Gear

There are times when it's OK, even cool, to look the part of a professional photographer, but other times, keeping a low profile is a much smarter course of action. Let's face it, an obvious camera bag can make you a target for a soft or hard theft, and nothing ruins a vacation or business trip like losing all your gear.

DSLRs have steadily advanced in megapixels, but medium-format digital still leaves them far behind. Megapixels aren't the only reason. The bigger format's image sensors are four times larger than the APS-C-sized chips used in most DSLRs. That allows the Hasselblad H3D-39 not only to accommodate 39 million pixels (enough for a billboard) but also to deliver image quality far superior to that of a DSLR at a given ISO.

The mid-sized Olympus EVOLT E-510 hits the trifecta: It's the world's first D-SLR to combine supersonic-wave sensor cleaning, in-body image stabilization, and a "live view" system that turns its LCD into a viewfinder. The 10-megapixel model is about the same size as its eight-megapixel predecessor, the E-500, but is much improved in its comfortable handling and rounded good looks.

At a thousand dollars, Canon's original Digital Rebel was arguably the first affordable D-SLR. Its third generation offers greater versatility and more advanced features at a much lower price. The tiny, featherweight Canon Digital Rebel XTi is a dead ringer for its predecessor, the Digital Rebel XT, but ups resolution from eight to 10.1 megapixels and increases the size of its color LCD (which has a wider viewing angle) to 2.5 inches.