Buying Guide - Digital Cameras

Digital Cameras have overtaken traditional film cameras as the choice of most photographers today although many people are using their phone in lieu of a point and shoot camera. Their capabilities have dramatically improved and they are very convenient to use. Prices have dropped dramatically in the past few years so the price of a point and shoot camera can be well under $100.

Digital cameras work by focusing light on a digital sensor (usually CCD or CMOS) which converts the signal to an electrical charge for storage on a memory chip.

Features to look for

Megapixels - Megapixels relates to how many different 'dots' there are on the cameras sensors. Generally the higher the megapixels the finer the quality of the image. If you want to blow up the image to 8x10 or larger more megapixels is a good thing. The number of megapixels isn't the only defining measurement of the quality of a camera although it is prominently featured in the spec sheets because it is easily measured.

Speed - Cameras can vary widely in how quickly they can focus and take the picture after you push the shutter button. There is also wide variance in how quickly you can take another picture. Part of this relates to the memory card (the chip where the picture is stored) and how fast it is. Memory cards for cameras come in several different styles such as CF, SD and micro SD. Capacities range from 64 megabytes to 32 gigabytes. The larger the size the more pictures that it will store. Memory cards have a speed rating from class 1 to class 10. This relates to how quickly the memory card can write data. The higher the class the faster the write.

Lenses - Lower end point and shoot cameras have a fixed lens. These cameras usually support a zoom feature. One is the physical zoom, the amount of change in the size of the subject. Many also support digital zoom. This is a trick whereby the number of pixels used is increased which mimics the effect of zooming the lens. If you want to be able to produce high quality prints digital zoom does not do as good a job. The aperture (amount of light allowed) is usually fixed or very limited on these cameras.

Digital  SLR (Single Lens Reflex) use interchangeable lenses just like Pentax and Canon have done. In some cases lenses from your old film camera can be used with these cameras. Digital SLR cameras are considerably more expensive than point and shoot cameras. At the low end they start at about $400 and go to the stratosphere from there. Most DSLR cameras have both automatic and fixed aperture controls.

Video - Many cameras also support video. These can do a creditable job for 'home movies' but they are not quite up to professional standards.

Battery - Most cameras today use rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries but cheaper cameras may still use NiCad or even standard AA or AAA batteries.

Flash - The flash on most point and shoot cameras does an adequate job but the better ones use a dual flash which helps to eliminate redeye in your pictures.