Camera Buying Guide!

Digital Camera Buying Guide - Basics

Megapixels

6 Megapixels	3 Megapixels	1 Megapixel

All digital pictures are composed of tiny dots, called pixels, which are arranged in a grid. A megapixel corresponds to roughly one million pixels. Megapixels are used to describe the precision of a digital camera. The more megapixels, the more details a camera can capture.

Optical Zoom

Original	Optical zoom 4X

Optical zoom is the ability of a camera to photograph a smaller area from a given point of view. The effect is very similar to getting closer except that perspective changes, meaning that the relative distance between objects does not always stay the same. Optical zoom is measured by how much closer the camera can get compared to its widest setting. For example, a 2X optical zoom can make a subject appear twice as close.

Digital Zoom

Digital zoom refers to a digital camera's attempt to emulate optical zoom. Digital zoom gives the impression of getting closer to a subject without actually capturing any more detail. Digital zoom is the equivalent of cutting the center of a picture and blowing-up just that portion. Digital zoom must be ignored when purchasing a digital camera because it can easily be done better by computer after a picture is taken.

• Original
  Image
 
• Digital Zoom
  Crop
 
• Digital Zoom
  Image

LCD

LCD stands for liquid crystal display. It refers to the small screen on the back of a digital camera which is used for viewing the pictures you took and, in most cases, to preview the picture you are about to take. When an LCD previews the image correctly, it is called exposure-priority as opposed to display-priority, which shows a bright and clear image regardless of exposure.

LCDs are described by their size and by their resolution. High-end cameras, called DSLRs, are normally used through an optical-viewfinder (OVF) but recent models can sometimes preview images as well, although either with slow autofocus or incomplete frame-coverage.

Viewfinder

This is the part of the camera that can be used to look at a subject. While an LCD can be used as a viewfinder in most cameras, the majority of digital cameras also have either an optical viewfinder or an electronic viewfinder, called EVF. When the photographer sees through the camera it is called an optical viewfinder. Optical viewfinders show less than what will be pictured. An EVF is a miniature LCD showing the same thing as the camera's main LCD. An EVF shows exactly what will be pictured but not as precisely as the human eye.

SLR

This is a type of camera mostly used by professional photographers which is made so that the viewfinder actually looks through the lens of the camera. All current Digital SLR cameras allow their lenses to be changed. Digital SLR cameras are usually sold without a lens.

 

Flash

No flash	Flash

A flash on a digital camera, just like on a film camera, is a small lamp that can add light to close by objects when a picture is taken. A pop-up flash is normally hidden and pops-up when required. A flash is described by the maximum distance of objects it can sufficiently illuminate when the lens is wide-open and when it is completely zoomed-in.

Movie Mode

A very common feature of modern digital cameras is the ability to produce short video clips. These clips are made by rapidly taking a sequence of low-resolution images.

Movie mode is described by its resolution, frame-rate, duration and its ability to record sound or not. No DSLR has a movie mode.

	HD video has a resolution of at least 1280x720 and as high as 1920x1080.
	High resolution video has more than 320x240 pixels. Most commonly it has VGA resolution or 640x480.
	Low resolution video is 320x240 (Quarter VGA) or less.

Digital Camera Buying Guide - Choosing

The Medium

Paying attention to megapixels is only important now if you intend to make truly large prints. Resolution determines the maximum print size which can be made from a single image without degrading image quality. All modern digital cameras have at least 12 megapixels which is more than enough for a 12" x 18" print.

It is critical to get enough megapixels for a desired print size. Otherwise, printed images will appear unsharp. Getting significantly more megapixels than needed may degrade image quality though due to increased image-noise. Unfortunately, consumers are rarely given the opportunity to choose fewer megapixels.

For uses other than print, so few megapixels are needed that there is little point checking if a new camera has enough megapixels. It always does. Even the highest-resolution HDTV never requires more than 2 megapixels. The highest resolution computer monitor currently in production has 4 megapixels.

Since displays and printers produce pictures using tiny dots, giving them more pixels than they use is futile. In other words, the extra pixels are ignored! Look at the following table to see how many megapixels are needed.

