Konica Minolta DiMAGE X50 ($349) and Marine Case ($110):
On-the-water tales are simply that—yarns—until you unfurl the photographic proof of your exploits to silence your water-cooler naysayers. And for that party piece, we say go digital, go quality—and make sure the thing's tough and water-worthy. Our choice? The DiMAGE X50, together with its optional Marine Case, rates as the fastest, friendliest, most compact photo-capturing device in its class. This five-megapixel machine absolutely redefines the concept of "thin and fast." About the size of a deck of cards, the non-protruding zoom lens works like a periscope inside the unit. This Jenny Craig trick also enables the Marine Case—submersible down to 131 feet with fully functional controls for all camera features—to stay slim and trim. For the telescopically oriented, its 2.8x optical zoom lens can multiply the 4.3x digital zoom for a combined 12x magnification. Extreme close-ups? The X50's got it covered, focusing as near as a detailed 2.4 inches in Super Macro mode. And just because the X50 is petite doesn't mean you need your reading glasses to compose, review, and edit images. The widescreen two-inch LCD monitor is bright and thankfully easy on the eyes. Where speed comes into play, nothing else comes close. The X50 wins best-in-class for startup time, becoming fully operational in an amazing 0.5 seconds and able to fire off an amazing 11 frames per second. Contact 800-528-4767, www.kmpi.konicaminolta.us.
