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Ski Porn

Want to give extreme-ski outfits like Teton Gravity Research a run for their money at the next action film fest? Check out Outside 's overview of the essentials of DIY filmmaking. And while you're at it, best explore the cameras in the 2004 Buyer's Guide. You owe it to your inner Warren Miller.

A True-Blue Winter Wonder
With digital cameras, size matters; while skiing, you want the camera small and the resolution mammoth, and the Cyber-shot DSC-P150 ($500; www.sony.com) embraces both ends of this spectrum. This 4.25-inch-wide number is Sony's latest entry into the digi cam foray, a tidy camera with an impressive, professional-grade 7.2-megapixel resolution (at present the world's smallest high-res digital). In short, the DSC has got you covered, from quick snaps of your friends snowboating to sweeping, large-print panoramas of alpine summit scenes, coupled with a size that'll slip into the narrowest of ski parka pockets. Better still, the long rectangular chassis keeps your trigger hand near the controls and away from the lens and 1.8-inch color LCD screen. Packed with features like nine variations of auto scene selection (including landscape, snow, and high-speed shutter), an impressive Carl Zeiss 3x optical lens, and a bionic, night-busting flash, this camera will return crisp, clear, and bright renditions of all your slopeside action. It flicks on in a heartbeat, but a relatively slow shutter speed could mean that your on-the-ground photographer will only catch the tail-end of your mid-air antics; while not the slowest snapper out there, it will take some time to perfect the art of catching that exact moment. Weighing in at 5.4 ounces, it's also a tad heftier than some of the other mini-digital cameras currently on the market.

Point-n-Shoot: Let's Get Literal
The Casio Exilim EX-Z40 ($300; www.casio.com) is one digi point-and-shoot that delivers—the Exilim fires off the moment you hit the trigger, meaning no more frustration as little Johnny lies in a heap after trying to hold his snow plough long enough for you to line up the shot—and then wait for the camera to catch up. The Exilim's wide, expansive two-inch LCD screen is a big attraction for those who compulsively like to ogle the just-taken shot, as are the multiple pre-set scene settings that add an air of professional panache to the portfolio of any snow-bound shutterbugs. The lithesome frame, weighing a wispy 4.27 ounces, will slip into a jacket pocket as you indulge in some unhindered downhill schussing, but all this svelt detailing does make it tough for those with gloves; even without mittens, manipulating the buttons is no fun for we pleasantly plump-fingered brethren. The 3x optical zoom, though adequate, is no Carl Zeiss, and the four-megapixel resolution will leave all Ansel Adams aspirations quite grainy when enlarged. The quality of indoor shots means you'll probably want to leave the après-ski moments unrecorded, but for piste-level, quick-action snapshots the Exilim comes through.