What Camera Should you Buy...

What Digital Camera Should you buy? Great Pictures are done by the person not the camera……

If you are a professional photographer looking for a camera, then this is not your article. This is intended for the average person who wants to take great photographs.
First Ask yourself…
What Am I going to do with the camera?
If you are taking family pictures, vacation pictures, and want an easy camera to use, there are several fine choices. Basically there are two or three things to consider. If you know these answers you can more easily choose a camera.

Size Matters. If you rarely enlarged your pictures beyond an 8x 10, you will be fine with anything 3 megapixels or more. If you don’t really use your camera often and only want the typical 4x6 then a less expensive point and shoot will be a good choice.

How Much Zoom? Zooming in allows you to get a closer picture without being closer. However, it can be challenging to find the right cropping and catch the picture on the fly. Most point and shoots will have a 3x zoom. Some will have 5 or 10x zoom. The larger the zoom typically the larger the camera needs to be to make room for the additional lens space needed. I like a 5-10x zoom. My son loves his 3x zoom.

How Often Will I use the Camera? If you use your camera only a couple times a year, consider a camera that uses disposable batteries, (never store your batteries in your camera). If you use your camera regularly, see the discussion about Lithium Ion Batteries below.

Now you have defined your use. Begin looking at camera’s

Point and Shoot cameras are not what they use to be, they do a lot more!! If I were purchasing a Point and Shoot I would look at the Sony, Canon and Nikon lines.

Zoom comes in two forms.
Optical zoom which is most clear and accurate and..
Digital Zoom, where the computer in the camera creates a zoom based on logarithms. Good but less clear and accurate.
Many cameras will have both. This is ok.
I would look at a minimum of a 3x zoom.

Built in Flash… absolutely necessary and a minimum requirement. For most people the flash built in the camera will be more than adequate.

Macro Setting, allows you to focus very close to an object. You may not be use to such a setting but once you have it (it is usually already there) you will find it a lot of fun to play with.

Camera Battery: Unless you only use your camera a couple of times a year, I would avoid cameras that use disposable batteries. For the more frequent user, Lithium Ion batteries are great. A Sony with a Lithium Ion Battery freshly charged can take a couple hundred jpeg pictures on a charge, usually about ½ that if you are using the flash.

Some Great Cameras are available from Sony, Canon and Nikon. For point and shoot my personal favorite is Sony. My wife has the Sony H10 which is a great camera for almost everyone. It costs between $199 and $299.
For $99 to $200 you can find a great point and shoot with a 3-5X zoom in either of the above brands.
Today’s digital cameras can handle a wide range of photography and situations. Do not let someone talk you into more camera than you need.
Next Time we will talk about Digital SLR’s…. Jack