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BYE, BYE FILM

(*) Buggy whip manufacturers didn't know what was in store for them when the first automobiles came rolling by, until their entire industry was run over and left virtually dead on the road. At the beginning of the 21st century, film manufacturers had better start boning up on history as they look over their shoulder at the digital revolution.

Digital technology is rapidly taking over the camera industry, threatening to make film obsolete. With a digital camera, you can see exactly what you have shot as soon as you have done so, and, if you don't care for the picture, simply delete it. If you do like it, you can transfer the photo to a computer to be stored indefinitely, allowing you to view it onscreen whenever you wish; transmit it to another computer for others' enjoyment or information; and/or run it through a printer to create a paper copy or high-quality print, utilizing photographic paper, should you so wish. The photo can be edited on-screen to change various aspects, cropped, reduced, blown up, or manipulated to add elements that are totally extraneous to the original shot. Would you like to create a family portrait of Brad Pitt, Madonna, Albert Einstein, Derek Jeter, Mother Teresa, and yourself?--no problem with the proper software!

The new batch of digital cameras are becoming smaller, cheaper, easier to use, and more technologically advanced at a dizzying clip. The EI-200 compact model from Pentax Corporation, Englewood, Colo., is a case in point. The EI-200 comes with all the bells and whistles currently available, yet is no more complicated to use than standard point-and-shoot cameras.

Lightweight (less than 11 ounces) and ergonomically designed to nestle in the hand, the camera has an optical image viewfinder that adjusts your focal vision from closeup to distance shots, plus a handful of settings--automatic or manual--to adapt to existing lighting conditions. Focusing can also be automatic or manual, assuring sharp images whether you are shooting something or someone five inches from you or as far away as you can see --to infinity and beyond, as Buzz Lightyear of "Toy Story" fame would proclaim. Add a built-in zoom flash, a quartet of balancing modes for true color, three picture (portrait, action, and landscape)and exposure modes, and an assortment of drive selections (continuous, time-lapse, remote control, and self-timer), and you have quite a camera--and we haven't even gotten to the digital features yet!

The most helpful of these is the LCD color monitor on the back of the camera that allows you to see the exact image you are shooting, much as video cameras have done in recent years. Without getting overly technical about pixels, converters, etc., the Hewlett-Packard-developed imaging technology is designed for maximum color fidelity; image storage can be done in compressed JPEG or uncompressed TIFF formats; and the 8MB CompactFlash Card (digital photography's answer to film) can store as many as 27 images, depending on the quality setting (good, better, best) you select.

The disk drive permits high-speed transmission of data to a personal computer with standard software, and (again avoiding high-tech speak) infrared imaging transmission is possible to printers and other devices with the proper interface equipment. Moreover, by plugging the camera into a video monitor with an AV output plug, you can view your subject on screen in a larger size before you decide to shoot. Obviously, this will not work outdoors or out of reach of the adapter cable.

The EI-200 operates on four AA batteries or, for a longer life span, rechargeable lithium or Ni-MH batteries can be utilized. The camera...