How To Choose The Perfect Digital Camera For You!

The brobdingnagian variety of Digital Cameras in the market is a great thing but it is fashioning our purchase decision a difficult task. The following purchase tips wish help you do a better, more educated, focused and rational purchase decision. Please take into acccount that there is no one perfect Digital Camera that contains all the requiered features and sells at a low cost too, so it wish be a compromise like many a others we do in life.

Do You Actually Need a Digital Camera?

To answer this compare the cost of mid range digital cameras and devide it by the cost of a roll of film. How many a rolls of film you need to buy before covering the cost of your digital camera? On average good mid range digital camera cost aprox $ 600. Film wish avarage $ 2. you wish buy 200 rolls of films before ever covering the cost of your new digital camera. Think simply about it, how more time in terms of years would-be it take to shoot 300 rolls of film X 36 frames? It is all but 11,000 pictures! Shooting ten rolls a year on average would-be take 30 years to spend $ 600 in terms of rolls of film and if the cost of the camera was only $ 200 then it wish take " only " 10 years. Do you start geting the image here? Don't forget that there is the cost of developing and the cost of the prints, but if you want to get simmilar quality prints as film camera then you wish have to send your digital images to a mini lab printer as well.

So please, don't buy into the idea you are saving money here...

It is true tho' that with the digital camera you print only the better shots you like most and not all 36 pictures, so at several point everything begins to balance out. Another point to consider is that, many a folk don't print digital images, they store it on their computers or over the cyberspace in digital albums, or they do a presentation with background music, burn it on a DVD disk, and share it with family and friends at their living room on TV. The truth is always somewhere in the middle.

If it is not necessarily cheaper, Makes the Digital Cameras give better quality results? The answer is short: NO! experts may even as argue that film quality is better.

There is the psychological aspect behind it all. Remember not having to buy film gives you the free feeling of taking as many a images as you like, with instant satisfaction of seeing results immediately. Secondly,you always have the option to retake shots.

Thirdly, folk tend to store or print only the better pictures. The overall result is improvement in our recorded memories, we shoot more more, correct and delete bad ones and store or print only the really best.

In addition, imaging code enables us to even as further improve saturation of colors, Compensate for bad exposures, crop, rotate, do a collage from many a pictures, add Artistic Graphics Text and style.

To sum it all up, it is not true that the Digital Cameras are saving money, the quality is not higher than Film camera, in general the new better Digital cameras give you more instructions control over exposure and shutter speeds. Psychologically we feel relaxed and free to shoot more much pictures. The end result is an overall improvement in recording our live memories.

What Do You Need to Look for in a Digital Camera:

Examine the Camera at a real store:

First I would-be like to suggest that the whole purchase process not be done over the cyberspace even as tho' it is convenient and tempting. In my view it is really important to see the camera, to hold it in your hands, and most significantly to try it and see the results. The features of many a digital cameras look quite similar and it is hard to do a decision but by feature comparisons . It power be really handsome good looking camera on the cyberspace but may be it is too small for your big hands? Did you cognize that several Digital cameras Have up to 3 seconds delay between pushing the button and the actual shutter Movement (Picture taking). In 3 seconds my son is out of the frame already... One warning, move prepared (after reading this article), listen to the salesperson but with a critic ear, as objectivety may be abscured and profit margin goals may be at mind. You don't have to buy at the store, If you like a specific camera now is the time to go to the cyberspace and compare specific model prices. buy only at a estimable and reliable store either virtual or not.

Decide on a Certain Budget and Stick to it:

Photo gear has a lot of wana haves, good to haves and let me have that one as well, gadgets. most camera manufacturers provide a basic memory card of 16 MB, this wish be good for only a few high quality pictures, I powerfully recommend you wish buy a 128 MB or even as better yet 256 MB Memory Card. Since Digital Cameras use LCD screen, batery consumption is more higher than what you are use to in film cameras, it is advisable to invest in a battery charger. Allot a budget for your camera, but do sure it includes the Camera + Memory Card + Battery charger + case and even as consider Wide Angel Converter.

Skin tone:

Test the cameras quality by taking a image of people, observe the skin tone (face, hands etc'), makes the skin tone looks natural to you? Or is it too pale or yellowish? Is it too blood-red or pink? Insist on a good natural result.

How Many a Mega Pixels?

The really basic " Point & Shoot " models can start with 2 Mega and can give really good results but I recommend you choose 3 mega or even as 4 Mega for prints of up to 5 x 7. If you don't need many a enlargements it is high quality and sufficient. There are compact models with even as 7 Mega pixels but for all practical reasons it is an over kill, I would-be invest in wider aperture lens and longer range zoom. Don't think if your neighbor bought a 7 Mega camera that his camera is better, It's not.

What Aperture Lens:

The smaller the number the better, it is always marked with "f", for instance aperture range: f2.8 - f4, if it is constant on the entire zoom range, let's say f2.8 on all zoon range - excellent, the longer the zoom range the harder it is to produce a small aperture number, for instance a zoom range of 36mm - 420mm (12 X) if it is f2.8 on all the range it is impressive. a camera with Aperture range of f2 - f3 Really good. Higher aperture than f5 wish produce less desirable results.

