(FORTUNE Magazine) – On the one hand, it sounds ridiculous to say that film cameras are heading for extinction. Tens of millions of film cameras will be sold this year, compared with seven million or so digital cameras. Fewer than half of American households have a computer capable of working with a digital camera.

On the other hand, those seven million new digital cameras represent a doubling of the digital cameras that have been sold so far, while film camera sales are, at best, fully developed. Meanwhile, digital-camera prices are falling rapidly, and for the first time high-end models are capable of producing images that are practically indistinguishable from film's. A new image-sensor chip technology introduced earlier this year by a company called Foveon promises to cross the line, pushing digital cameras ahead of film, but mass-market consumer cameras using Foveon X3 chips are not expected for a couple of years. Given the intrinsic advantages of digital picture-taking--instant viewing, in-camera editing, the ease of e-mailing images or printing them at home, the convenience of organizing and archiving photos on a PC--the future of film cameras looks blurry.

Consider SiPix's new StyleCam Blink camera, only $40, small and light enough to wear on a necklace. Targeted at teens, the Blink takes simple color snapshots that are suitable for making small prints, sending over e-mail, or posting to a Website. It's not a precision imaging tool; it's just fun. The Blink's built-in memory can take up to 300 photographs before it has to be emptied, and it can snap up to 100 shots in such quick succession that a sequence mimics video. Picture quality is no match for even a $10 disposable film camera, but it'll do, and with even modest use it's more economical than the cheapest film camera. The Blink is so dinky that it can go anywhere, which may or may not be a good thing.

Nikon's new CoolPix 2500 redefines the midrange of digital cameras. Technically the CoolPix 2500 ($399) is a two-megapixel camera, which sounds inadequate in a world increasingly dominated by three- and four-megapixel models, yet it's more than sufficient for producing film-quality prints of up to five by seven inches. (When was the last time you needed an eight-by-ten print? If you really think you'll need larger prints, consider the 2500's big brother, Nikon's impressive five-megapixel CoolPix 5000.) The pocket-sized CoolPix 2500 has a swiveling, 3X optical zoom Nikkor glass lens that pivots inside the body of the camera, a feature I found more novel than practical; even after hours of testing, I kept sticking my finger into the lens. But the real beauty of the camera is in its ease of use. It has a sliding switch to turn the camera on in either picture-taking or picture-viewing modes and has 12 preset exposure modes, which greatly improve the chances of taking great photos under varied light conditions, even for novices. Transferring photos to a computer or to the Web is a one-button operation.

For serious photo enthusiasts and professionals, Canon's new 6.3-megapixel EOS D60 SLR camera represents all the best trends in digital photography these days: better, faster, and cheaper. Well, "cheap" is a relative term; the D60 costs $3,000, but even a year ago a similarly capable digital camera would have been almost twice as much. (Nikon's forthcoming 6.1-megapixel D100 SLR digital camera is expected to be in the same price range.) Besides high resolution, the Canon D60 offers such advanced features as extremely sensitive three-point autofocus sensors, illuminated controls both in the viewfinder and atop the camera, up to 30-second shutter speed, rapid-response burst mode, and all sorts of other esoteric things that make photographers' synapses pop like flashbulbs.

Enticed by digital cameras but flummoxed by computers and home photo printers? One of the big trends this year will be the proliferation of digital camera photo-printing services, everywhere from the local drugstore to traditional camera and film-processing stores. Just bring in the memory storage card from your camera, pop it in a slot in a kiosk or print station, and select the images, sizes, and quantity of prints you want. You'll never have to touch a computer.

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