On the Ball

	Nadal in Action

Ah, the U.S. Open. Andre, Roger, Serena, me -- and $24,000 of camera equipment. Tennis, anyone?

Every year I use the U.S. Open as my little testing ground for the latest in digital cameras. I don't go for the tennis. I'm not a big fan of the game; teenagers in short shirts and florescent gym clothes don't do it for me.

I go because as a camera testing lab, the Open has got game, set and match.

The angles from the press pits, courtside and the midcourt schmoozer corporate booths turn even lame shooters like me -- at least for a day -- into the granddaddy of all sports shutterbugs, Walter Iooss Jr.

"With this kind of access and equipment, you simply cannot miss," says Jim Sugar, a freelance professional photographer for Sports Illustrated, who is giving Iooss a run for his action-shooting money.

This year, the news in cameras is cheap, digital, single-lens reflex units.

Single-lens cameras are the ultimate photographer's tool. They're portable, fully automatic and, best of all, allow you to see exactly what the camera sees.

A mirror reflects the image straight from the focal plane at the back of the lens up to your eye. No guessing what's where, like in pedestrian point-and-shoot units.

The only problem with single-lens cameras has always been price.

Simple point-and-shoot units were enough for the average Jane to capture the magic of digital photography. Most sane folks (a group that, of course, does not include me) would never drop the several thousand dollars it used to take to snag a digital single-lens camera.

But no more. Thomas Hogan, an independent photo industry and electronics analyst, estimates volume sales for digital single-lens reflex cameras will grow by about 30% in 2006, to almost 5.2 million total units.

And big vendors like Canon CAJ, Nikon, Olympus OCPNY, Sony SNE and others are dropping the single-lens prices with abandon to fill that demand: Expect a solid midmarket digital single-lens camera like the Canon 350DX or Nikon D50 to be below $500 by the holidays.

That's a ton of camera for the money, enough to lure even the most budget-conscious camera shopper to the superior qualities of a single-lens reflex camera.

To get a sense of the bang of the digital single-lens buck, I compared a new Olympus E-330 ($999, body only) to a top-of-the-line Canon EOS-1D IIN ($3,999 body only) -- check out B&H Photo for purchasing info.

The Almighty Olympus

First, the Olympus.

It's a question of what E-330 doesn't have, not what it does.

All the high-end features that were once strictly pro-only are here: fully automated focus and exposure, interchangeable bayonet mounted lenses, automatic integrated flash, a full set of controls, three-frames-per-second exposure and a full range of presets for different shooting situations.

The E-330 even comes with a 2.5-inch diagonal preview screen like the kind you'll find in point-and-shoot cameras. Very slick.

The E-330's image quality and overall usability are solid. At an early match, the Olympus beautifully captured Rafael Nadal's horrible outfits in their full crimson flush. (Who dresses this kid?)