2008 in review: Most popular and most discussed digital camera posts

As 2008 rolls to a close, let's take a look back at the most popular topics of the last year on this blog.  Note: I left out the recent Holiday Gift Guide posts that did gangbusters during the holiday shopping season because they had the unfair advantage of being promoted all over ZDNet (but several pages of the The best digital cameras under $200 post were big pageview winners).

Top 10 most popular posts of 2008 (by pageview):

1. How does the new Pentax Optio W60 stack up against Olympus waterproof digital cameras?
2. Is the new Canon PowerShot SD 1100 IS better than my favorite Digital ELPH?
3. Just-announced Nikon D90 vs. just-reduced Canon EOS 40D
4. Is the new Flip Mino camcorder worth $30 more than the bestselling Flip Ultra?
5. More details on Canon EOS 5D Mark II
6. The best digital camera for kids (or, how to keep grubby hands off your camera) (Crayola 2.1 MP Digital Camera, the Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera, and the Vtech Kidizoom Digital Camera)
7. Nikon announces D700: Full-frame dSLR for $2,000 less than flagship D3
8. J.D. Power announces 2008 ratings for best digital cameras
9. Getting a Canon Rebel XSi or Nikon D60? Stow it in this.
10. How to recover accidentally deleted photos from a memory card (for free!)

Top 10 most discussed posts of 2008 (by TalkBacks):

1. Will you lose pictures stored online if your photo site goes bust?
2. How does the new Pentax Optio W60 stack up against Olympus waterproof digital cameras?
3. On the show floor at PMA 2008: Sony shows off high-end DSLR prototype
4. Don't lose another photo: The easiest way to back up your digital files
5. Think the MacBook Air is thin? Check out the thinnest 8-megapixel digital camera (BenQ DSC X800)
6. Fujifilm resurrects the "Polaroid" and announces Instax 200 instant film camera
7. How many megapixels do most people buy? More than you think
8. Forget WiFi, how about built-in GPS in your digital camera? (Altek ODM camera)
9. Just-announced Nikon D90 vs. just-reduced Canon EOS 40D
10. The most exciting cameras at CES, continued... (Samsung NV24HD)

The takeaways?  Well, clearly I need to revisit the waterproof camera topic in 2009! There aren't many newer models, but I'll get some in and let you know what I think of them hands-on. The other big takeaway is that it's not all about dSLRs and high-end cameras (though you lot are obviously more interested in the higher-end cameras than the general public). The kids camera post did a lot better than I'd anticipated when I first posted it, and not surprisingly got another big boost during the holiday shopping season as well.

It's been a fun year blogging here (I started back in December of 2007) and I'm looking forward to some great new camera announcements at CES and PMA in January and March respectively. Let me know what you think of the popular posts above. Any topics you think I should be covering more (or less)? TalkBack and let me know.  Here's to a happy, healthy, and megapixel-filled 2009!