Exactly how many variations can you make on a digital camera. Point. Click. Shoot. That’s all you need, right? Not according to the fine folks at Sony, Canon, and Nikon.

I spent the better part of last week trying to find a new camera. My Sony DSC P100, only 3 years old and top of the line at the time… died. Doesn’t open, gives an error, doesn’t work. Of course, Sony will fix it for me. Starting price is $180 plus shipping. That’s the exact retail price of their latest camera.

Thanks Sony. Not making me feel very “Welcome to The World of Sony.”

During my search I’ve found that the digital camera market has changed quite a bit in the last 3 years. If you’ve been away from it for awhile as I had, I’ll sum up the current state for you. Think Barbie. Here’s a Barbie with a new hat! Here’s another with different shoes! Wow! Here’s a third with that new hat AND those new shoes!

Each manufacturer has no less than 12 active variations on the point and shoot camera alone.

Just yesterday, Canon introduced four new point-and-shoot cameras plus three Digital Elphs, along with updated versions of their G-series cameras.

And Sony has released even more Cybershot cameras with the DSC S500… not 6 months after releasing an S600. They’re both practically the same price. Same features. What the hell? How do you release a new camera with a model number that’s LOWER than an older camera. How are we supposed to know which is better? Reviews don’t do any good, they’re releasing so many cameras now, your average digital camera review site can’t keep up with them!

The model number thing really trips my trigger, though. Take a look at the Nikon Coolpix P4. Nice little 8 megapixel point and shoot. So nice in fact that Nikon released another camera identical in every single way… but they added wi-fi access to your computer for wireless picture transfers and printing. Neat. The upgraded camera costs an extra $40 for this new feature. Can you guess what the upgrade to the Coolpix P4 is? You got it! It’s the Coolpix P3!

I’ve decided to protest the whole lot by taking a notepad and pencil to the next family outing. Screw the digital camera companies and their over-saturation tactics. I’ll just have everyone stand together for a group sketch. I can colorize it later with photoshop.