Updated June 10, 2005: Christmas 2004 turned out to be one of those where much of what we did focused around the cameras in the household. I upgraded what I was using, bought Shelley her first digital, and rippled my other cameras down to the boys... The two changes for me were the addition of a Minolta Dimage A-2 and an upgraded version of the Dimage X:

The A-2 is what I consider to be my first 'real' digital camera. The others have done the job and admirably well, but this is the first time I've been able to select a camera by 'feature set' instead of price. My decision on this camera stemmed from not being able to move up to a DSLR and yet wanting something with more optical zoom and more resolution capability than the Casio I'd been using. ...and with an 8 megapixel CCD array and a 7x optical zoom the A-2 seemed like a good choice (review). So far I've been very pleased with it, as have many of you from your comments about the photos on the blog...

...and while I was looking about for information about the A-2, I stumbled across a source for refurbished Minolta Dimage Xts and decided to upgrade my 'spycam' to the higher resolution version (review). That decision was based my habit of carrying a camera with me nearly always when I'm out of the house and realizing the A-2 and it's case would be more obtrusive than the Casio/Dimage X combo I'd been carrying. The Xt tends to live on my belt much of the time and is responsible for about ten percent of the photos on the blog...

...and there's your update for Spring 2005!

Updated March 16, 2004: Last December I ended up with a Casio QV-R40 as a kind of left-handed Christmas present. It was the result of a gift certificate with a limited selection of products; the Casio was the only camera available and Shelley suggested not buying clothes or something sensible... Okay!

The Casio is slightly smaller than the Fujifilm DX-10 shown below and has replaced it for macro shots (the Fuji has moved on to my oldest son as a 'learning' camera). The Casio is a four megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom. ...and while I wouldn't have picked it out of a lineup, I've grown to like it. It takes the front line day to day duties, and the Minolta Dimage X (also shown below) now handles the 'spycam' side of the show (there's just no beating that one for unobtrusiveness). Here's one review.

The original post:

From time to time someone asks what cameras I use to get the pics you see on the blog and elsewhere on the domains. Okay...

The main camera is a Minolta Dimage X:

This is a small form factor, two megapixel camera that comes in handy for the type of "off the cuff" photography I do much of the time. There's a nice overview of the camera here. The prime advantage for me is its small size and "instant on". All of the pictures in Desktops were taken with this camera (as of September, 2003).

The backup camera is a Fujifilm DX-10:

Until I received the Minolta for my birthday in 2002, this sub-megapixel Fujifilm DX-10 was my day to day camera. While the Minolta has zoom and double the resolution, the DX-10 still travels with me for the sheer clarity of the shots it can turn out in macro mode. A review from Imaging Resource is available here. A great many of the close ups you see on the blog are shot with this camera.