So here’s the problem. I love my SLR. It takes great pictures, the zoom is fabulous, the details are crystal clear. Unfortunately, it also weighs a ton. It isn’t the kind of camera you can toss in your purse and take out on the town very easily. This past weekend I had a wedding to attend which was over 2000 miles away. Of course I wanted to be able to take pictures of old friends there but the prospects of dragging that huge and expensive SLR with me across the country in a small weekend bag (that would basically fit ONLY the SLR), then trying to figure out how to cram it into my elegant evening bag, and worrying about losing or breaking it the entire night, seemed so daunting that I left it behind. I thought maybe I could count on friends to back me up but when I arrived I found out that one didn’t own a digital camera and the other had no batteries for hers. Hence, we ended up buying a $10 film camera from the local drugstore. It was then that I realized that perhaps I needed another camera. Something small and inexpensive that I could fit in my pocket and wouldn’t worry too much about losing. Luckily there are a lot of new cameras on the market that fit the bill. Initially I worried that the quality of these cameras’ pictures wouldn’t compare favorably with my SLR, but technology, I quickly realized, has come quite a long way. If you aren’t looking to take National Geographic quality shots of Uncle Jim downing his 10th shot at the family reunion, a pocket cam is a must these days even - or especially - if you already own a top SLR.

– Cari