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Tips for buying a digital camera

Dec 21, 2008 Technology

If you have been shopping around for a digital camera lately you have probably noticed that the choices available can be mind-boggling. There are literally dozens of brands, models, and classes of cameras to choose from, and reading all those spec sheets can quickly result in a headache. Choosing which digital camera to buy doesn’t have to drive you batty however. Here are a few things to keep in mind when shipping for a digital camera:

• Lots of megapixels are great, but more isn’t always better. Many people mistakenly believe that the higher the pixel count in a digital camera’s image sensor, the better the pictures will turn out. This isn’t necessarily the case however. More megapixels doesn’t translate directly into higher quality images, they only allow you to make larger prints. Any modern digital camera with at least 5 megapixels will take great photographs up to 8×10 under normal shooting conditions (and even the lowest end cameras come with more than that these days).
   
• Pay no attention whatsoever to a digicam’s claims about “digital zoom” because that feature is virtually worthless. Optical zoom is what counts. You’ll be much better off with a camera that features a 3x optical zoom than one that boasts a 24x digital zoom. 
   
• If you plan on shooting under low-light conditions, you should strongly consider paying a little more to buy a digital SLR (DSLR) instead of a point-and-shoot model. Many point-and-shoot digicams boast that they can shoot at high ISO’s for low-light photography, but shooting at anything higher than ISO 200 is likely to result in your pictures being far too grainy for your taste.
   
• If you want to have the flexibility to change lenses or use an external flash unit or filters, you’ll have to opt for a DSLR.

Conclusion: These days just a little money will buy a lot of camera. For regular snapshots and candid photography, a $150 digicam will yield more than adequate results. But if you hope to get heavily involved with photography, you’ll probably be better off springing for a DSLR. The good news is a great one can be had these days for less than $500, lens and a few accessories included!

For more photography tips, please visit me at www.TodaysPhoto.org.