Digital Photography: Picking a Camera

The first thing you will need is the digital camera itself. You can find a digital camera for every type of user and for every need. Most digital cameras perform well in a variety of situations, and for the average user, I would recommend really taking your time and finding the right camera for you. Do you need something compact? Inexpensive? Easy to use? Or what about something with a little more features. If you are looking for something with a fuller size, more features, a better optical zoom, then you will be looking at a whole different grouping of cameras.

Brand Preference and Friendly Advice
Most people also seem to have brand preference, as they have had experience with other products from the same company, or have heard great things from friends and colleagues. I really recommend listening to the advice that other people are willing to give, but remember that their needs could be different than your own, and if they are showing off, they may not highlight the downsides to their camera, leaving you in the same boat.

Megapixel Madness
One of the questions I get asked most often is how many megapixels is enough. Most more experienced photographers will look at you and wince in pain at the question because it really comes down to what you want to do with the image you capture, more than anything else. For most consumers I would recommend something in the five and six megapixel range, as it should be good enough to print images from, and also relatively inexpensive as digital cameras start entering the ten megapixel and above arena.

Baseline Average and Recommendations
A good baseline camera is currently around five or six megapixels, with a three times optical zoom, a few capture modes, a viewfinder and a LCD display. I recommend getting a higher optical zoom around four times or higher, as the digital zoom will quickly reduce the quality of your images when it comes to printing them, as it basically just uses the little computer inside the camera to crop the image and blow it up in size.

You will notice that I mentioned a viewfinder. This is the area where you can look to see what image you are going to take, and many really compact digital cameras are doing away with them, leaving you only the LCD to frame your pictures. While this does seem like an interesting idea, it can become difficult to see anything on LCD’s in bright outdoor conditions, and it also uses much more battery life than a viewfinder, and so I recommend that your first or primary digital camera have a viewfinder.

Other than that, it is really up to you as the day to day user of the camera to go into stores and hold different cameras in your hand, play with their buttons, feel the quality or lack of quality, and figure out if it has the features you want for the price you are looking for.

May 26th, 2006 Posted by David in Uncategorized at 3:40 pm 3 Comments »
Related Posts:
Digital Photography Series 2006 Edition
Digital Photography: Things you Need to Get Started
Canon PowerShot SD550 Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01 Review
Adobe Post Camera RAW 3.3 Beta

3 Comments »

  1. [...] a Camera May 26th, 2006 Posted by David in Tips at 3:45 pm Comment Now! » Related Posts: DxO Optics Pro V3.5 Software Now AvailableCanon PowerShot G-Series DeadRumor:Leica Digital M Announcement for PMAOpenings Still Available For Sixth Digital Photography Workshop CruiseCanon to Discontinue EOS 20Da [...]

    Pingback by Digital Photography Series 2006 Edition - Digital Cameras Blog — May 26, 2006 @ 3:55 pm

  2. [...] Continued from Digital Photography: Picking a Camera. [...]

    Pingback by Digital Photography: Things you Need to Get Started - Digital Cameras Blog — June 1, 2006 @ 10:05 am

  3. As for brand preference, I do think that sometimes, the brand says it all, especially if you’re into a certain brand’s user-interface or accessory set.

    Comment by jangelo — June 2, 2006 @ 3:25 am

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