A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about what to look for when buying a digital camera. I got an email from a reader, Mike, asking for specific camera recommendations. After doing a little research, I found a great website called My Product Advisor for helping to sift through all of the options. You go through a thorough process of rating what is important to you and it makes it’s recommendations for specific cameras.

I ‘ve found sites like this before, but this one is really comprehensive and you don’t get the sense that it is pushing you towards particular products. Going through the ratings takes a few minutes, but it is time well spent as it really gets into your preferences and saves you a lot of time sifting through the myriad of camera sites on the internet. The site advises for other product catagories as well, such as computers, PDA’s and cellphones.

I had found a couple of compact cameras I thought were interesting through traditional channels, and the Product Advisor not only confirmed my choices but found another camera that was even better.

Though I have not played with these cameras in the store, and don’t own either of them, I really like the recommended Canon PowerShot A630 and the Canon PowerShot A710IS. The latter camera costs $100 more but has a much longer zoom. They both have fast shutter response time (1.7 seconds), and similar body styles. The A630 has 8 Megapixels and the A710IS has 7.1 Megapixels, both more than enough for regular point-and-shoot photography. I own an old model Canon PowerShot, and if I was in the market for a new compact camera, I would definitely investigate these two mentioned here.

If particular camera attributes are important to you, check out the Product Advisor and find the best camera for you within your budget. Happy hunting!