So you're looking for the perfect digital camera. How you want to use it will determine which is the one for you. Digital cameras come in two main categories: point-and-shoot, and digital SLR. Point-and-shoots work well for social photographers more concerned with capturing a moment than with image perfection. However, they offer less control over your pictures. One reason is that you're viewing the scene through a viewfinder, which doesn't keep up with zooming, focusing, and framing very well. Most also offer little to no manual control of the camera's settings. If that doesn't matter to you, a point-and-shoot should satisfy you.

Digital SLR cameras are for serious photographers; their single-lens reflex (SLR) design lets you see your subject through the lens rather than the viewfinder, which leads to more predictable results. Digital SLRs let you interchange different lenses and control the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings. Oftentimes, they respond faster when you take a photo, too. However, such cameras cost a lot more than point-and-shoots. If you own and use multiple lenses for your 35mm camera, a digital SLR might be up your alley. If not, these spendy cameras might be overkill. CNET Reviews:
Digital camera buying guide
Shopping for a digital camera is complicated. CNET Reviews has put together a digital camera buying guide that lets you decide which features and cameras might suit you, depending on your photography needs. CNET Reviews:
Editors' top digital cameras
See all CNET editors' top digital cameras CNET Reviews:
Editors' take on digital photo technology

Perfect your pictures
Now that you've taken photos of your friend's beach wedding, how do you get rid of the shoreline lookie-loos in the background? Learning how to improve your digital pictures is a simple weekend project, as Editor at Large Brian Cooley explains in this video tutorial. Image editing tips:
Red-eye removal

Most automated features, such as the adjustment of colors and levels, generally work well in image-editing programs. However, automatic red-eye correction often falls flat. Fortunately, fixing red-eye by hand is actually quite easy.

First, zoom in until the eye takes up most of the screen. You can use the clone stamp to duplicate an area or simply copy and paste the unaffected iris color over the red. Our favorite method, and one you can employ in any graphics program, is hand-coloring the affected area. Find a matching color using the eyedropper or the palette, then dab the off-color pixels. Zoom out every once in a while to check the effect and adjust the color as needed. If too much flash turns the pupil red, you can fill in the overexposed area with black. For a realistic effect, leave a little dot of white flash in the pupil. Try this in Photoshop or any of these other photo-editor downloads.

Look how cute!
We know why so many people spend all their time and money on digital photography: to show the world how cute their dog/cat/baby/girlfriend is. Online photo sites let you share your sweeties with the world. This photo of Callendo and Ernie comes from one of penners2000's photo albums on Webshots, a CNET site. Go global

Photo-sharing sites like Yahoo's Flickr, Kodak's EasyShare Gallery, and CNET's Webshots let you assemble slide shows, order prints, and even customize mugs and snow globes with your pictures. However, many of these sites require people to register for full access to your masterpieces. For universal access, try making a Web-based gallery with programs from Download.com.

Here are some of our favorite applications. JAlbum is free and lets you create slide shows and albums, then upload the files directly to your Web site. Extreme Thumbnail Generator creates a thumbnail-based navigation system for image-heavy sites. FxFoto has an impressive set of image-editing tools. Finally, arranging whimsical collages is a snap with FotoFusion.