(FORTUNE Small Business) – CANON EOS-D60, $2,199 Stiffed on another wedding gig because your pics stank? Turn things around with this professional-photographer-friendly, six-megapixel camera that delivers stunning color. You can manually control focus and shutter speed as on a real 35mm camera, and the sturdy, old-school design feels great to hold. Most controls are available as switches on the camera body, so you don't have to squint through tiny screen menus. And the zoom lens is perfect for spying on competitors. Not that we're advocating that. Just saying, is all. www.canon.com

SONY DSC-P71, $399 Get out ... get out! No, this isn't The Amityville Horror, but rather the best way to get the most out of this mainstream camera for beginners, which produced fantastic outdoor shots in regular daylight. Unfortunately, this three-megapixel camera underperformed in low light indoors, with pics that came out duller than they should have. The P71 has a few high-end features, like a manual-focus option, rare on a camera at this price, and it includes rechargeable AA batteries for long-term savings and A+ battery life. www.sony.com

NIKON COOLPIX 2500, $369 About the size of a stack of three-by-five index cards, the 2500 stacks up with great-looking pics and great style. The unique twist-out lens gives it a fun, distinctive look with no cap or case to lose, though its best feature is letting you watch yourself take your own snapshot. At two megapixels, though, it's four-by-six prints or bust. www.nikon.com

Darkroom Confidential: Improve Your Output

TOUCHUP SERVICES

Image-Edit.com It might be worth it to get bloodshot over a little redeye, but if your pics need a major touchup, save yourself time and Visine and send them to Image-Edit. It'll do the job well and quickly. It'll cost you, though: up to $60, for example, to completely remove an object and touch up the color on just one pic.

PhotoImpact 7 $99.95 It ain't Photoshop, but then, well, you're not an art director. PhotoImpact offers a good balance of auto- matic enhancements like redeye removal, color balance, brightness, and contrast, and a few high-end corrections that can be done "by hand." Preview changes on a split screen before applying them, and incorporate photos into Web-ready designs with special effects like animation. It also has great timesaving functions, like batch processing, which lets you make the same fixes on several pics at once. www.ulead.com

PHOTO PROCESSING: Online vs. the real world

Great prints mean never having to say you're sorry. Online services are cheaper and more convenient, but are they better?

OFOTO.COM Price 49 cents a print, plus shipping.

Quality Images were duller and colors less vibrant than the real deal.

Service Rush orders (overnight/ two-day) cost rush prices (as much as $17); lets you share pics with friends so they, too, can get lame prints made.

DIGITAL PHOTO IMAGING, L.A. [Price] $1 per print; $3 download fee.

[Quality] Great photos; clearly improved my work with color correction.

[Service] Prints can be ready in just one hour; took all the smog out of the city skyline without my even having to ask them to. I love L.A.!

PHOTO PRINTER: Epson 785-EPX, $249 Making your own prints is like arts and crafts at camp: Just try to resist shouting, "Look what I made!" The printing isn't quite professional quality, but you'll match the quality at your local drugstore. The optional $99 miniscreen, which lets you preview and print pics directly from your camera's media card without downloading to your computer first, is definitely worth it. Not only is this a big timesaver, but the printer has built-in correcting software that is surprisingly good at automatically enhancing color and contrast. You can even put your favorites in your press kits. www.epson.com

Tip Sheet

LES JORGENSEN, photographer www.lesjorgensen.com

1. Battery power Cameras go through juice faster than kids on a field trip. Keep fresh spare batteries handy and clean the contacts: An eraser will wipe up dirt and sand.

2. Fuzz buster You'll be surprised how much sharper pics turn out if you clean the lens. Must-haves: lens tissues, cleaning fluid, and a small can of air.

3. Match game Feeling off and don't know why? Calibrate your monitor and camera so the colors onscreen are a true reflection of what's on the media card.

4. Shrinky dink Be wise, resize. Put pics at four-by-six resolution; save as JPEGs before e-mailing.

ON THE WEB: Colorcube.com:

Yellow and blue make green, but how do you make puce? Become an expert in digital coloring with online games and tutorials. Acecam.com: Like having Jiminy Shutterbug on your shoulder. This index points you to the best places to buy photo equipment online (new and used) and helps you locate local specialty stores and pro service centers.

WHAT'S NEXT? Double your pleasure. Cameras powered by Foveon chips promise film-quality color and better bang for the buck. Expect the first ones from Sigma by year-end.