If you intend to get a new digital camera, shopping for the ideal one is definitely stressful. Most stores only carry a fraction of the 200-plus cameras on the market, and except at specialty stores, salespeople aren’t much help. I have tried asking friends for recommendations, but even if they really love their camera, it might be discontinued, given short product cycles. Well, don’t give up as of now. A little information and basic research, some strategizing, getting some opinion can make the process much simplier.
There are a few areas that you may want to take note when you want to purchase a digital camera. I’m not a professional photographer although I aspire to be one. The list below are merely based on my opinion and experience.
1 Resolution and/or Image Quality
When you look at camera advertisements, don’t be misguided by the megapixels. Some cameras offer up to 10 MP. That doesn’t mean that the camera is good. The resolution comes into play only when you decide to blow up the print image. If you only want to pose it on the web, a normal camera phone (like 1-2 MP) is more than sufficient. As for a normal 4R print (4″ x 3″), a normal 3 MP will do as fine. However, when you plan to zoom in on the image and print out only a portion of the picture, higher resolution would
definitely play a mojor role here. So, high pixels are useful only when you plan to print large.
2 Batteries
This is definitely one of the most important point that you need to take note of. You don’t want to end up midway through your holiday trip looking at sceneries only without able to snap them. Types of batteries and the battery life plays a major role in my selection. I had one camera of which the battery can’t even last 80 shots in one charge. And I often takes more than 100 shots a day during my trip. Most cameras use either rechargeable AA or Lithium-Ion batteries. AAs cameras is quite handy since you can always purchase them at local store when you need them. But the camera maybe bulky. Cameras that use Li-Ion are often slimmer. Whatever camera that you plan to get, check out on its battery life. I’ll share a review on my camera next time. I simply love the camera. It claimed that the battery can last up to 500 shots per charge. And I managed to get it last up to 650 shots. The camera is simply awesome. Oh ya, most cameras come in the whole kit so you don’t have to purchase the AC adapter. When uploading photos into your comp, consider getting a multi card reader. If you connect directly, it’ll cause a considerable drain on the batteries. And never off the switch until the battery is fully charged.
3 Flash
One of my major concern would be taking night shots. Often, the camera flash will either get the object well lit (and dim background) or the other way round. It’s not easy to get cameras that can make sure that when you take a night shot, both your object and background will be adequately lit. I only know a few cameras that have this function. Check out my night shots in my Hong Kong trip and you’ll understand what I mean
by adequately lit.
4 Screen, View finder
Digital cameras now have LCD screen which is used to take and view pictures. The size of the screen is important. New models are now at least 2 inches wide so it’ll be fine. Make sure you can adjust the screen brightness. It’ll be useful when you view the screen at different lighting. All digital cameras have the screen but not all comes with a view finder. I find that view finder is useful only when you plan to save on your battery life. LCD screen tends to drain the battery life faster. BUt then again, if your batteries can last long, not having a view finder is no worry issue here.
5 Start up time
Often in trips, you’ll pass by some interesting things and when you take out your camera and press the on button, before getting the snap, the nice scene is gone. So, you should consider the time response when getting your digital camera. There are several models with very quick start up time, like less than 0.5 s. Getting such cameras will ensure that you’ll never miss a shot.
6 Warranty and Company quality
Find out more about what is covered under warranty. Know where the service centre is located. And how easy to get your camera repaired once the warranty expired. It’s good that the service centre is located in the city and can be accessible easily. But then again, you don’t want a camera that requires repair so often. Anyway the warranty part is important because you’ll never know what can happen. The company branding is also important. This ensure adequate support for the product.
7 Ease of Use
If you are just want to take photos without much hassle, then the camera that you plan to get should be relatively user friendly. The more features that a camera has, the tougher it’ll take to operate. You don’t want to spend too much time reading the manual and learning all the buttons. If you understand about colour balance or aperture or shutter speed, then go for a full-featured camera. Otherwise, a point-and-shoot (automatic feature) camera that offers good shoots will be sufficient.
8 Digital Zoom
Cameras often come in both optical zoom and digital zoom. Optical zoom is obtained through the lens itself. So, the picture quality is better. Digital zoom produce noisy images as it is created through digital extrapolating of pixels. So, I think one shouldn’t purchase a camera with only digital zoom. Get one which combine both optical and digital zoom.
9 Lens
Glass lens is definitely better than plastic lens. Most cameras uses glass lens so you just have to check on the type and quality of the lens. One good lens would be Carl Zeiss lens.
10 Camera Size
Cameras come in different sizes and shapes. Ultra compact cameras can fit nicely into your pockets or jackets. It’ll look cool but performace, features and image quality generally weaker. Examples are: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1 and Kyocera Finecam SL300R . Otherwise, compact cameras will be sufficient if you don’t mind having a slightly bigger camera but still can fit into handbags or roomy pockets. Most cameras are in this category. Examples include: Canon IXUS 800 and Casio Exilim EX-P600.
Hope you find the above information helpful.
Note again: I’m not a professional cameraman and the above are merely based on my experience and opinion.
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