When I review digital cameras, everything rests on image quality, period. Product reviewers are a cynical bunch that get stuck in their ways. We’re quite regimented, tied to a methodology carefully crafted with years of experience. With cameras, there’s the landscape, the indoor, and the macro shot. Print it out with a good photo printer in letter format and look for all the mistakes digital cameras make.

But then a camera comes along that shakes things up and forces you to see things differently. Perhaps in this category, at this point in technology, it isn’t all image quality, but the convenience afforded by a compact camera that’s more important. It’s not to say image quality isn’t important at all, but there’s a point where you just have to say, "it’s good enough".

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T7 ($500)

This epiphany came to me when I received the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T7 to review. I took the 5.1 megapixel shooter to a birthday dinner and a housewarming barbeque the following weekend. I’ll admit that light colors were overexposed in some mixed lighting situations. And the flash is effective to only 5.25 feet.

But ultimately the pictures looked just fine and nobody complained about quality. We talked about specific moments captured forever or how cute Rocky the dog looked. Everybody swooned at the small size of the T7 and how great it is to take with you. Measuring only 3.6 by 2.4 by 0.6 inches and weighing only 4.7 ounces, the T7 is dwarfed by compact cameras like the Canon ELPH SD400.

Canon PowerShot SD30 ($400)

Where the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T7 changed my perception of digital cameras, the 5.0 megapixel Canon PowerShot SD30 is the perfect camera for me. With a pocket friendly 3.8 by 1.8 by 0.9 inch form and weighing 4.8 ounces, the SD30 is the size of many cell phones on the market.

I took the SD30 out two weekends in a row and the pictures are priceless. The small flash, effective to 6.6 feet, can’t fill an average room, but provides enough light to capture an evening out and about with friends. These are lifes most important memories and that’s the point of having a camera. A compact camera needs to travel with you all the time and for that the SD30 is even better than the T7. It’s a camera that fits unnoticeably in your pocket or, for the ladies, a clutch.

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