Buying a digital Camera? Vital Things You Must Know First!
January 22nd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
There are a lot of things to take into account when buying a digital camera. With new models coming out all the time, each with much better functions then before, it can really be quite difficult for non technical people to make the right decision. Sadly, people when buying a digital camera often just go out and buy the first thing they see that looks reasonably well priced with out really knowing whether the digital camera is the right one for them. I have written this article to Help people know what to look for in a digital camera and what to avoid, so that they make a better decision and get more for their Money.
So what are the main things you need to consider when buying a digital camera?
For most amateur digital photographers the most important element to look at is the number of mega pixels the digital camera is capable of. The more mega pixels, the higher the image quality will be. 4 to 6 mega pixels is probable fine if you are only going to be doing amateur type digital photography. You should be able to blow-up a 4 mega pixel image to A3 and still get photographic quality, but any more than that, and it would become more a question of opinion whether or not the image was truly photographic. The higher you go with mega pixels the more important the quality of lenses of the digital camera will be too, but at the low end (4 to 6 mega pixels) this is less important.
One thing you really need to watch out for here is the fact that a lot of digital camera companies will try and deceive you! It is imperative that you read the small print so to speak. On a lot of digital cameras they will have printed on them in big letters how many mega pixels the digital camera is capable of, say one says it’s 6 mega pixels, but in the small print underneath there could be a line that says something like; 5 mega pixels enhanced to 6 using software! You need to check this before buying a digital camera, because what this Basically means is that the digital camera is only really 5 mega pixels and the camera’s software is going to try and enhance the image quality to 6 mage pixels. Try is the key word here since this will never be as good as a true 6 mega pixel camera.
Another thing to consider when buying a digital camera is how much zoom the camera has. How much zoom you need will depend more on your usage of the digital camera, if you are just going to take quick snaps here and there it might not be a big issue, but of cause the less zoom you have the more limited you will be with what you can do. Again just like with the digital camera’s mega pixels, you must read the small print. There is optical zoom and digital zoom, optical zoom will use lenses to zoom in, where as digital zoom will just make the image bigger and this will make the quality of the image go down. Personally I don’t really see any point of digital zoom on a digital camera, since you can easily blow-up an image with your digital photography editing software on your computer, where you will have far more control and a much better idea of just how much image quality you are losing by doing so. When taking photos or video for that matter, I always try and keep my options open.
One thing people often overlook when buying a digital camera is the units power supply! I can tell you from experience that there’s nothing more annoying than running out of battery when you’re out and about taking photos. Most of the lower end cameras will take AA or AAA Rechargeable Batteries, this is fine, but you must get several sets or rechargeable batteries for the camera. Always have at least one set spare with you when out taking photos, if you are planning on going on holiday you might want to have more. The good thing is AA and AAA rechargeable batteries aren’t very expensive these days. Other cameras will use their own type of battery pack. These days, these packs are normally Lithium Batteries which are a lot more expensive. They do give more power and last longer, but I would still recommend getting at least one spare battery for the digital camera. So when comparing prices you also need to add the price of the batteries to the digital camera’s price.
If you’re buying a digital camera for amateur use only, then the topics covered here will help you make a better buying decision, but if you are buying a higher end camera, as hinted in the article you will need to look at other things as well, such as the quality of the lenses etc. The best way to go from here is to read up on reviews of digital cameras to see how each one compares to its competition, do your research well, and you will be rewarded with a digital camera that suits your needs for years to come.
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Help On Buying A Digital Camera For Your Digital Photography
January 21st, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
When looking for a digital camera, you just might find your self a little lost about what you really need for your Digital Photography. With so many different manufactures, features, and prices, it can be difficult to know what exactly it is you want in a digital camera. You have to make the decision on how much you wont to spend as your first step, and then decide which features will be most beneficial for your digital photography needs. Obviously this will depend greatly on whether you are an amateur at digital photography or whether you practice Professional Digital Photography.
One thing to look at is how much internal memory the digital camera has, but this isn’t something to worry about too much, as the great thing about memory for a digital camera is that you can buy external memory in the form of memory cards that can hold hundreds of pictures. What will truly affect your digital photography is the amount of mega pixels the digital camera is capable of. 4 mega pixels upward is more than enough for most amateurs at digital photography, but if you practice professional digital photography you’re most likely to want a minimum of 10 mega pixels, some professional digital photographers even use 12 mega pixel cameras.
If you are not one of the professional digital photographers out there, you will probable only notice a difference between a digital camera of 4 mega pixels and one of 10 or more when you try to print very big blown-up versions of your digital photos. With a 4 mega pixel camera you should be able to blow a digital photo up to A3, but anymore than that, and it could start to become a matter of opinion to whether or not your digital photo was truly photographic quality or not.
Zoom is another important feature on a digital camera. Firstly you must be careful about what kind of zoom the camera has. The Kodak Easyshare z740 has ten times optical zoom. The key word you want to look for is optical. Digital and optical zoom are two different things all together.
Optical zoom is a true zoom, just like on a traditional film camera. When a digital camera has high optical zoom, you will be able to zoom in on far away objects without losing image quality. Digital zoom, on the other hand, will take the existing picture and crop it, thus when you zoom in on something, you lose quality. This makes digital zoom, in my opinion, practically of no real use, because you can easily do the same with your image at home on your computer with digital photography software made for editing photos. This way you can have a better idea of what amount of quality loss you will be dealing with, before you take your digital photo to the photo printing phase.
Another feature to look for in a digital camera is the photo settings. Many digital cameras come with settings that make digital picture taking an easy experience for those of us with very little knowledge about the art of digital photography. Settings will make it possible for you to set your camera for fast paced settings, low light settings, and other situations where your camera will need to be adjusted for difficult lighting.
When choosing a digital camera, keep in mind that a lot of them come with a low quality video feature. This means you can make short low quality video clips. Most digital cameras have video with sound, but some do only record video. You will most likely need a memory card to record video of any real length; most digital cameras internal memory will only hold some thirty seconds of video.
You must think about the power supply when buying a digital camera as well. Some use normal alkaline AA Batteries or AAA batteries, but a lot of others need a more expensive type. Lithium batteries are commonly required for higher end models of digital camera. These are considerable more expensive. Some digital cameras will except both AA/AAA and there own special Rechargeable Lithium batteries.
On the whole, finding a digital camera that suits your needs will take a little research, so checkout digital photography sites on the web, you will be bound to find a good digital photography review for the digital cameras that suits you. Once you find what you want, you can then search around for the best price. Remember that a digital camera will never be a good investment if it simply will not do what you need it to do. Be realistic about what you need, and search for the best price so you can be happy with your choice for years to come.
Editors comment:
I hope you found this article about buying a digital camera Helpful. I would just like to add to the article that, when buying a digital camera it is important when you read how many mega pixels a digital camera has that you read the small print so to speak. I’ve seen a lot of digital cameras that say on them in big wording 4 mega pixels for instance, but in the small print they then say something like 3 mega pixels enhanced to 4 using software ….. This Basically means that the digital camera is really only 3 mega pixels and that the digital camera will use software to try and enhanced the images to 4. Try is the key word here, just like with digital zoom, this will never be as good as a true 4 mega pixel camera, but the camera company will have you believe it, if that will make you buy there camera, so watch out for this.
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