When purchasing a digital camera?

Question

What are the most important features to look for? Since I am a woman and I know nothing about digital cameras,I am afraid that a sales person would just have a field day selling me stuff for my camera that I wouldn't even need! What features are absolutely crucial in owning a digital camera? What kind of memory cards are the best,what things do you look for in purchasing a really nice and easy to use digitial camera?

What brands do you think are the nicest that offer red eye reduction,as well as a possible printer to go with the digital camera too? I just don't want to end up purchasing alot of extra stuff that I wouldn't need for my digital camera! Please tell me what things are necessary to purchase when choosing a good quality digitial camera for under $500.00 dollars. Thank you for all of your help,I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart!! ;-)

Answer 1

500 dollars can get you a really nice set up. It sounds like its your first digital camera, so Id recommend one that is really easy to use such as a kodak easy share(some come in bundles with printers) or a nikon cool pix.

Most cameras offer red eye reduction in camera, but you can also purchase photo editing software.

When looking at tags in stores the higher number of megapixels in the camera the bigger you can blow it up. In other words if you are just doing 4 by 6 prints, a 4-6 megapixel camera would be fine, but if you wanted to go larger say 8 by 10 or 11 by 12, Id choose one higher.

Optical zoom is a feature that will make your pictures come out clearer. The higher the zoom the better the clarity. Digital zoom is for getting close action shots, but in high amounts it only makes a picture blurry.

When buying a camera extra batteries and a bag are neccessary attachments. I would also recommend a memory card as usually there is not much memory for photo storage inside the camera. How big a card you get depends on how many megapixels your camera has. The sales clerk wherever you go should be able to help you. Lets just say for example, a 6 megapixel camera can hold a little over 300 photos on a one gig card.

If you go on Circuitcity.com you can find all the product reviews you need for many camera types. Davesdigicams is also a good site. Cnet.com is another good one. Good luck, I hope I helped a little.

Answer 2

digital zoom forget about it pay no attention to that at all.
optical zoom look for that more zoom better
image stabilerzer good look for that.
cost of and type of batteries.
size of view box 2 inch or more .
5 mpx is all that is needed. the human eye can not tell on an 8x10 pic anything more then 5 mpx. if you are going to take pics and enlarge to billboard size and i mean that for real then more then 5 is needed but anything less then billboard forget it
the other way is if your going to try and take pics so close up like one pettle on a flower then a bit more then 5mpx is good .
5 is the magic number. once you get to 5 then dont worry about any thing but the battery and the optical zoom. remember not digital zoom ignore that no matter what if it has lots of that fine if it had little or none fine . optical yes more is better.
there are many brands that are good great really so shop around take your time look for sales and also consider the size of the camera. for me a larger one is fine . some others want a tiny camera thats just up to you .
take note too that some of them now are capable of some underwater pics . not deep but swimming with a snokel is fine . this too is good since you wont have to worry about the rain . most electronics dont like water so i would look for one that did manage to be able to go say 10 feet under and be fine.
thats all there is too it.
oh you should know what computer and printer you have so you dont have to buy new hardware for that.
other then that you can take them to the photo store and do it there that is cheap and simple.

Answer 3

try looking for a camera that its housing looks hard like the stainless-like so it will be durable. consider the zoom function.so you can take photos from afar and also the resolution.chek for higher megapixel size.there are new models with 7.2 megapixels ang higher but mine is canon ixus only at 4.0 megapixels but i love all the clear pictures and videos, consider the kind of battery being used. would you be convenient to buy the replacement batteries and would it be convenient to recharge the batteries?the memory card...would be best if you take high sizes like 1 gb or higher,well that is if you're a real picture and video addict...the model of the memory card should follow,once you've decided on what brand of camera you'll choose for yourself...

Answer 4

I look for pixel power, ie around 5.0 or higher. This allows for good quality photos.