Photography amateurs reach out to dSLRs

At a camera store in Manhattan this week, Paulson and other photography aficionados pondered a growing range of high-quality digital cameras that are luring even the most die-hard traditionalists away from film.

The bank employee seems to have set his heart on Canon Inc.'s 5D with 12.8 megapixels -- one of many digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, which allow users to see images exactly as they will be captured.

"I'm waiting for the price to come down. I think it will," Paulson said, eyeing an advertisement for the new model.

Professional-quality digital cameras still cost far more than basic "point and shoot" devices, but prices have fallen by 50 percent or more in the last few years.