What should I know before buying a digital camera?

Answer 1

You need to figure out what you want to accomplish with said digital camera. Are you trying to get professional looking images? Do you want something small, portable, and simple? Are you looking for the latest and greatest technology? Do you require something with special features, like resistance to water?

If you plan on printing big images and spending a fair amount of money, then you should be looking at digital SLR cameras. Canon and Nikon make the best dslr's, I prefer Canon. Expect to pay anywhere from $800 to $8,000 depending on what you plan on doing with the camera.

If you plan on taking pleasing pictures with a minimal amount of effort then a point and shoot is right up your alley. You can get some great point and shoot cameras for anywhere between $200 and $1,000. Canon's Powershot line are fantastic btw. I believe Pentax has a very performing underwater point and shoot as well. A review for Ricoh's new point and shoot gave it great marks as well. It runs around $369 and will give you the optical zoom of a 200mm lense (which is huge btw). disregard any mention of digital zoom on a camera as it simply means "Cropping" and is not actually zooming. Imagine taking a regular picture, cutting off a few inches and then blowing it up again to fill the frame. This is cropping. You lose a lot of detail and the result looks terrible.

Mega pixels are another consideration. At 5 megapixels you can generally print an image at 8x10 with little or no pixelation. Higher than that and you can print big posters, and crop in more without losing detail in your image.

Finally, if you are going to manipulate images, you want a camera that shoots in RAW format. Otherwise, any camera that shoots in jpg is amply sufficient.

Answer 2

I can't believe that no-one has mentioned ISO, sensor size and "image stabilization" that actually is just an increased ISO setting.
True Image Stabilization (IS) has a set up inside the camera similar to a car suspension where it smooths out or removes any small movements that the camera experiences - because the lens moves less during the shot, there is less blurring. Most (if not all) IS in compacts, is merely an increased ISO setting. This is NOT Image Stabilization and gives a completely different effect to real IS. It also means that with compacts having such small sensors, the noise or "grain" in images is increased dramatically. Noise is when speckles are visible in an image. Occasionally this is a desirable effect eg if trying to make an image look old, but most of the time it's detrimental.

There are so many more thin gs to making a good camera than megapixels - a 6mp digital SLR will take better images than a 10mp compact. Yes the resolution is less but the quality is greater.

Answer 3

Klaatu verata nichto brought up some key points. Not all cameras do the same thing, so ask yourself what are you most likely going to use a camera for? That will narrow down the field of contenders pretty quickly.

I would just add that there are 3 things main things that all cameras must have, before I'll consider them.

1. A great lens.You're camera can have all the bells and whistles in the world, but a cheap lens will still produce cheap pictures. Always choose a good lens over megapixels. These days there are no cameras with less than 5MP (Which is plenty for almost all uses), so it's not even a factor anymore.

2. Fast shutter response. A lot of sub $200 cameras have a long shutter lag, which can be maddening when trying to take pictures of kids, or animals, particularly in low light.

3. Quick access to shooting modes. Many of the newer cameras have done away with the mode dial, because they needed the room for a bigger screen, or some other selling point feature. Big screens are nice, but having to go into the menu, just to choose the right mode can be just as frustrating as long shutter lag. All the latest and greatest features, won't help you go back in time to capture the moment. So speed is still king!

Answer 4

The best digital camera brands are in this order:
1. Canon
2. Nikon
3. Sony

I have a Nikon that has been working nicely. A viewfinder is always good. There is no need for more than 5 megapixels. I saw a picture blown up that was taken with 4 and it still looked sharp. Video is also another cool utility that comes on most cameras.

Answer 5

When spending a few hundred dollars or thousands, I cannot image not researching a product I am about to buy ... especially a digital camera. Most people who buy their second camera will know more about that they need in their next camera. Learning the drawbacks of not having certain features is always a good starting point

Answer 6

You should know how to use a traditional camera (80s style SLR). That helps a lot being a good digital photographer.

The featured movie is pretty good, a few commments:
-yes image stabilizing is the new trend
-don't be afraid to call the digital zoom the 'fake zoom'. You want as much optical zoom as possible, 3 to 6x is nice
-megapixel isn't everything. I find 5Mpix is a lot, personally i always shoot at 1Mpix so photos dont take as much room on the cam or the home computer (yet it is nice to have a reserve of 5Mpix in case a sharp image is needed).
-many other things matter such as camera life, front lens size (luminosity), screen resolution, image fidelity, compact size, etc
-i prefer Sony cybershots but many people prefer Canon.

Looking at all the above criteria over the years I have finally settled on this marvel the Sony P200, if no longer sold try to find it on ebay (if someone ever wants to sell his, good luck).

Answer 7

From our experience, here is what we suggest. Know the difference between optical and digital zoom. We have a couple of Kodak cameras that we have been very please with that have 10X optical zoom, giving us fantastic pictures even when we have them blown up. Also, we strongly suggest looking at cameras that have rechargeable batteries as digital photography can eat batteries. Use the smaller screen for everything but review. Buy extra memory cards - watch for sales over the next few weeks- last year we found 2GB cards for $15 during the holidays.
The bottom line for consideration should be what you will be using the camera for. Check with local camera clubs for suggestions. Visit camera mfr websites and compare. Check with Consumer Reports for best buys and ratings. Cameras will be a hot item this holiday season and good deals will be available over the next few weeks. Good Luck!

Answer 8

You need to know what you are buying, such as the megapixel capability. This is very important, cause it will determine whether you can print pictures or submit pictures to be printed professionally that will have good image quality and make good posters or 4x6 prints, or whether they are just good for on-screen viewing

If you are just a casual photographer a 4 megapixel camera will do just fine, however if you want to print posters and have professional quality images a 9 megapixel camera or higher is probably your best bet.

Also you'll want to check the consumer index for features and how well the camera has been rated for reliability

Other things to consider? Zoom lens capability, shutter speed, low light capability, ease of use, features, size, price, lens changing options if there are any, memory card capabiliities and interchangeablitity. (Sony uses a proprietary memory flash stick, that is not compatable with other cameras) etc.

Do your homework, there are tons of things to consider.

Answer 9

There are 3 classes of digital cameras, Consumer models costing $350 or less. (their biggest draw backs being fixed lenses and view finder problems {hard to see in bright sun light}) Prosumer class, SLR's costing $1000 or less, and the Professional cameras that cost over $1000. The age old argument over which is best, Cannon or Nikon is a mater of personal choice. Big names cost more so I opted for a Pentax (far more bang for the buck) with an 18 to 55 mm lens and then added a 75 to 300 mm. For those in Reolinda, when compared to my Miranda 35 film camera, that works out to a 27 to 87.5 mm and 112.5 to 450 mm. Also many of my Miranda components fit my Pentax, such as my Vivitar pro flash , pistol grip and several filters. White balance in a digital, as good as it is, won't do anything like a good polarizing filter does.

Answer 10

1. Warranty - Make sure you get 3 years.
2. Battery - IF you travel a lot world wide make sure the camera takes AA batteries. You can get them anywhere.
3. Memory - Make sure the camera has removable memory cards. That way you can take as many pictures as you want when you are in the back blocks of China.
4. Software - All cameras come with software and most of them don't need it. XP and Vista will see the camera as another USB memory stick and just download the pictures to MY Pictures. Some cameras will only allow their own software to work (not good).
5. Lens - Don't waste money on Digital Zoom features. You can do that on the PC later. Do pay attention to Optical Zoom features (the lens quality).
6. Make sure you can read the instruction manual.