Zoom Range:(Optical)

The longer the range the better, you can catch a distant object, do good close ups and portraits, it gives you more accessibility, flexibility and creative options. A long 420 mm (12 X) is fantabulous range BUT, you need to understand that the longer the zoom range the bigger the amplification of any hand shaking with the camera, therefore it is advisable to hold your breath, be as stable as you can with your hands and body but even as better yet to use a Tripod. I would-be even as compromise a bit on the range to be 370 mm (10 X) " only ". Important feature on a long-range zoom is an Anti-Shake or Pictures stabilizer. These features compensate around one f finish or more on movements.

I referred here to Optical zoom, there is a digital zoom in addition but commonly the quality of it is really low, several salesmen tend to confuse the customers by multiplying the optical zoom by the digital zoon and claiming the camera to be 12 optical x 4 digital = (48 X)! Ignore such statements, refer simply to Optical zoom.

In the old Film cameras a long zoom range meant a really long bulge, in the current modern Digital Cameras it extends less than an inch and stops, all the rest is done internally by the Cameras optics.

Wide Angel:

Most Digital Cameras do not have wide angel! It is one of the their biggest shortcomings, 36 mm or even as worse 37 mm is not a wide angel zoom, as a result once taking images indoor you wish notice you cannot catch a better part of the scene or only part of the room, once shooting outdoor you wish notice that only part of the landscape can be enclosed in the frame. Not to worry, there is a solution! Wide Angel Adaptor, it is an add on which is placed over the existing lens. It can be (X 0.75) = 28 mm, it can be (X 0.66) = 24 mm which is excellent. There is an additional charge for adopters as they are create either by a third party or the innovational manufacturer of the camera. Adaptors give small Distortions so as a rule of thumb it is more better to have the innovational manufacturer device as it matches optically more better. There are even as Macro ad on Adaptors available.

LCD Screen:

The bigger the better, average size is 1.8", but there are models with 2" and even as 2.5", another feature is a swivel (flip-out & twist) LCD screens, you can show your kid His image in real time, and it can help you take a difficult angel and access shots. The LCD screens have one big problem, that is, under sun light and outdoor conditions it is really difficult to see the image on them. Therefore, if it has Opposing Glare feature it's better. The more pixels the better.

ISO Rating:

This one is important to really check in the store and observe the results carefully. The wider the range the better, several on the low and high sides of the scale. If it is less than 100 it means you wish get really good results in bright day light sunny conditions ( Iso 50 or 80 ), if it is Iso 400 and up it means you wish get fantabulous results on low light conditions. Several of Digital Cameras don't perform well in Iso rank of above 200, (e.g. you wish see a lot of noise and snow flakes), this is why I advisable confirmative it.

Optics:

The quality of the Glass Optics is Important, several of the Manufacturers wave with their Optics Brands well best-known producers like: Leica lens Carl Zeiss lens Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon lens Nikkor Lens Canon Lens Etc’.

Additional points: Automobile Focus - The more points the better - (9 Points is really good). External Flash option via hot shoe a plus. Lens Protective Hood - Better Light input + physical protection of the lens.

Who is the Camera manufacturer?

Most of the Digital cameras are designed in Japan, it is really important to choose a reliable producer with strong and fully fledged noesis of Cameras, with a large variety of models and commitment to service and excellence. Always think who is the manufacturer, is he coming from the film field, Printers producer, natural philosophy or has he dealt with cameras from day one.

Summary: The economy of the Digital Camera is not cheaper than Film Cameras. The overall result of mistreatment Digital Camera is improvement in our recorded memories, we shoot more more, correct and delete bad ones and Store only the really best. Examine and test the Camera at a real store only then compare prices in the Internet, buy only at estimable store. Decide on a Budget and stick to it, Take into account all the accessories such as bigger memory card of at least 256 MB. Aperture lens - The smaller the "f" number the better, Range between f2 - f3 is really good, f2.8 across all the zoom range is excellent. Especially if the zoom is long. Zoom range of (12 X) or (10 X), with Opposing Shake or Pictures Stabilizer is great, Consider adding a Tripod. Wide angel device is most important (0.75 X) or even as better yet (0.66 X), innovational manufacturer adapters wish give you better optical compatibility. LCD Screen - The bigger the better, Flip out & twist, Opposing Glare, High Resolution. ISO Rank - Desirable range 50 - 800, settle for 80 - 400, Test It! Optics - well best-known manufacturers wish give you better quality output. Automobile Focus - The more points the better - (9 Points is really good). External Flash option via hot shoe a big plus. Lens Protective Hood - Better Light input + physical protection of the lens. Well-known leader and fully fledged Camera manufacturer with good service backup.

A list of major camera manufacturers web sites: Canon USA Casio-USA Nikon USA Fuji-Film-US Hasselblad HP-US Kodak Exposure Konica-Minolta-US Mamiya Leica-Camera Olympus-America Panasonic-Cameras Pentax Samsung-camera-usa Sigma-Cameras Sony-US

In my view the better place to look for Information on Digital Cameras Is the DpReview web site at: www.dpreview.com. Here you can See the Latest Digital Camera news, In depth reviews of specific models, Compare side by side cameras, see image samples, forums with specific Sections of Manufacturers and cameras models. In addition you get final professional Conclusions. This article can be obtained Free of charge at: www.1st-Photography-World.com.

(C) Copyrights Amit Laufer - 2005

About The Author

Amit Laufer
Age: 46
Location: New York, United States
MBA - International Trade & Finance - Heriot-Watt University.
Bsc. Computers and Information Systems - Long Island University - C.W Post Campus.
Hobby: Photography
Married with two Children.
Editor of: www.1st-photography-world.com

This article was denote on Sep 11, 2005