Starting around 1990, one of the things that pushed my interest in computer hardware was the idea of seeing photographic quality imaging on my computer. Over the years, it lead to the purchase of numerous graphic cards, computer monitors, and eventually various digital cameras - all in pursuit of digital imaging technology.

The first digital camera I ever bought was in 1997. By any measure, the Olympus D320L was a cutting-edge camera for its time. At 1.0 megapixel resolution, and supporting removable SmartMedia flash memory, the D320L set the standard for its class.

Summer of 1999, I replaced the point-n-shoot with an Olympus C2000 Zoom. This was a 2.1 megapixel camera, with high speed cache, a 3X optical zoom lens, aperture size & shutter speed control, an infrared remote, and absolutely stunning image quality (for 1999). The C2000 Zoom was one of the first "pro-sumer" digital cameras on the market.

Fall of 2000, I bought my wife this Canon Digital Elph. Also known as the PowerShot S100, this 2.1 megapixel camera was the smallest digital camera on the market. We bought it for point-n-shoot, in-your-purse convenience. It was freakishly small (for 2000).

Summer of 2004, I bought the Canon G3. This is a 4 megapixel camera with a 4x optical zoom lens. It uses Compact Flash, like Gail's Elph, but has more buttons, controls and features than I'll likely ever use. Mostly, I bought the camera for its image quality, which is outstanding when matched with Canon's external flash attachment.

Seven years after we bought Gail's Canon Elph, the little guy finally bit the dust. In Fall of 2007, we replaced it with the new Canon A720 IS.  This is an 8 magapixel camera, with a 6X optical zoom, face-recognition and image stabilization.  The picture quality and features are truly amazing, and at only one third the price of her old Elph. Technology marches on.

Every now and then, I managed to take a pretty decent photo. And of course image quality will always look somewhat lacking in the hind-sight that comes with improved technology, the pictures themselves are still OK. So below are some of my better shots. Click on any of the pictures here - they each link to a 1024x768 version of the smaller image.