Are you planning on buying a digital camera soon? If so, it’s easy to get confused by the wide variety of digital camera features available on today’s best digital camera. But don’t worry! There are really only a few important things to consider before buying a camera. Once you figure out what your requirements are, just keep them in mind while shopping and you’ll end up with a camera that can give you many years of quality service.
1. Camera Type. The first question you need to answer is “What type of photography will I be taking?” For basic photography, the simple “point and shoot” cameras are the best option for you. On the other hand, professional photographers typically use an SLR (single lens reflex) camera because they are more feature-rich and provide the user with more creative and quality control.
Here’s the general price range for digital cameras ranging from entry-level to professional grade:
- Basic “point and shoot” cameras (subcompacts and compacts) - between $100 – $300
- Advanced “point and shoot” cameras – $350 – $600
- SLR-like cameras – $450 – $1,300
- High-end SLR cameras – $500 on up to several thousand dollars.
2. Size, Shape, and Weight. A digital SLR will shoot better quality pictures and can frequently be as easy to operate as a point-and-shoot camera. Expect it to cost more and weigh more, too.
Make sure you can grip the camera comfortably. The smaller the camera body gets, the more difficult it is to hold it properly, and many small cameras have no built-in grip at all. A proper grip should just fill the inside curve of your fingers.
3. User Controls. When buying a point-and-shoot type of camera, find one that you think is easy to use. The best digital camera features controls for setting the flash, picture resolution, exposure, and different modes (macro, automatic, etc.) should be easy to find and operate. More experienced and professional photographers like to be able to make manual adjustments using advanced digital camera features, such as adjusting the aperture and shutter speed to capture fast-motion objects clearly. These capabilities may not be too important to you, though, unless you need to make those kinds of adjustments.
4. How Many Megapixels? A digital camera’s megapixel rating determines the amount of fine detail that can be captured in a shot. Today’s cameras can range anywhere between 2 – 12 megapixels. At the lower end, a 2 megapixel snapshot would suffice for an email or web posting. However, if you’re planning on shooting photographs that may later be printed and will need to show a lot of detail, you’ll probably want to move up to at least a 5 megapixel camera. At the high end in the best digital camera, a difference of a couple of megapixels either way won’t make much of a noticeable difference.
5. Optics and Responsiveness. Although the megapixel rating is important, the quality of the glass lens in the camera and how responsive the camera is overall are also important factors to consider. Quality cameras like Canon are equipped with quality lens like Sigma or Zeiss. Remember that the quality of the picture taken is a combination of the quality of the lens and the camera’s digital megapixel rating.
The best digital cameras have little-to-no lag time between when you press the “shoot” button and when the image is actually captured. If you’re going to be taking “action” pictures like kid activities or sporting events, this will be something to consider. Live action shots require a minimum continuous frame rate of five (i.e., 5 images captured when holding down the “shoot” button). If you purchase a camera with a slower frame rate, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to take quality action shots.
6. Zoom Lens. There are two types of zoom – optical and digital. Optical zoom is far better – it physically moves the camera lens to zoom in on a particular subject. Digital zoom, on the other hand, digitally averages and magnifies the center of the image using the camera’s microchip, resulting in degraded picture quality. Focus on getting the most optical zoom capabilities you can afford in a camera; don’t settle for less than 3x optical zoom in any camera you buy.
7. Memory Card Format. Other digital camera features include using an SD (secure digital) storage card, It’s the most popular card format used today, and you can easily find them with a capacity as large as 32GB for most point-and-shoot digital cameras. The more expensive SLR digital cameras typically use the Compact Flash memory card; you can also find them in increments up to 32GB. Since the price for memory cards keeps dropping, be sure to buy some extras.
8. Battery – Type and Life. Check out what kind of battery your chosen camera uses. Some cameras use their own proprietary type of battery instead of standard AA batteries. All batteries will stop holding a charge eventually, so be sure to keep a fully charged backup battery with you at all times.
Some cameras tend to consume their batteries quickly; others do not. Be sure to choose a camera that can take a large number of pictures relative to a single battery charge.
9. Accessories To Remember. Unless your specific camera doesn’t recommend using them, pick up a handful of rechargeable batteries and a charger for them. If you don’t have a memory card reader, pick up one that accommodates your particular type of storage card. You may also want to purchase a small, inexpensive color printer to print your photographs on. These items can be conveniently picked up during your initial digital camera purchase.