The final decision

After you have concluded your crusade through the Internet, magazines and shops, you have narrowed down your search to 2 or 3 cameras, and you're now stuck with the major decision. You'll get dazzled and keep on tossing and turning at night because you're not sure whether to go for CF card, SmartMedia, Li-ion batteries, auto or full manual controls, or worse, you haven't the faintest idea what it's all about…

Rest assured, your unconscious mind probably has already been made up for this nifty little machine that you fell in love with right away. So you'll listen only to the arguments that make you feel good and confirm you're choice. You'll ignore all information that you feel uncomfortable with, and you'll find yourself saying: "the hack with all these negative comments, what do they know about it..."

So, in summary, I cannot give you any more advise than you have been offered in all reviews, buying a camera is like any thing else a matter of personal preference, it's your call, but here are some simple rules to follow:

• Spent some time on defining when, what for and where you will use the camera
• Ensure that the camera performs well on matters that you consider important
• Relax on negative scores related to aspects that are of lesser importance to you.
• Always plan for additional costs: batteries, larger memory cards, better printer etc.
• Always go to a local shop to get a good feel for size and handling of the cameras!!