Buying a Digital Camera?

When planning travel to a faraway or unfamiliar locale, it’s likely that your initial thought is purchasing a brand new digital camera. Naturally, we want to return with as many memories as possible loaded into that travel appliance. What was it that I said? Memories?

Wow! “Memories” reminds me of something important. Your desire to take a lot of intriguing pictures won’t come true if you don’t pick the proper flash memory card. Naturally, your ‘memories’ will rely on the storage space on your memory card and its compatibility with the equipment you are using it with.

So, if you’d like to bring back mementos of these exotic locales, the flash memory card is more of a factor than the camera itself.

If you’re looking to get something that is universally used, you should consider an SD memory card. SD cards are the most popular and have been used successfully by all types of customers. Hence, you are likely to hear it mentioned a lot in conversation with pals.

This card is best suited for digital cameras that are designed for personal use. For the most part, 1 GB capacity SD flash cards are readily available, while there is also widespread use of an upgraded version of this card by frequent travelers. If you want to take a lot of photos, a 4 GB memory card is a good choice.

But if you are the world-traveler type, you will definitely need to have an SDHC flash memory card device. This comes equipped with a huge 32 GB capacity for storage. This will satisfy any of your wants and needs. This kind of memory card is quite convenient for a hectic travel itinerary. Because who has time to spare for transferring all these images onto a PC prior to coming back home?

But here’s a word of caution when it comes to using an SDHC card. This very efficient memory card does not work with every camera that is currently available. Thus you may need to purchase a new digital camera to go with this SDHC memory card device. Most likely, this will be too expensive for these tough economic times.

But, if yours is a sophisticated model and you want a memory card with versatile capacity, opt for a CF flash memory card. This card has a lot of storage.

A top-notch CF memory card may have up to 16 GB of capacity. You should keep in mind that it might cost more, as well. But, if your travels are going to be briefer, then you might opt for a CF card with under half the GB capacity. Not every camera supports CF cards, so be sure to check first.

Buying a Digital Camera FAQ

Question: Where do you start when buying a digital camera? What are SLRs and megapixels? Where do I begin?
Looking into buying a digital camera that I can take nice scenic outdoor pictures and good indoor pictures with. Can you do black and white photos with digital also?

Answer: The pixel is the smallest part of a digitized or Digital Image. Also used in measuring image size and resolution, ie, 640 x 480 is the pixel resolution of most VGA Monitors. (Note pixels are square in computers and rectangular in video).

SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. In this sort of camera one lens is used for both focusing and taking this picture. In most SLRs light is directed between the 2 functions by means of a 45 degree mirror which swings up as the shutter is activated but before it actually opens. The big advantage of an SLR over other camera types is that the image in the viewfinder is the same as that in actually captured on the film.

so the better slr and pixel, better is the picture quality.

Question: What to keep in mind when buying Digital Camera?
What to keep in mind when buying Digital Camera,
Things like, Difference in Digital and Continous Zoom,
Storage format, etc

Need for personal / amateur photos

Answer: Forget digital zoom, look into optical zoom only. Usually ranges from 3X optical zoom to 12X. There are Some that have more zoom. Megapixels is another thing to look in to. 4 to 6 MP is sufficient. You may want a camera that has an image stabilizer if one has shaky hands. You would want one that doesn’t eat up batteries. The only way to find out is Websites like this, word of mouth or testing organizations like Consumer Reports.Lastly you may look into a camera that is a bit more than point and shoot. Some like mine let’s you choose settings of aperture priority, shutter priority or just left on auto. Next shot delay can be important. Some as mine have just 1 second delay, some are very slow, 5 to 6 sec.Brands to consider are Canon, Sony, Fuji, Nikon and Olympus. I am very satisfied with mine. It’s a Sony CyberShot
DSC-H2.

Question: Please help me out in buying a digital camera?
My budget is $150 – $180. I dont want a complicated model – just a simple yet long lasting camera to send photos viz email. I would go for a bigger memory capacity.I’m really new to buying cameras so please help considering me an absolute beginner. What is meant by Megapixel?LCD?What does it say about a camera? Please mention any warranties, if provided. Also, if you could mention whether it’s available @ Walmart.

Answer: Try an HP R717. I just bought one for my daughter, and she loves it.

Megapixels refers to how much memory is available to store a single image, and also relates to the sensitivity of the CCD (charge coupled device) that actually gets the light via the lens that creates the image. The higher the megapixel value, the bigger a picture you can print, with more definition and detail. The HP R717, at 6.2 megapixels, can produce a clear print up to 20×30 inches.

The LCD is the display panel on the back of the camera that can act as a viewfinder, as well as for displaying pictures/video you take and menus for controlling the camera. The bigger it is, the easier it is to see and read. It also needs to be bright and easy to see in sunlight.

