Temptation!

The competition is hotting up in the prosumer camera arena, with this latest bevy of digital beauties being announced. I can feel my wallet twitching!

Minolta have just announced a very tempting follow-up to their excellent A1 camera - the appropriately named Minolta A2, featuring 8 megapixel sensor, an improved viewfinder, USB 2.0 interface, 7 frames per second capability, anti-shake function and a Sony 828-rivalling 28mm - 200mm F2.8 - F3.5 lens.

Olympus have also announced a new 8 megapixel model, the chunky-looking Olympus C-8080 with 28mm-140mm F2.4 - F3.5 zoom and a natty flip up LCD monitor.

Canon have also thrown their hat into the 8 megapixel ring with their new Canon PowerShot Pro1 . The camera comes with an excellent feature set and is considerably smaller than the Sony 828 - but there's no denying that the camera's a bit of a dog to look. The function dial seems to have slipped off the top plate and got stuck half way down the back of the camera and the zoom lens extends so far out it may end up belting the subject in the face!

Also check out Minolta's first digital SLR, the 6 megapixel Konica Minolta Maxxum 7 Digital

Like buses, it seems that highly desirable new cameras come in packs!