Digital cameras
have been all the rage for years now. From a slow beginning they have
now reached the point in the marketplace where even Kodak, the world’s
biggest producer of non-digital photographic paraphernalia is beginning
to find the going tough.
It’s not hard to see why. Before the digital revolution camera’s
were a specialty item that were produced by only a handful of manufacturers.
Today there is a bewildering array of digital cameras produced by
a vast number of manufacturers.
When it comes to buying a digital camera that vast array becomes a
confusing jumble of conflicting claims, unintelligible techno-speak
and bargain basement deals that are almost too good to be true.
So how does the ordinary person decide on which digital camera is
best for them? What do they need to look for when trying to decide
which digital camera to buy?
Knowing which camera is likely to meet your needs and which ones won’t
is even more important these days when some of the best deals are
offered online.
In the ‘old days’ you could go into a camera store and
hold the camera in your hand, play with the controls and have a helpful
salesman run you through the operation.
When you buy online – where the prices are often much better
– you don’t have the luxury of a salesman to explain the
finer points of the camera to you. That means you need to be informed
before you go shopping.
Of course there are plenty of computer magazines or camera magazines
that regularly run consumer tests on digital cameras and their reports
can be very helpful.
There are also online digital camera sites that provide the same sort
of reviews but more often than not those reviews – both online
and in print – are written in language that verges on techno-speak
that means nothing to the ordinary camera buyer.
So if an effort to make it easy for you here are a few things to look
for and a couple of things to consider before you go shopping online
for a digital camera.
What
do you want to do with your digital camera?
The very first thing you need to do is to decide just what you want
to do with the photos you take. Do you want to ultimately print them
off onto photographic paper or are you going to store them on your
computer and just look at them on the screen?
Answering that question can dramatically cut the number of digital
cameras that you have to choose from.
If you are going to print the photos that you take then you need a
camera that takes a much higher quality image and that means that
you need to think about mega pixels.
Now I’m not going to confuse you with technical guff about mega
pixels simply because you don’t need to know what a mega pixel
is before you buy a camera.
All you need to know is that if you are going to print off your images
then you need to use a digital camera with a high mega pixel number.
Mega pixel numbers currently start at 2 and run up to 6. For print
purposes a digital camera with a mega pixel number of 4 or more will
produce quality images that will print well.
Anything lower than 4 is really only suitable for those who want to
store their images on their computer and look at them via the monitor.
The other item you need to consider right now is cost. Digital cameras
start at around a hundred dollars and go up into the thousands of
dollars for high-end high mega pixel cameras.
A digital camera can represent a sizeable investment and you should
really aim for the best piece of equipment that fits within your budget.
Don’t buy on a price point alone and hope that it will result
in a camera that meets your needs. It probably won’t.
At the same time if you have had little photographic experience then
think about buying a cheap camera to start with. It will help you
get the feel for digital photography and it will also teach you some
valuable lessons about lighting, composition etc. etc.
Now here are some things that I would look for when buying
a digital camera.
A view finder; many cameras
rely solely on a small screen on the back of the camera. Personally
I feel that the view through the view finder gives a much better idea
of the composition of the image than does a poorly lit screen on the
back of the camera.
Those screens may look nifty but they do reduce battery life and that
can limit the amount of use you can get out of your camera. and on
a bright sunny day you will have a lot of trouble seeing anything
on those screens.
Easy to use controls; big people
have big fingers and even long finger nails while little cameras have
little buttons. I have a Canon Ixus in my arsenal. It’s a cute
little camera no bigger than a packet of cigarettes and it has some
great controls built into the camera.
After 6 months of trying to get the camera to do the things the instruction
book said it would do if certain buttons were pressed I gave up and
bought a bigger camera with bigger controls. Pressing those small
controls with my chunky fingers was too much of a nuisance.
Storage capacity; is important because big images
have big file sizes so you need to make sure that the system that
your camera uses to store the images you take is going to be adequate
for your needs.
The details provided with the camera should tell you how many images
the camera will store and the bigger that number the better.
Battery life; the vast majority of digital cameras
these days use rechargeable batteries and many of them have the battery
almost built in to the camera.
Make sure that your digital camera has a battery life that extends
into several hours and if it doesn’t then buy an additional
rechargeable battery at the same time as you buy the camera.
There are still
some low cost cameras around that will take just ordinary batteries.
Avoid them if you can, a digital camera will eat ordinary batteries
at an alarming rate and you will soon notice the cost.
Camera case; very few digital cameras come with a
camera case or carry bag. Buy one at the time you buy the camera –
it is a small investment that can protect your camera for years to
come.
Yes, I did say ‘years to come’. If you buy a good quality
camera you can expect it to last for years. My main camera for the
last 2.5 years has been a Canon G2 and I have taken in excess of 20,000
images with it and it is still going strong.
I hope that has helped to cut through the jargon that can entrap you
when you go looking for a good digital camera. There is no doubt that
if you know what you are looking for then you can find it online at
a price that is very attractive.
The
author, Stuart Livesey has been taking photos 37 years and still describes
himself as 'someone who can't quite get the focus right' - perhaps
that's why he migrated to digital cameras as soon as they became available.
If so it certainly seems to have worked - you can see more of his
photography at: The
Hervey Bay Blog
This
article is copyright 2004 and may not be produced in whole or in part
without the express permission of the author.
