A film camera remains a good choice if you want point-and-shoot simplicity and good quality for relatively low cost. The same goes for anyone who wants color prints without a lot of fuss and isn't especially concerned about ordering reprints or editing photos.

If you want more control over your pictures after you've shot them--editing, publishing, or e-mailing--consider digital cameras, which are winning converts with increasing capability (without an increase in price) and improving ease of use. But you need not necessarily go digital for some of a digital camera's benefits: When you drop off a roll for processing, you can order digital storage along with your prints. Other options include scanning negatives or prints using a computer and scanner.

What's available

Major camera companies include Canon, Fuji, Kodak, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, and Pentax. Most make point-and-shoot cameras in both 35mm and APS (advanced photo system) formats. Many of those companies also make single-lens reflex (SLR) models.

Cameras these days, no matter the format, are highly automated. Flashes are built into practically all point-and-shoot models and some SLR models. Low-priced film cameras are fixed-focus, like an old-fashioned box camera. Features that raise the price include autofocus, automatic exposure control, automatic film winding, and a zoom lens.

Compact 35mm cameras. Small, light, and inexpensive, these cameras are capable of producing exceptional photos. They're adequate for travel scenes and group shots. More expensive models include a zoom lens and many automated features. Some can shoot in panoramic mode, giving a 31/2x10-inch or 4x111/2-inch photo. The lens does not actually cover a wider angle in this mode; the panoramic shape is achieved by cropping off the top and bottom of the image.

Price range: $5 to $12 for single-use cameras; $20 and up for fixed-focus models; $50 and up for automatic, nonzoom cameras; and $70 and up for a model with a zoom.

APS cameras. These models use film that you never see out of its cartridge, and an accompanying magnetic coating can store such information as processing instructions and the date of the snapshot. And since APS film is smaller than 35mm film, these cameras tend to be smaller and lighter still. The format allows great flexibility--you can switch from regular to wide (semipanoramic) to panoramic in midroll. Film handling is easy. One-hour processing for this format is less widely available, however, and the cost is generally more for both film and processing.

Price range for APS models: same as the price range for compact 35mm.

35mm SLRs. Bulkier than point-and-shoot models, SLR cameras with interchangeable lenses let you see what the camera sees. Unlike a point-and-shoot, an SLR lets you compose a shot precisely, without the uncertainty of capturing content not shown in the viewfinder. Such exactitude gives a great deal of artistic control, and the generally high quality optics deliver the best image quality. SLRs are typically sold without a lens or are bundled with a zoom lens.

Price range: $200 and up for the camera body, $100 and up for a moderate-range zoom lens.

Important features

A zoom lens, magnifying your subject two or three times or so, is available on many point-and-shoot models. The 35mm zoom lenses range from about 38 mm (fairly wide angle) to about 105 mm (a moderate telephoto). APS zoom ranges are comparable. Pricing is typically determined by the complexity of the lens design. You'll pay more for a "faster" lens, such as a 100-mm zoom that opens to f/3.5 to allow more light in than another 100-mm lens with an f/4.5 maximum aperture.

Most cameras automate exposure partially or fully. Aperture governs how wide the camera should open the lens when you take a picture. Using identical-speed film and the same shutter speed, the wider the aperture a lens can manage, the better your odds of taking good pictures indoors without a flash (and the more the lens likely costs). Shutter speed governs how long the aperture stays open during a shot. Fast shutter speed (1/1000 to 1/8000 of a second or so) lets you shoot fast-moving subjects.

Auto exposure regulates the shutter speed and aperture to get a properly exposed photo, whether in bright light or low light. An exposure-compensation feature prevents underexposure when the background is bright or overexposure when the background is unusually dark compared with the subject. SLRs can often set the speed or aperture automatically, after the user has manually set the other setting as needed for a particular shot (if you set the aperture, it sets the shutter speed; if you set the speed, it sets the aperture). These and more advanced compact models may offer several preset exposure modes that suit various situations.

Autofocus frees you from having to focus the camera to ensure crisp pictures; low-end cameras typically cover preset ranges, permitting quick shots but dispensing with the more precise focusing of higher-priced models. Multi-area autofocus reduces the risk of focusing on the background in a scene by accident. Focus lock lets you freeze the focus onto who or what appears in the center of the viewfinder, helpful for when you'd like to focus on a subject and then shift the camera's aim. Compact film cameras typically use an infrared beam to focus. In-the-viewfinder signals in many models let you know when the subject is too close to be in focus or when it's out of flash range.

Motorized film handling automatically advances the film and rewinds it at the end of the roll. With a 35mm camera, you drop the film in, pull out the leader, and close the camera; with APS, you merely drop the film in. Mid-roll change, a feature found in some APS cameras, lets you reload partially exposed rolls of film--useful if you often switch between high- and low-speed film.

Flashes cover various distances, from 4 or 5 feet to 10 feet or more. The smartest ones work with the zoom lens to broaden or narrow the beam. Flash on demand lets you fill in harsh shadows in bright, sunlit portraits. "Red eye" occurs when a flash reflects off people's and animals' retinas; red-eye reduction typically uses a light before the main flash to constrict the subject's pupils. (Flashes that are farther from the lens reduce red eye to begin with.)

Some cameras are weatherproof, handy if you take the camera to the beach or boating. Certain models also offer options such as a wireless remote shutter release or the ability to imprint photos with the date taken.

How to choose

Performance differences. Whether they take 35mm or the newer APS film, conventional film cameras have attained a fairly high level of quality. Our regular testing of autofocus zoom-lens cameras shows that the lens quality is high. As a result, nearly all can produce very pleasing snapshots--sharp, properly focused, with little distortion or other drawbacks.

But, of course, the cameras don't perform identically. While SLR cameras show you exactly what will appear on film, viewfinders of even the best point-and-shoot cameras show about 90 percent of the area that actually appears on film. With some, you see only about two-thirds of what's on film, so the prints may contain unwanted, distracting detail around the edges.

Also, don't expect too much from the built-in flash that's standard on point-and-shoot cameras. External-flash units (such as the detachable ones available for some compacts and most SLRs) provide more light for your subject than the built-in flashes.

Recommendations. Spending more gets you more features and often better optics. Nevertheless, you can expect a fairly high level of quality from 35mm point-and-shoot models, even from a very low-priced camera. Our tests over the years have shown that nearly all cameras in this class can produce very good, sometimes excellent snapshots.

Despite their smaller negative size, APS cameras often produce prints as clear as those of 35mm cameras, particularly if they aren't enlarged greatly, and they offer the versatility of switching from normal to wide-angle to panoramic shots from one frame to the next within a roll. For the very best in versatility and image quality, however, 35mm SLR models remain the best, if bulkier, choice-- more complex and expensive they are.

Try before you buy. Be sure that you can see the viewfinder's image clearly--some have a diopter adjustment to help. A camera that's easy to grip is also a plus.

A recent Consumer Reports survey found that about 10 percent of 35mm and APS point-and-shoot cameras purchased in 1997 to 2000 and never covered by warranty were repaired or discarded. Vivitar and Yashica were among the repair-prone brands.