Another very important issue is the quality of the lens and zooming. The R717 has a good lens, and a 3x optical zoom/8x digital zoom. This means that the lens itself is used to maginify distant images, not the electronics. Digital zoom does not give as good an image.

A good place to order the camera from online is beachcamera.com. They have some of the best prices I have seen.

For the HP R717, you actually order the R707, and they upgrade it to the R717. The catalog# is HPPSR707, and the cost is $172. The warranty from HP is for one year. The camera comes with the battery, AC adapter, USB cable, software and manuals. I highly recommend a camera case.

Question: What criteria do you look into when buying a digital camera?
I’m looking into buying a digital camera and a camcorder. Since the holidays are coming up soon. What do you consider when buying one?? For example, pixles you want one w/ more right because that means it has more of the little squares so the picture/recording comes out best right?? I am willing to spend up to 800 dollars on both. Are their any good cameras that can record for a lengthy time and take good digital photos??

Answer: Panasonic Lumix FZ-30 and/or FZ-50 – good quality photos and able to record movie in 640×480-pixel, 30fps movie mode, capable of shooting until the card in use is full.

Question: If im buying a Digital Camera, How should I allocate my money?
HI,
I’m thinking about buying a digital camera, My budget is rather low, only about 200-320$. My question is, how should I divide that? Should I spend it all on the camera?
How many mega-pixels should It have?
How much should I allocate to a memory card? 20%?
Would a 512mb card be a good start? I’m looking to take medium to high resolution photos, how much storage would I need to keep a decent amount before having to upload them to my laptop. How much space does an average picture take up?

Finally, should I invest in a camera with a rechargeable battery, or one w/ disposable (AA/AAA) batteries. Which will be better in the long run?

Answer: Unless you need to regularly print photos larger than 8×10 I imagine any amount of megapixels over 5 will be just fine. Even 5 or less would be just fine for just 4×6 prints, but most cameras come with at least that many.

I would focus one what features are important to you (really slim, small camera, high zoom, etc) and ESPECIALLY the ease of getting great, sharp, high quality photos. Check online and magazine articles, and first hand user’s experiences if possible. The camera I have seems to take too many blurry photos – the focus and image stabalization don’t work as well I think they should.

Keep your eyes open for great deals on memory cards. Check buy.com – thats where I’ve got all of mine. Sometimes free after rebate. But often you can get them for less then $15, especially if it’s a popular memory card type like SecureDigital.

512MB should be good for a couple hundred photos (depending on the camera megapixels – more megapixels = larger image size) but 1GB sure isn’t much more expensive. My 5 megapixel camera’s photos are usually just under 2MB each, so calcualte accordingly.

One of the best money saving things you can do in the digtial camera arena is use rechargeable batteries. Unless of course you plan on using it VERY rarely then the cost of rechargeables might not be worth it. But, in countless articles I have come across reccomendations for buying rechargable batteries to go with your digital camera. I second this based on personal experience. Don’t forget to have a charged (or regular) backup pair.

Question: Are higher pixels the only thing I should look for when buying a digital camera?
What should I look for when buying a good digital camera? I really want good quality crisp photos with nice and bright colours! I was recently told that higher pixels are not the only criteria I should look for and things such as the quality of the pixels are also important. Is that true?

Answer: Ill list some important features that you can look for while searching for a good digital camera -
1) Optical Zoom – This is to what extent ur camera can actually magnify the object ur peering at, without digitally superimposing any pixels into the image. The greater the zoom, the clearer would be photos of far off objects.

2) Macro mode – This refers to the maximum you can zoom onto a small area, without the cam focus getting hazy. The smaller the macro mode area, the clearer u get snaps of really small things like insects, flowers, etc. This feature is called by different names in different brands.

3) Shutter speed settings – You would require a higher shutter speed to capture very fast moving objects, and vice versa. So you can have a camera that doesnt have any options to change the shutter speed, but it wont have the same picture quality for fast and slow moving objects. Generally cameras that dont have options to change the shutter speed are tuned to capture relatively slower moving objects.

4) Battery life – 1 of the most important features. You can have a camera that supports loads of memory.. but it makes no sense to have that kind of memory if the battery gets exhausted after a few clicks. One tip here – u can stretch it a bit if u switch off the LCD and use the viewfinder.

5) Night mode – Some older digicams.. and almost all new ones have this feature. My Panasonic DMC FX-5 does great in this segment. What happens is that once u set ur camera to night mode, the shutter or the eye of the camera remains open for a longer time than usual, so that every single bit of light available is absorbed. Add to it some photo-enhancing software and u have the most breathtaking pics ever !! I’ll show u some that i’ve taken… mailme at navneet_nair@yahoo.com if u wanna view them. But one thing that u need to take care of is that the object should be perfectly still while the shutter remains open, else all of it looks like a ghost trailing behind the main object. Also beware of some brands that promise a good night mode, but dont work that well.

