Two Digital Cameras That Beg for Your Touch

Recently I looked at the Pentax Optio T20 with touch screen technology. Now it seems that touch screens are becoming a standard option on many new compact digital cameras. Two other digital cameras that are high on touch, style, and personality are the Sony DSC-N2 and the Samsung NV10.

The Sony DSC-N2 has a 3x optical zoom, 10MP, and a beautiful 3-inch LCD preview, but the thing that sets this camera apart is the touch screen operation. Using the included stylus, you're even given simple paint tools to let you scrawl a message or draw a doodle right on top your photos. This camera is designed as much to entertain friends as preserve their memories; you can create a photo album with transition effects between photos and music in the background and play it for your friends on the large display screen. ($450)

The Samsung NV10 is also a 10MP camera with a 3x optical zoom. It also uses a touch interface, but in a very different, novel sort of way. As you move your finger over the numerous buttons surrounding the LCD screen (but without depressing them), you bring up a display of options associated with that button on the display screen. Most people who've used this system say it makes getting at any feature in the camera a matter of two button presses and that it's quite easy once you get used to it.