.95. Sony Electronics Inc., 800/222-SONY; www.sony.com.