6) Memory support.

7) Ease of use – Inspite of all these features, you should be able to use the camera without referring to the manual everytime you need to use it. It should also be small enough to not be cumbersome to carry around or put into ur purse !

Sturdyness – Believe me, I have dropped my camera ONCE (thankfully once once), but it still is as good as it was when i bought it.

9) How expensive it is !
Hope this info helped.. just make a list of what u need from ur camera based on the above features and u shud get a great buy !

Question: What are some things to look for when buying a digital camera?
I bought my first digital camera over a year ago. I didnt know anything about them so I just picked one because it had a rechargeable battery and that appealed to me. ….I hate that camera with a passion. It either takes really dark pictures or the flash is so blinding that unless you’re a mile way from the thing you want to take a picture of, all you get is a washed out -white picture. I dont want to make this mistake twice.

What are some things I need to look for in order to get a good, high quality digital camera?

Answer: Forget about the pixels. The number of mega pixels has no bearing on the quality of the final picture, unless there are so few pixels for the print size that the printer/computer has to make the pixels bigger to ’spread out’ and cover the area. If the largest size print you think you would ever make is an 8×10, then there isn’t a camera on the market today that has ‘too few pixels’. More megapixels simply means you can do more cropping and still have maximum quality at larger sizes. Pixels don’t create the quality, they simply maintain it at larger sizes. Having 20 buckets of paint doesn’t tell you anything else about the paint in the buckets. It simply tells you the amount, not the quality.

It’s more important to look at overall quality. There are three major components that determine overall quality of a digital camera’s pictures.
A) Lens
B) Sensor
C) Processor

These three parts of a camera are the most critical in maintaining the quality of an image from the time the light strikes the front lens element until it is safely stored as on your memory card.

We can go in depth if you’d like, but the easiest thing to do is look at brands that have good reputations; Nikon, Canon & Sony. These three manufacturers have the best overall ratings. To make any more specific of a recommendation, I would need to know more about what you want your camera to do. Your best bet for advice is a local specialty camera store. The largest chain of specialty camera stores is Ritz/Wolf Camera. They guarantee the lowest price for 30 days & you can speak to an associate who knows about cameras and who will take the time to help you decide which camera has the features you need. And their Performance Guarantee program is the best in the business. Where else can you bring in a camera that’s been ruined by water damage, multiple times of five years, and get free repairs & replacements? Additionally, sometimes the picture problems you’re describing are caused by the camera being in the wrong setting or mode when you take a picture. Ritz/Wolf gives you a free 9-week training course when you buy a camera from them. That will allow you to use your camera to its full function, and maybe eliminate many camera problems and get the most out of your equipment.

Speaking face to face with an expert is your best bet, but if you’d like to tell me more about what you want your camera to do, I can recommend a camera to look at first.

Question: What do I need to look for when buying a digital camera?
I need to buy a new digital camera… but I’m not really up on the “lingo” and I dont know what to look for. I did notice with my old digital camera that when I would send my digital photos off to be printed, they always came out “digital looking”… not very clear at all… How do I know which camera has a higher quality (other than price)? Id really love to have a camera that I can have the photos printed and they look like they came from regually 35mm film.

I’m not too worried about size, I just want to be able to toss it into my purse for certain occasions, so nothing HUGE, but I dont need a camera the size of a deck of cards. Also, I would like to have a decent zoom function. My last digital camera only had “regular” and “X2″…

Answer: Whats your budget?

For under $200 I would recommend a Canon Powershot A570 IS – it’s simple to operate under automatic mode, yet it also have manual setting if you want go crazy. Takes OK picture and quite compact in design.

For something more, you might want to take a look at a Canon Powershot G7 – it’s something more advanced than the basic A series and somewhat more expensive. It’s also quite compact for its class.

If you don’t mind about the camera’s size, take a look at Canon Powershot S5 IS – the camera is geared more for enthusiast and it has SLR-like operation (except lens operation, that is). It takes better picture in automatic mode, and even better on manual mode if you know how to use it.

Finally if you’re up to the budget, size and challenge of learning photography, an SLR camera would be the ultimate thing for most photographer and enthusiast. Basically an SLR is a camera with interchangeable lenses. The benefit of an SLR camera is that it takes faster picture, significantly better image quality and configurability. The downside is of course the size and weight – although I don’t mind with those at all. Price is also quite high starting from about $500 for the Nikon D40 excluding accessories. You would also need to learn a little bit about photography but I wouldn’t worry about that since the manual will provide basic information about it.

For an SLR camera I would recommend the Nikon D80 or the Canon Digital Rebel XTi. They’re both takes great picture.

Well, I hope this will not confuse you even more and actually helps.