I do believe, that it's only a matter of time before standalone compact digital cameras go the way of the dinosaur. And it's not just me that thinks this way. There are a number of far more knowledgeable experts in the field of digital cameras that have put this theory to discussion before. Now, just to be clear, let me state that I'm not talking about digital SLR cameras. Those things are still the pinnacle of photography genius, and will be around for a long time. What I'm talking about are this little cameras that fit into your jeans pocket. Allow me to explain a little further.

Compact cameras were always a sort of middle ground in the terms of types of digital cameras you could own. You had the digital SLR cameras at the high end, and the cellphone cameras at the low end. All had advantages the other couldn't compete with. SLRs are the best when it comes to picture quality. Cellphones cameras were the ultimate in convenience as they are with you all the time, and take up no extra space. Compact standalone cameras were somewhere in between. They produced better quality pictures then cellphone cameras, but didn't have the bulk, steep learning curve, or expense of SLR cameras.

Well you could say that the middle ground occupied by compact cameras is shrinking. What with SLRs becoming cheaper and far easier to use. Will cellphone cameras become more sophisticated and capable of producing higher quality photos. Take for instance the Nokia N86 that was released in the last year or so. This is an 8MP cellphone camera. Yep, that's not a misprint. There's no reason anymore, to get stuck with a 1.3 megapixel cell phone camera anymore. The N86 comes with a wide angle lens and a good quality flash. Nokia is really attempting to solve the low light problem indicative of many smaller cameras. Combine this with the 24/7 accessibility of a cellphone, and you've got a pretty compelling to ditch your compact camera.

With these two advances, it's only a matter of time before compact digital cameras are relegated to the discount bin.