Standard Prints			Large Prints			Other Media
4"x6"	2MP		15"x20"	18MP		E-Mail	1MP
5"x7"	2MP		16"x24"	22MP		General Website	1MP
8"x10"	5MP		18"x24"	24MP		Photo Website	1MP
9"x12"	7MP		20"x30"	34MP		HDTV	2MP
12"x16"	11MP		24"x32"	44MP		12"-27" Display	2MP
12"x18"	12MP		30"x40"	70MP		30" LCD	4MP

Megapixels:

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Subjects

Different subjects require different things from a digital camera. All digital cameras manage well with daylight-lit outdoor pictures.

	Taking indoor pictures under typical household lighting demands the use of a flash or high ISO sensitivity. Most photographers use flash because high ISO sensitivities make pictures look noisyunless an expensive DSLR is purchased. High ISO sensitivities are preferable to preserve the mood of lighting.
	A built-in flash must reach far enough to light a subject completely, otherwise an external flash will be required. In such case you must get a camera with a hot-shoe to connect the external flash.
	Night photography requires slow shutter speeds. Preferably longer than 4 seconds. Control over shutter speed is critical, otherwise it is quite difficult to obtain desired results.
	Sharply photographing moving subjects requires fast speed shutters. For people doing sports you need at least 1/500. For faster subjects such as race cars, horses and speedboats look for a camera with 1/2000 or faster shutter speeds. To ensure a fast shutter speed is obtained a camera must have a shutter priority mode or a fast-shutter subject program. Indoor sports require a camera with high ISO sensitivity which is most likely a DSLR.
	Wildlife photography requires the use of long zoom lenses because most animals don't easily let people get close to them. Even insect photography is better with a long zoom because of their small size. If you intend to photograph wild life either get an Ultra-Zoom camera (10X or more) or a DSLR with a long zoom lens (300mm or longer).
	A continuous drive mode is frequently used to get good pictures of moving subjects. Cameras that have a continuous drive mode take pictures in rapid succession. The number of frames- per-second (FPS) is the number of pictures taken in one second. The burst length is the number of pictures that can be taken consecutively at the maximum frame-rate.
	Special situations like fireworks, moving light-trails and artistic photography absolutely require having manual controls.

Location

To take a picture of a subject, you must have your camera near it. To get it there, you must transport it. This is why it is extremely important to get a camera of the right size. Unfortunately not all features are available in every camera size. Picture quality is better with a bigger lens, which means a bigger camera.

Camera sizes fall into 6 categories:

• Ultra-Compact: Fit in most pockets and are easy to transport unnoticeably anywhere.
• Compact: Easy to transport, fit in purses and waist-pouches.
• Medium: Too big for the average purse, these can be kept in an average camera bag.
• Large: Definitely too big for a purse, fits in a nap sack or large camera bag.
• SLD: Interchangeable lens cameras which can be Medium size when paired with a slim lens, usually larger.
• SLR: Large enough to need a large camera bag, they are easy to notice and can feel heavy to carry.

Other location considerations:

• Underwater photography requires a waterproof camera or an underwater camera case.
• A few cameras are splash-proof for taking pictures in the rain or in dusty environments.

Camera Quality

Some cameras are better than others even if they are the same size and have similar features. Here are the types of quality to look for:

• Picture quality: Good cameras produce pictures with less noise or other problems such as distortion, chromatic aberrations, blurring, color shift, etc.
• Ergonomics: There are digital cameras that are easy to use and some that are not.
• Build quality: Some cameras are more sturdy than others and will last longer.
• Performance: The speed at which a camera focuses, takes pictures and updates its LCD all affect its usability.

When looking at camera models in the next step look for these icons which indicate quality:

• Excellent
 
• Good
 
• Average
 
• Poor

Digital Camera Buying Guide - Models

Model Selection

Digital cameras are categorized below by their overall quality and their size. Dozens of web-sites were researched to accurately determine the quality of each camera below. Look for the models which have the major features you need and pick the ones of highest quality. Those are the best ones for your needs.

Click on a size to matching digital camera models. Click on a camera model name to see detailed information about it, including specifications and reviews.

Ref:neocamera