This short video is the result of mistakenly having my camera set to movie mode rather than picture. At least it produced a cute clip of a miniature horse

Well we all make mistakes, fortunately this one was harmless, and good for a laugh, even if I did miss the opportunity for a hard to get head on picture of that engaging little fellow.

It brings to mind though, the current trend of digital cameras being feature rich, perhaps too much so.

There's nothing wrong with having loads of features in digital cameras, as long as they're useful ones, and, more important, do not cause a lessening of picture quality.

That's the problem with many feature laden digital cameras. In order to keep the price reasonable, the manufacturer skimps on the components, such as lens, imaging sensor, and processor resulting in degraded picture quality.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Casio has just released the Exilim EX-V7, a 7.2 mega-pixel camera with a 7X optical zoom, and it is touted as the world's thinnest camera in its class. Of course it does video, and it even has stereo audio!

Sounds great, until you read the review.

So, it has lots of bells and whistles, but it's short on picture quality. I say, what good is it then, because after all, it's all about the picture.

Before being seduced by big numbers, and a multitude of features and gizmos, many of which you many never use, take a step back and consider why you're buying a digital camera in the first place.

When you think you'll want to enlarge you files to more than 8X10, go for a camera with a really good lens, and certainly at least 6 mega-pixel, 8 is better, more than that may get you a trade off again, unless you buy a top notch DSLR.

If you want a snap shot camera, and your plan is to make 4x6 prints, only go smaller in size but always go for a good lens, and about 5 mega-pixels.

When there's a need for video also, be careful, and don't end up with a camera that delivers sub-par performance with stills and video. If video is that important, bite the bullet and get a small, modest mini-DV camcorder, and a small, but good quality still camera. You'll be happier.