Canon has made a big splash with their Elph line of teeny-weeny advanced-photo film cameras. Though a little on the pricey side, they're full of great features like a zoom lens, red-eye reduction, pop-up flash, and point-and-shoot ease. But it's the small size and stylish all-metal casing that really makes the Elph 2 stand out. Now Canon has expanded the line by introducing a digital version, and on first blush, this one's a winner too.

The digital Elph, the PowerShot S100 ($550  ), comes in the same signature all-metal case. The design incorporates a small LCD screen on the back, which acts as a viewfinder and allows the user to review pictures they've just taken. The pictures it takes are spectacular. The Elph has a 2.1 megapixel capacity, which means the pictures can be printed up to 8" x 10" with near-photo quality. While the top cameras these days take up to 3 megapixel, most are larger and more expensive. The Elph also saves money on batteries with the included Lithium-Ion rechargeable.

As with the film versions, the size of the digital Elph is a key selling point. It is only slightly larger than the Elph 2 film version, making it the smallest 2 megapixel camera available. Despite its small size, it includes the same features found on some of the film versions: a 2x optical zoom, pop-up flash, red-eye reduction, and self-timer. The controls are simple, even for the digital novice. And because it's digital, pictures can be edited and cataloged on a computer using the included Adobe software. The software also allows "stitching" of several photos together to create panoramic shots.

The only place the camera falls short is in the memory department. With the 8 megabyte CompactFlash card included with the camera, only a dozen high-quality pictures can be stored. But given the street price for the PowersShot S100 (about the same as other larger and less stylish 2x megapixel cameras), buying some extra memory shouldn't be a problem. If the Elph film cameras encouraged people to adopt the advanced-photo system, you can be sure that the digital version will find a few less people standing in line at the Fotomat.

• Watch Me Now!
• The Ambidextrous Camera