Where do you start when buying a digital camera? What are SLRs and megapixels? Where do I begin?

Question

Looking into buying a digital camera that I can take nice scenic outdoor pictures and good indoor pictures with. Can you do black and white photos with digital also?

Answer 1

The pixel is the smallest part of a digitized or Digital Image. Also used in measuring image size and resolution, ie, 640 x 480 is the pixel resolution of most VGA Monitors. (Note pixels are square in computers and rectangular in video).

SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. In this sort of camera one lens is used for both focusing and taking this picture. In most SLRs light is directed between the 2 functions by means of a 45 degree mirror which swings up as the shutter is activated but before it actually opens. The big advantage of an SLR over other camera types is that the image in the viewfinder is the same as that in actually captured on the film.

so the better slr and pixel, better is the picture quality.

Answer 2

Well, a lot of uneducated consumers have had it hammered into their heads for years now that more megapixels means better pictures. All other things equal, this just isn't true. The pros: The sensor is a decent size, 1/1.2, and it has a good lens with an aperture of f/2.4. It has a mechanical shutter. It has a unit focus lens like many high-end rangefinder cameras. The cons: On a sensor this tiny, getting good depth of field is not possible. The cheapest kit lenses are still several effective stops wider than the PureView. The pixels are too tiny to approach the sensitivity of even a cheap DSLR. The sensor is too small to get an extreme wide angle shot. Zoom is accomplished by on-chip processing, so while at wide angles, the processing can remove a great deal of noise, the final image isn't 41 megapixels, and when zoomed in, the final image is based on the tiny noisy pixels. And of course you can't change lenses. It's a great improvement over other phones, but it's no replacement for a cheap bridge or SLR. Edit: thinking about it some more, if my D700's ringer went off in the middle of shooting someone's wedding, I'd be really annoyed.

Answer 3

When buying a digital camera, two main factors to keep in mind are the number of megapixels (I suggest at least 6 megapixels) and lens optics quality. Some point and shoot digital cameras (the small, sleek ones) have 10 megapixels but horrible optics. I have a Canon S3 IS, and it is 6 megapixels and has image stabilization, which helps prevent blurry pictures. The optics are great, and the super macro mode is amazing.

Yes, you can take black and white photos with digital cameras (provided the camera has a setting which allows that) and they often turn out great. Some cameras allow you to change the color of objects and people in photos and do other things as well. If your looking for a good camera, I suggest looking into Canon, Sony, Olympus, Nikon, Pentax, and Fujifilm.

Answer 4

There are a ton of web sites were you can learn the basics. Here are answers to some of your questions. SLR stands for single lens reflex. It basically means that what you view in your viewfinder is exactly what goes on the pic. Other cameras have a separate lens for the viewfinder that simulates what you'll get on the pic. SLR's are better and more expensive. Megapixels, refers to the quality of the pic. The higher the megapixels the better quality pic it will take. If your doing outdoor scenes higher pixel count will help. But, unless you going to make enlargements don't go overboard because you won't need it. You won't any problem take indoor and outdoor pics. Lastly, most digital cameras come with special effects, including the ability to shoot black and white.

Check out the attached link for much more.

Answer 5

All of the answer so far have been very good. I just want to take a slightly different approach to your question.

Yes, a 5-8 meg camera will give you all of the image size you need for most print applications. And yes, if you put a poor quality lens on an expensive camera your are still going to get terrible photos when you have them printed.

I get the sense from your question that you're wanting to keep things simple and low hassle. A lot of the new digitals have been crammed with so many bells and whistles that the average person can barely understand where the camera is turned on. I looked at one camera whose instruction manual was over 200 pages long.

If you are going to use the camera for general family photos, holiday pictures and the like, and don't plan on enlarging them over 8x10 inches then a 5-8 meg camera is more than enough to get great prints. I would suggest looking at a camera that can take compact flash (CF) cards. The price is coming down and the amount of storage is increasing. Don't worry too much about write speed....unless you are really using a high end pro camera I doubt you need to worry about this function. (I suggest a 512mg card....Lexar makes a good one)

If you are looking at doing a lot of wide angle or telephoto work then you are going to need a DSLR, the kind of camera that you change lenses. There are many differing opinions of the best, the fastest...ect.... but I would go with a Canon or Nikon in this type of equipment. (A Canon 20D or a Nikon D-70) But you then have to buy lenses and that can be big money. Thousands of dollars can be spent on special lenses for these cameras.

If you don't think that is the way you want to go then the small clam-shell cameras are fine. There are drawbacks to these little wonders. They can be so small that large hands have trouble keeping their fingers off little buttons. The best thing I can suggest is to go to a big box store and see how they feel in your hands. Look for the best optical zoom...forget digital zoom ...that is just a sales buzz feature that really is spin.

I like cameras that take rechargeable AA batteries. The cameras that take dedicated batteries can be trouble when you get off the beaten path and run out of power (this is why you need two sets and a small trickle battery charger).

I like a camera that has a "hot shoe" on top so I can use a larger flash if I want. The small in camera flashes are under powered, drain batteries quick, and create shadows that I REALLY don't like.

Look for a USB port on the camera. This will allow you to download the images directly into the computer. This is where software can be a problem. Olympus makes a fine little camera but most take an xD storage card (these little cards are WAY too small for my taste and easily lost.) so I download direct from the camera and the card never is removed. I'm not too keen on the Olympus software but that is a personal choice. The Kodak cameras seem to work very well for the family photographer. However, I don't like having to pay $75 more for their little docking stations. The software is pretty easy to deal with and the Ofoto site allows for uploading and printing of the images. Canon makes an excellent family of consumer cameras. They are very innovative and keep pushing the limits of the digital sensor.

That said, after you've narrowed down your top three go to DP Review and look at the comparisons. This is a great site for digital camera information.

Sorry for going on so long. The camera world used to be centered around three or four major manufacturers....those days are long gone. There are so many choices and so many variables that it is almost like trying to buy a car. But if you can avoid all of the hype....digital zoom...and find a camera that fits your needs it should allow you to make all of the photos you want for several years to come.

Answer 6

First thing, don't worry so much about megapixels. 8 Megapixels will do just about anything you want unless your wanting prints the size of a wall. When investing ina SLR you need to first look at what your going to shoot, for you its nature. Look at what lenses that camera maker has, Nikon and Canon have a enormous selection of lenses. Just keep in mind its not that camera that makes a great photo its the lens!!! You can have a $10,000 camera but if you stick a crappy lens on it you get a crappy photo. A Nikon D50/D70/D80 works great for what your doing or even the Canon Rebel XT.

Answer 7

SLR - Single Lens Reflex
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLR_camera

Megapixels - the number of image sensor points available in the image sensor f the camera. This results in the image. It is literaly mega - pixels.

Steves-digicam.com

Yes, you can do B&W with a digicam also. Even if you do take color images, you can apply filters on the image files to convert them to B€&W or even sepia.

Checkout xnview.com

Answer 8

try a special shop, just with cameras. more megapixels = bigger picture

Answer 9

Go to steves-digicam.com . It is the best reference web site I have seen on the subject.

Try this link http://www.steves-digicams.com/

Answer 10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_camera
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/cameraList.php
http://dcresource.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php?page_id=152&sortby=popular-&vendors%5B%5D=0&popup1%5B%5D=50%3A105&popup1_attr_id%5B%5D=105&popup2%5B%5D=0&lo_p=0&hi_p=0&mode=dcrp_memory

Focus on Canon products