Last week we went on a hike up one of the local trails in Lake Tahoe. I left the SLR at home and brought my compact digital camera along. Half way up the mountain we encountered a bear. I got the camera out and captured a couple of photos before he ran off into the woods.

When I got home, I zoomed in and cropped the picture but the image turned out too pixelated. My 2 year old digicam didn't have enough pixels to go around. The higher your cameras resolution, the more flexibility you have later editing your image. So now I’ve been shopping for a new compact digicam with at least 7 megapixels. Here are my 5 top picks.

The 7.2MP EP-Z750 is the smallest, lightest and thinnest camera in the group. It doesn’t look big enough to have 7.2 mega pixels but it does! The back of the camera is almost all LCD screen, 2.5” worth, it’s extra large, ideal for composing and viewing your shots. It has a 3x zoom with anti-shake and 30 scene modes compared to the usual 8 or 12 on most digicams, plus you can make up your own too. Being this small you would figure that there couldn’t possibly be any manual controls, but you’d be wrong. The EP-Z750 has aperture, shutter priority and full manual settings which are all quick and easy to navigate. You get the hang of it real quickly. The quality of the photos you take with the Casio Exilim are surprisingly excellent with dynamic colors. The Casio Exilim Ep-Z750 view finder is quite small, thank you for the big LCD screen. It’s got a quality 640x480 movie mode at 30 frames per second. Weight 4.5 oz.

The 7.1MP Coolpix 7900 is small, light and easy to use and like the Casio camera reviewed above, can be considered an ultra compact. It’s large, bright 2” LCD display is perfectly visible outdoors in the sun. Unlike the Casio, it has a bulge where the battery goes forming a grip which makes it easy to hold. But that adds to its overall thickness. The Nikon Coolpix 7900 has a 3x optical zoom, a large battery capacity for taking hundreds of pictures, and a good flash. 640x480 movies at a full 30fps and Nikon's new Face Priority autofocus will automatically detect a face in the portrait and focus on it. The Coolpix has D-Lighting that lightens the dark areas. Somehow they also found room to squeeze in vibration reduction. The Nikon 7900 uses scene modes and there’s one for almost every occasion, they’re easy to use and work very well. The 7900 doesn’t have manual control. The Nikon Coolpix 7900 is a small easy to use point and shoot camera with high-resolution. Weight 5.3oz

The 7.1MP SD550 is an attractive, lightweight, thin, ultra-compact unit with an extra large 2.5” LCD screen and optical viewfinder. It uses 13 shooting modes including auto and manual. The PowerShot has a 3x zoom, equivalent to 37-111mm. This camera is fast! Shooting 2 photos per second till you use up all your memory The speed of the auto focus is also significantly improved over earlier ELPH’s. Canon has put the new DIGIC II Processor in and its images are excellent. The movie mode is 640x480 at a nice 30 frames per second. Of course it’s PictBridge compatible and has a good flash. This is a solid performer with point and shoot ease. The Canon SD500, the SC550’s sibling is the same camera for $50 less with a 2” LCD screen. Weight 6.08oz.

The 7.1MP, C-7000 is a very good looking compact digital camera with solid performance. Zoom is in the name, because this beauty has a 5x optical zoom, and a 6x digital zoom with the 35mm camera equivalency of a 39mm-190mm lens. This makes getting candid people shots easier, you don’t need to get as close to your subject, just use your zoom to get in. The Olympus C-7000 Zoom has a large 2” LCD that is excellent even outside. You're not going to make a feature length movie with it however, because it takes 20 second clips at 30fps. The pop-up flash works good and easy to read menus make the C-7000 fairly easy to navigate. It has the new Olympus TruePic Turbo Image Processor for fast cycle times and excellent details. The C-7000 Zoom has 11 shooting modes plus manual operation. It’s PictBridge Compatible for easy printing without a computer. This little Oly is tough to beat with it’s powerful zoom, small size and high resolution. Weight 7.07oz

The 7.2 MP DSC-W7 is bigger than the ultra compact Casio Exilim its considered a compact digital camera. In traditional Sony style, this small camera is well thought out and easy to use everyday. Its got a viewfinder and a really big 2.5” LCD display that’s nice for viewing and composing your shots. The 3x optical zoom lens is a Carl Zeiss equivalent to a 28-114mm lens. No expensive batteries to buy ever, it comes with 2 AA rechargeable batteries The Sony CyberShot has an extremely quick start up time and fast recycle time. The DSC-W7 uses the memory stick format and has a an internal memory of 32MB. A manual mode with aperture and shutter speed controls with a photo exposure preview. Your also hooked up with an excellent movie mode with good sound just what you’d expect from Sony. The Sony CyberShot DSC-W7 is a very nice camera that takes good hi-resolution pictures and is easy to use. Weight 6.90 0z.

You will notice that I haven't put any prices here, because they seem to change by the day. Check our site for up-to-date price comparisons. Even pros have circumstances when a compact digicam is appropriate. These digicams are for everybody. Make your choice based on features that fit your shooting style. You will love the photos from all the cameras here. Spend the little bit extra on a 7MP camera and always use the highest resolution setting your camera has, because every picture you take is worth more than money.

Visit KISSERreviews.info to compare technical data, actual customer reviews, accessories and prices. We have more reviews at our website. For helpful information about, How to Become a Freelance Photographer, visit our unique motivational and supportive website at: FreelancePhotographerJobs.com for great ideas. There's are a lot of free photography tips, tutorials and travel information there.

I have been a professional photographer at several western ski resorts including Vail and Breckenridge Colorado, Brighton Utah, and Grand Targhee Wyoming. I started out at Grand Targhee where I landed my first professional photography job taking action photos of skiers on the slopes. Now I live in South Lake Tahoe, California and this will be my 3rd season at Heavenly. I enjoy traveling and freelancing the rest of the year.