What should I look for when shopping for a camera?

Question

I am a college student look for a mid-range camera, what qualities should i look for?

Answer 1

For starters, and/or the casual user, here are just a few qualities to look for in a camera: 1) for great resolution, of your pictures, it should have a minimum 5 megapixels (mp). This is very good for most users. 2) 3x-4x (or higher), optical zoom is good, don't worry about digital zoom. 3) I like to stick with AA batteries, rechargeable or regular. Lithium battery are good, but not easy to find if you're on vacation and need batteries at a convienence store or can recharge quickly. 4) I see that many digital cameras are doing away with the optical viewfinder (the old fashioned way of looking through the viewfinder to take a picture), and strickly having just the LCD screen to compose a shot to take. I, personally still like the optical viewfinder to really focus on a particular subject, or use on a really sunny day where it's hard to see your subject(s) on the screen, or just to save battery power on my camera. These are just a few things to consider when shopping for a digital camera.

I like Canon and Sony, in that order. Nothing against other brands, just personal preference and experience of these brands. I'm sure you'll be able to find these 4 qualities in the other brands that will fit your budget.

You'll need a digital/memory card to capture your pictures onto, and these two brands uses different kinds. Canon (and I know Kodak. Not sure what Nikon, Olympus, Fuji or other brands use), uses a SD/MMC card, which I find is cheaper than a memory stick used by Sony. (Which by the way, is used just for Sony cameras).

Here is a link to the top ConsumerReports.org picks and reviews on Yahoo! Tech: http://tech.yahoo.com/rc/digital-cameras...
I have the Canon A620, and love it!

Answer 2

Although some of the model numbers have changed look at Nov'06 Consumer Reports at your local library.
4 to 6 megapixels (MP) is fine for almost all photographers. Next is zoom range. Most cameras are 3X or 4X optical zoom. The more zoom, the more you pay. Some cameras can take up tp 5 and 6 seconds between shots, others just 1second. If you feel you have a shaky hand some cameras have an image stabilizer. Go with a camera that's very good on batteries. Some cameras out there eat them up quickly. Some come with a battery charger. Don't forget the memory card has got to be bought. Go with more memory than you think you may need. My memory stick is 2GB, which at my BEST setting of 6 MP will give me about 635 or 640 shots. After transfering them to computer, of course memory stick can be reused again from begining. Lastly go with Sony, Canon, Nikon, and Fugi brands. Hope I helped a little. I own a Sony CyberShot DSC-H2. When enlarged, takes great 8X10s. A Website that might be helpful: dpreview.com

Answer 3

Hello. Good question you have here, but what is your budget exactly and how will you use it? The top big names and amenities in digital cameras I'm looking into are Panasonic, Olympus (though Canon models are real good) and took a peek at a Kodak. I would recommend you look for something that has some type of image stabilization (hopefully OPTICAL, but digital with extra features would be good), how many scene modes it has and which you'd potentially use, can the camera in some ways grow with your photography, the greater the optical zoom the better (and do NOT even count or use digital zoom as it'll interpolate your image thus reducing quality, and does it use AA batteries or lithium ion which is proprietary? With the latter you'll have to charge it before heading out, whereas if you got AA's then there's far more places for access. When buying your camera, don't just get it for what you want to do right now... stretch your money further and get a few other amenities. How does it feel in your hand, if you can actually try one out how does the placement of the buttons and all feel? SD cards are cheaper and can you can get larger sizes than xD which Fuji and Olympus use. Get some rechargeable batteries with at least 2400 mAh as it'll have more power and you'll get more shots. Try to download the potential camera's manual to give you an idea of how it functions. Take a couple of shots with and then without flash and review them. Do remember though that how it works in a store is different in real life applications. It's hard to try macro shots when there's not provision to really try it out. Good luck.

Answer 4

First...what is ur budget...
Second, to get an average good camera
u must look into a few things.
1. megapixels...get a 5megapixels and above...
to get good clear quality images.
2. get a camera with good zoom...
optical zoom...would be the best... do nt go
for digital zoom ...as it does not help improve the
images quality.
3. go for a easy to manevur camera

if ur lookin for quality images,,,try the canon series camera
they hav loads of cameras that u can chose on and there
is a wide choice, easy to use interface good quality images...
and offers much more flexiblity. it also used SD cards which is widely popular with digital era gadgets.

Try to avoid gettin a sony camera if u can. It is not as user-friendly.
It may look nice and thin however it is not worth the value to spent on a camera that just hav good looks..high noise lvl and does not offer great flexiblity as it use a Memory stick card which is nt popular.

why nt try this link: www.dpreview.com
it offers a variety of cameras that they hav review
Hav a great time shoppin around for ur cam

Answer 5

Amazon, Cameta etc are respected. in case you be responsive to precisely what you decide on for, the appropriate place is Ebay. The difficulty is spelled out and the charges could properly be next to no longer something. I even have bought working Nikon action picture cameras for ninety 9 cents. Lenses are generally $25-50. New-ish Nikon or Canon AF zooms could properly be $one hundred fifty and up yet that still beats retail.

Answer 6

Depends, A CyberShot is always an awesome choice,
And the prices for a good Memory Stick (For Recording and Pics)
are in the range between 30 to 40 from 1 Gigabyte to Two Gigabytes...

Then you can always make backups in a walgreens or using a PC to burn the pictures to CD or DVD.

If not always keep trying to get known trademarks that ALWAYS use a memory stick that is USB Capable, because its the most easy way and its digital (We're in the Digital Era, Digital Technology makes easy printing of pictures)
Good Trademarked Cameras
Canon
Kodak
Sony (Most of them, the Cybershots are the most portable)
Phillips
Panasonic
Nykon
(The Qualites Must Be In Thr Range of 3 to 5 Megapixels to get the most normal quality and the maximum setting which is not usually by default)

And also try the CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black) Colors. They are more pretty and vivid then RGB. (Red Green Blue)
(For Printing Actually)

Answer 7

Budget plays a big part.........
Work out how much you can afford & look at the cameras within your price range.
Then compare specification, looks & usability.
Size can also be a deciding factor...

Some of the things to look for on spec are:
Number of megapixels.........(max picture quality for the camera)
Between 4 & 6 is good for the average user.
Size of LCD display..............2.5" or 3"is good.
Zoom size.....................x3 is average now.
Does it record movies?
MPEG4 is good for movie recording..........does it download as AVi file?
Does it accept a standard SD card?

What are the terms of warranty?
If I get a fault will it be replaced or repaired?
How long can I expect to wait for a repair?
Do a bit of detective work on the net re others users reviews of the camera. Is it prone to certain faults etc?

Answer 8

Olympus FE 200 with 5x optical zoom and 6.1 million pixels is a good one, Canon Powershots A 530 or A550 with 4x optical zoom and 5 ( 6 ) mil. pixels respectively are also very good !

Answer 9

Melissa,

Look for a camera of the following brands:

Canon
Panasonic
Olympus
Pentax
Nikon
Sony

Any other brand is usually a generic component under a recognizeable brand name. Don't go for them.

If you pick from one of the brands above, something within your budget, chances are you'll get a decent camera.

Take care!

Ignacio

Answer 10

5 megapixels and above, is ideal for great quality photos.
Optical zoom should be no less than 3x.
Also, you might want to ensure that it has a bright flash, especially if you intend on taking pictures in low light conditions.

The best brand, in my opinion, is Canon.

Check out the site below for reviews.