Bluetooth is a technology to connect electronic devices on short distances, usually under 10 meters. It is seen often in computer-peripherals like mice and keyboards.
And, it is used a lot in phones to connect headsets and transfer data from one phone to another or to a computer.

And now, it’s available in digicams, too: for instance the Ricoh 500SE.
However, how much use is it? Bluetooth is a simple, well standardized protocol using very little energy from your batteries - but it’s also rather slow, as people with multi-megapixel cameraphones have discovered. If you are lucky, bluetooth transfers 15 KBytes per second or 1 megabyte per minute. No problem for small pictures, but a large one with high detail can take 5 minutes per image!

So yes, it’s cheap, handy and easy, but has it’s restrictions…
Another technology, available for some time already is WiFi, introduced by Nikon in it’s P1 and P2 models. This is a very fast technology, but also more complicated and energy-hungry.

However, this one is going to stay and has in fact a good future if manufacturers start implementing the technology better. Sending a picture to a printer is easy, but WiFi has far more potential.
Easiest thing to start with is a small embedded webserver, so your camera can act like a wireless website sharing pictures with others.

Digicam producers, where are you waiting for?

In the old days the sensitivity of film was a fixed value. Digicams offer a broad range of settings to suit many light conditions.

At the heart of your digicam is a chip that collects light on millions of elements. Each element delivers one pixel of every image you make. But they are not perfect: they produce light information, but also a bit of what we call noise - that’s the specke effect on some pictures. If you use the lowest sensitivity (ISO 50 or 80) there is not much noise, but increasing the ISO value gives more and more noise until some pictures are too speckled to use…

So why would you raise the ISO? Well, to catch more light! If it is a bit too dark, there is a risk of pictures getting shaken. So yes, you have to find the optimal setting for best results!

Many camera’s don’t offer the choice on ISO when set to “auto”. On a “manual” or “program” setting the camera offers you a choice. In bright conditions, always use a low value, but in the evening or inside, consider raising it a bit. Or a lot: never hesitate to experiment with your digicam and simply try all those settings until you find the best one.

Some cameras also offer ranges like “low ISO” or “high values” in which you order the magnitude and the camera has some freedom to choose.

Talking about values: the larger the CCD chip, the lower it’s noise. That’s why DSLR’s can go to ISO values of 1600 or even 3200!
Compact cameras with their small chips don’t go that far. 400 is common, 800 can be seen frequently on new models.
And, there’s that nice Fujifilm Finepix F30 with a very clever design. The elements, put in a honeycomb structure give low noise and you can go to ISO 3200! Do not expect perfect pictures at 3200, but at parties you may be the only one without blurred memories!

And yes, the pixel race is open again!
Whoever thought that camera manufacturers settled around 6-7 megapixels will be surprised to know that Canon does not stop here…
The already feature-loaded A610 and A620 will very soon be followed up by the A630 and A640 models, featuring 8.0 and 10.0 megapixels. You hoped for an image stabiliser? Pity, not this time…

The other specifications are still the same and that’s absolutely no shame, because these camera’s are magic in the hands of experienced people. Not very experienced yet? No problem, because your journey can start at the “auto” position and the Powershot will accompany you further to discover more possibilities you thought possible in a compact camera.

Compact? Well that’s a bit relative because there are many camera’s around that fit a lot easier in your pocket and feel much more comfortable there.
However, a 4x zoomrage, a swiveling display to take pictures in any position, an optic viewfinder and 4 AA batteries that last “forever” are worth the extra weight for many enthousiasts.
Believe me, I would like to hold one for a moment or two…

Here are the short specs:
* 8.0 (A630) or 10.0 (A640) Megapixels
* 4x optical zoom
* 2.5″ vari-angle LCD
* DIGIC II and iSAPS
* 9-point AiAF and FlexiZone AF/AE
* 21 shooting modes and My Colors
* High-speed ISO 800
* Safety Zoom & Digital Tele-Converter
* 1cm Macro mode
* 30fps VGA movies
* Range of accessories

The Powershot A700 was a very exciting and progressive offering when released. With it’s 6x zoom it was certainly more advanced than the A540 and whoever valued the zoomrange over a vari-angle display had a good alternative for an A620.

But Canon decided to upgrade it already! And what a nice digicam it is now an image stabiliser has been added - that certainly helps prevent shaken images using the full zoom at less than optimal light conditions. Also, the sensor has been replaced by a 7.1 megapixel chip.

Like it’s predecessor, the Powershot A710 sports a fixed 2.5 ” display, the fast DIGIC II processor and an extended ISO value of 800.
With a lens adapter and teleconverter, the already great zoom-range of this nice small camera (35-210 mm) can be multiplied by 1.5 or 2.
Now that’s a lot of power in your hands…