Digital Cameras: Shopping List & Guide...

After several months of owning a PC, most people are eager to go out and purchase a digital camera. However, what should one consider when purchasing a camera?

1) First of all, you should look for Optical zoom. Currently, you should expect an Optical zoom of about 3x in any camera you are considering to buy.

This is the primary method for increasing picture size, as all digital zoom does is magnify the pixels in a similar way that Microsoft Paint magnifies an image. Along with optical zoom, you should look for any image stabilization feature, as the bigger the optical zoom, the more magnified any motion you make will show that you made while taking the picture.

2) The size of the camera is also another important feature.

You should consider how you will eventually use your camera, from taking family pictures on birthdays and holidays (a large camera would work fine for this) or for taking more candid photos during a night on the town (a smaller camera that can easily fit into a purse or pocket would be ideal here).

3) Also, you should look for the number of Megapixels. This simply signifies how detailed of a picture you will have after photographing. For nearly all users, 3.0 Megapixels will suffice, as you can produce a perfectly fine 8x10 picture from a snapshot.

4) Look also for the ISO speed of the camera. This number represents the camera's ability to take pictures in worse and worse lighting conditions.

The higher the ISO number, the better pictures it can take in darker areas. However, unless your camera has a large CCD sensor, your low-light picture quality will increasingly suffer.

5) I would also consider cameras that have any built-in red-eye reduction feature, as most people tend to take many group pictures, and red-eye is a frequent problem.

I currently own a Canon SD-600, which I love. It is pocket-sized, has a huge LCD screen, is very simple to operate, and takes great pictures.

Tiger Direct has a very helpful purchasing guide on their site, which definitely helps simplify the purchasing process.

6) Also, I would consider purchasing rechargeable batteries, as they generally run around $15 for the batteries and a charger. This small cost will save you hundreds and hundreds of dollars by not buying one-use AA batteries.

7) A larger memory card is also a normal upgrade for your camera. I would suggest at least purchasing a 1 Gigabyte card, and depending on what quality you plan on taking pictures in, you may want to get an even larger card.

 

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Shopping Tip: I never realized how important camera size was until I got my first digital camera. My first one was way too huge, and I ended up rarely using it because it was impractical to take most places. Unless you are a dedicated hobby photographer, steer away from anything remotely large and consider the slim, small, pocket-sized cameras. Trust me.