I want to buy a new digital camera but don't know which features are most important. I like a good zoom.?

Answer 1

Hey there,
Well, assuming you are not going to go all hog wild and have a Digital top of the line, lense replaceable SLR camera, there ARE some thing you can be sure to get in a regular "point and shoot" digital camera.

First off, even the cheapest cam now has plenty of resolution unless you want to print huge posters! So, 5 megapixel min should be easy to meet.

The Second thing is Zoom, with optical or other type of stabilization! It will say if and what it has. Why does that matter? Well, you want at LEAST 3 x zoom as that lets you "frame" your picture from a distance. kind of hard to walk up to the football player and have him pose! Best would be 10 or 12 X zoom! And if you zoom THAT much, you need something to keep the picture from jiggling, so stabilization does that. Also, using stabilization, you can take pictures without the flash in dimmer light! That is a huge deal.. lots of times using flash is not allowed, and even if it IS allowed, natural light pics look so so much better, not all washed out and the same. Natural light lets you have shadows and depth in your shots.

Related to that is how "fast" your glass is, ie the lens you have built in to the camera. You want at least an F Stop (how far open the aperture can get for dim lighting shots without flash) of 2.8 min. 2.0 would be best.
And a "low noise" high ISO or 1200 or so would be great! That is equivalent to that fast film you would use to take pics inside without a flash, at a wedding or something.

And VERY important is how FAST you can take a picture upon turning it on and pushing the shutter, AND how fast yo can take the second picture after the first! Digital cams are sucky sometimes, you push the button cause little billy did something cute, and by the time the camera takes the flipping picture, little billy is in College! jeez

so, good zoom, fast glass, stabilization, fast response.. all normal things that film cams do well mostly, and dig cams are getting better at! A new cam is much better mostly.

Answer 2

As far as any of the "features" of a digital camera, you must first decide what the main use of the camera will be. For instance, if you want a camera for taking vacation pictures, you will want something that is easy to use, with extra memory, or perhaps a Mavica which will save the pictures right onto Floppy Disk. In addition, you may want to get one which has a good rating for use, that is it can be used heavily, take a good amount of shock etc. If, however, you are using this mainly for pictures for business (Ebay?) then you wouldn't want a camera with odd features like a camera bag, or the ability to take video's.

The number of features that a camera has also make it questionable (in my humble opinion) as the old addage of repair comes into play: The more things you put into a device, the more than can go wrong. This is not a rule of thumb to use in looking at a camera, but it can be useful in comparing features. Many folks like newer cameras for all the "bells and whistles" and new software because we've been taught that NEW is best. If you're not going to take video's with your still camera, or you won't ever use the 'templates' feature, spending money on a camera with such features would be money ill spent.

Look for the camera with the best features which you WILL use and which also sits within your budget. Nothing will spoil a good purchase more than finding out you spent too much for the wrong camera. Take the time to lean all the features and ask people who have used those cameras what they like AND what they didn't like about the camera. (As an example, I love my Sony Mavica, but I won't take it on vacations because it's a bit large and bulky for a vacation type snap shot camera. I have another inexpensive digital camera for that.)

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

You got a hecka of a lot of real good answers so far..so I'll add my 2 cents.
My camera I love: Sony CyberShot DSC-H2. Has 6 megapixels, 12X optical zoom. Takes excellent 8X10's when enlarged. Has image stabilizer and comes with batteries and battery charger. Can be had for $300 I pd $41 too much. Now price wise I smartened up. Bought daughter for Christmas a FugiFilm Fine Pix S5200. I paid $237 at Beach Camera in Edison NJ. Also takes excellent 8X10's when enlarged. Has 5 megapixels, 10X optical zoom. ISO range from 64 to 1600; shutter speed to 1/2000 second. Go to local library and look at Nov'06 Consumer Reports. Each of the 2 cameras I mentioned are excellent on batteries.

Answer 4

Depends on what you are going to use the camera for, but I will assume that you are going to use it for general photography purposes and snapshots. As far as zoom is concerned; optical zoom is much better than digital zoom. However if you want a lot of zoom then you should consider a camera with Image Stabilization. This will help keep your pictures from being blurry at high magnification, which is a real risk without a tripod. Another thing to consider is the quality of the cameras" White Balance" which determines the color temperature of your photos. A good auto white balance is a valuable asset. A camera that will allow you to manually change shutter speed, ISO setting ( equivalent to film speed) and white balance, will also be an asset as you become more adept at digital photography.

This web site can help you with answers as to certain cameras, www.dpreview.com

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Zoom is a good photographic tool. But whenever you're buying a camera you should get the one which has the maximum zoom. So always go for a camera with the most optical zoom. Never ever care about digital zoom, but care about the optical zoom.

Besides that a good camera with the high megapixel, and a camera that consumes AA batteries.

Only Canon and Sony are the two good brands. Other brand sucks...

Answer 6

I have a Panasonic DMC-TZ1 I got from circuit city with a no questions asked 4 year warranty.......

It has 10 times optical zoom
5 mega pixels
Image stabilization system
can take movies with sound
it can also take several pictures right in a row if you hold down the shutter....
and it is not too big!

It also has several scene modes.......

Downsides......
The High sensitivity scene mode uses such a high ISO that the picture becomes ruined.....don't use it....
The fastest shutter speed is 1/8........I'm not sure how this compares to other compact cameras.......
Sometimes it is hard to take photos indoors when the flash can't reach the subject.

I really like mine......

Answer 7

You want to look for optical zoom, MP if you plan on blowing up your pictures on paper or make them larger on your computer, picture quality, etc.

If this is going to be just a casual camera, 4x Optical zoom is plenty. Dont use digital zoom, it ruins the pictures. The Canon A640 will take great pictures and its 10MP. So you can really take nice pictures and blow them up.

If you want an Ultra zoom get the Canon S3. It has Imagine Stablizior and its 12x opticial zoom I believe. Itll be $300 but it might be worth it if you want an ultra zoom.

Answer 8

First Picture resolution like 5, 6, 8, 10.2 Mega Pixels. Then Zoom Lens range.....finally speed of the unit.

Answer 9

here's a link to ebay's guide on selecting a digital camera

Answer 10

well you should get optical zoom 5 or higher megapixle dont get an hp not many features also get a brand that you trust i would personaly go with sony or olympus there realy good