When we received the Canon PowerShot A20 and the CP-10 digital printer for review, it seemed like the perfect excuse to take a friend's new touring bike on a road trip. Both the A20 (4.3x2.8x1.5-inch and 8.8 oz) took up very little space in the saddlebags as we headed for the coast. The two provided a formidable combination, preparing instant capture and dye sublimation printing without the use of a computer. It rained, and I wished Canon had provided us with the A-20s optional waterproof housing. It would have been an excellent addition to this system in the foul weather or to take a couple of shots partially submerged in the water. According to Canon, the underwater housing is good for up to 100-feet below the surface.

On a recent business trip to the "Windy City," I had the pleasure of bringing the new Epson PhotoPC 3000Z along for the ride. It made a great travel companion, and during the course of a boat tour down the Chicago River, walks through the scenic Rush Street area, and watching the night fall from the lounge atop the Hancock tower - I fell in love.

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Rated as a "prosumer" camera . . .

In the prosumer market, digital point--and-shoots have reached a sort of consensual plateau - where certain capabilities are standard and even expected. Just about all of the have an LCD preview screen and an optical viewfinder, instant playback and delayed shutoff, several resolution modes, an optical zoom, some kind of a variable built-in-flash, video mode, and television review capabilities.

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For some time now, resolution in these cameras has been climbing steadily . . .

Studio 2000, developed and distributed by ArcSoft, Inc., is hard to classify. Other than offering an arsenal of sophisticated image editing tools and professional features, it comes with a user-friendly interface, as well as options the photo-Quixote has always fantasized about - all for $39.99.

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Professional tools include advanced layering, multiple undos, batch image editing  . . .

If you are looking for a digital recording device that does a little of everything (short of plumbing the kitchen sink), check out this new release from Ricoh. The RDC-7 offers a text copying feature, provides an audio only capture mode, records moving pictures, shoots still images, and even has a continuous shooting mode that can capture up to 165 images (depending on which storage option you are relying on).

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But wait, there's more . . .

The Minolta Dimage Scan Elite offers photographers the best of both worlds; high resolution features, including Digital ICE, in an easy to use scanner that won;t break the bank.

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We've all done it, wasted hours in the digital darkroom cleaning up scratches, dust spots, and fingerprints that can make scanning old slides and negatives an exercise in frustration. The Dimage Scan Elite offers the photographer's a solution to this nagging problem . . . 

Portable (as in printer), took on a whole new meaning with the release of several new compact units from Polaroid, Canon, Fuji, Olympus, and SiPix. Using "instant" and "on-location," as the operable term, we're happy to report that none are computer/laptop dependent.

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The manufacturers addressed user needs from entirely different angles,  introducing units with options that were fairly application specific. Introduced by Canon as the "smallest in its class," . . .