When tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma City this week, it was all hands on deck for the KOCO newsroom. Reporter Linda Mares was en route to cover the storm, when all of a sudden the storm came to them. Not able to stop and shoot with the ENG Cam, Linda instinctively pulls out her Blackberry phone and starts recording. She captured about 30 seconds of center of the tornado, while the winds shattered her car windows . Here’s a link to the clip.

Great thinking in a moments noticed captured riveting pictures for KOCO5. Camera phones are a staple now and are something every newsroom should be equipping not only the news staff, but everyone in the station with. You never know when that great story or video is going to sneak up on you, and it pays to be prepared – just ask Linda.

Here’s a rundown of what I think are the best five camera phones on the market today.

HTC Droid Incredible – 8 megapixel camera, auto focus, 2x LED flash – $199 (Verizon)

Motorola Droid – 5 megapixels camera, LED Flash, shoots 720 x 480 VGA, auto focus & image stablizer  - $199 (Verizon)

HTC Nexus One – 5 megapixels, LED Flash, 2x Zoom, shoots 720 x 480 VGA – $529 (Google – unlocked)

Apple iPhone 3GS – 3 megapixel camera, shoots 640 x 480 VGA, auto focus and geotagging – $199 (AT&T)

Rim Blackberry Bold 9700 – 3.2 megapixels, 2x Zoom, shoots 352 x 480 VGA, picture stabilizer, LED flash – $149 (T-Mobile)

The Incredible is a brand new phone from Verizon and runs on Google’s open source Android platform. You might find a demo model in the Verizon store soon, Verizon expects to ship the Incredible to customers beginning on May 31. You are going to hear a lot about this phone. I will review for you right here next week.