How to select a Digital Camera
May 23rd, 2008 by Todd B
Picturetakers have never had it better. Digital cameras have become incredibly affordable. Memory cards are reusable after pictures have been downloaded and printed. Pictures can be emailed to your a top notch photo lab eliminating the need to take the negatives to the store and looking at a light table to decide which prints you want. And the print quality when everything is equal is indistinguishable between film and digital! And sharing your photos has never been easier thanks to the internet.But which camera is right for you? For the purpose of this post I will assume that you are interested in taking snap shots of your family and want a simple to use camera.
Before you start looking at the different models you will want to ask yourself some questions about what you want in a camera. Examples of the kind of questions you would want to ask yourself I have listed below:
What sort of subject matter am I wanting to shoot with the camera? (For example, most people might respond by saying they want to take pictures of friends and family members.)
Do you want a camera that is easy to carry around? (For example: is it shirt-pocketable?)
Do I want a camera that has a lot of zoom range? (Like if you want to zoom in on a pitcher at a little league ball game.)
How big do you want to make the prints of the pictures? (Are you just going to email the pics or do you want to make poster-sized prints?)
Do you want to use the camera for outdoor activities? (Like skiing or rafting?)
These are some of the types of questions you can ask yourself that will dramatically narrow the selection process down for you.
In some instances you will have to decide what is more important to you. If you want to have a camera that has a lot of zoom then you might need to go with a camera that is not going to fit in your shirt pocket.
Point and shoot digital cameras (cameras that do not have interchangeable lenses) can be divided into separate categories. These categories are as follows:
Superzoom Cameras: These cameras will give you the greatest zoom range. Some of the upper end models will offer up to as much as 20x zoom capability. Before the Superzoom cameras most digital cameras offered 3x zoom capability. These are the cameras to consider if you want to pull subjects up closer from a distance. Parents with little leaguers or if you like to take pictures of birds might want a camera that has more zoom range. Excellent examples of these types of cameras are the Canon S5IS, Olympus SP570, Sony DSC-H50 and the Panasonic DMC-FZ18.
Image Stabilization. Anti-shake, and Vibration Reduction technologies: My apologies to any manufacturer whose brand name for this technology I did not mention. With any type of this technology the goal is to try and reduce any possibility of motion blur when the camera is not on a tripod. You will always get your best pictures when using a tripod, but many of us point and shoot photographers do not want to carry a tripod with us. Anytime you zoom out to great focal lengths you magnify the possibility of the image having blur. This technology I think is incredibly useful for these superzoom cameras and I highly recommend it.
Sub-compact cameras: These are the cameras that are as small as a deck of playing cards. They will literally fit into a shirt pocket. These are for the people on the go taking snap shots of family and friends anywhere. Some examples of these types of cameras include the Sony DSC-T300, Canon SD790IS, and the Nikon S600.
There are some cameras that are trying to give you the best of both worlds of the two categories of cameras that we just covered. Some of these include the Panasonic DMC-TZ5 and the Sony DSC-H3.
If you are the outdoorsman or enjoy playing outdoors you may want to consider a camera that is water or weather-resistant. Digital cameras are electrical devices and basically will refuse to work if they become compromised by water. One such camera is the Olympus 1030. This camera is waterproof down to 33 feet, freezeproof down to 14 degrees fahrenheit, and crushproof up to 220 pounds. It is a unique camera.
Resolution: This is not as important as it was when digital cameras first came out. You can get excellent snap-shots from cameras with a six mega-pixel resolution. Plus there are other determining factors in terms of comparing one camera’s picture quality versus another. These factors would include the lens on the camera and the processing chip the camera uses. If you plan on making poster-sized prints then it might be worth it to step up to a 10 or 12 mega-pixel camera, but otherwise I would not recommend basing your purchase decision on how much resolution a camera has.
Another step that can be taken to make a purchasing decision that you will be satisfied with is to go with a reputable manufacturer. Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, Pentax, Fuji, Olympus and Casio are all reliable digital camera manufacturers.
Once you have decided on a camera you will want to get an excellent deal on it. Like anything you shop for online you will not only want to shop by price but research the company you are considering to buy from. Make sure to not only shop the price of the camera but the price of any accessories that would be recommended to get with the camera. Also check with the manufacturer to see what is supposed to be included in the manufacturer’s packaging and what sort of warranty is supposed to come with the camera.
The weather is getting nice again and lots of opportunities to get out and take some photos are available. So what are you waiting for?
March 25th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
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March 26th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
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