The Smallest Digital Camera
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios

It seems that every product on the market has desire for the future attached to it. With so many products, it is wished that the given item can be bigger, as the wish is so often affixed to automobiles, or smaller, as with cameras. A small camera is more convenient, easier to carry about, and, like a large car, is a bit of a social marker for its owner. So what is the smallest digital camera? Let’s find out.

It seems that every month a newer, tinier camera comes out onto the market. Three manufacturers that all seem to be competing for creating the world’s smallest digital camera are Sony, Canon, and Fuji film. Each company has at least one tiny digital worthy of note.

For Canon, this is the PowerShot S230 Elph, which has progressed through a few changes over the last half decade. This is a bit larger than the Fuji film FinePix F402, and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-U20 though each cost within about $ 100 of each other.

Like all things, each has its highlights and its shortcomings. The smallest of these cameras, though not necessarily the world’s smallest digital camera, is the Sony Cyber-Shot. It is tiny enough to fit comfortably in any pocket or purse, or even in one’s hand, where it nestles itself quite concealed. A bit disappointing is how tiny the LCD monitor is. The size of a postage stamp –a small stamp at that, taking a good photo using the monitor can be a bit daunting. In the pursuit of making the smallest digital camera, concessions will exist.

One of the great advantages to Fuji film’s FinePix is its flatness, which makes for smooth carrying. However, due to its size and design, it’s certainly not for people with large hands and fingers as the buttons are quite close to one another. In all fairness, each of these models has small buttons in general, par for the course of their size.

Some benefits to each of these include retractable lenses, which will protect the camera and maintain a smaller carrying size, and that each comes with rechargeable batteries and chargers (which are not always so small). If a small charger is an important factor, the Canon has the smallest of the three by far.

Of course, other considerations must also be made. This includes how long the batteries will last in relation to the number of pictures that can be taken in this time frame. As well, other considerations include the pixilation, which indicates how clear your photos will turn out, and the price, the all-bearing bottom line. Though none of these cameras quite fit the bill of the world’s smallest digital camera, they are each fine cameras in their own turn.

A camera that might just be called the smallest digital camera, however, is the USB digital made by Phillips. It sells at roughly $100 and though only having a meager 1.3 megapixels, this camera actually fits onto your keychain. Any smaller and it would be unusable.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.