When you’re first starting out taking digital photographs – choosing the right camera can be difficult. These days there are literally thousands of cameras available – in a variety of shapes and sizes and with an increasingly wide range of features. With all the technical information to wade through it’s easy to get lost – there’s all sorts of jargon associated with camera’s from exposure to aperture but when starting out you need to keep things simple and know the basics of what you should be looking for.
When starting out – simplicity is the key – most users want to be able to simply point and shoot – then transfer the finished results to their computer or printer. Most local printing stores accept digital cameras or media cards – many even have self serve booths or machines so getting quality prints from your camera shouldn’t be too daunting.
So what should you look for when starting out - to help we have put together 5 key things you should look for when choosing an entry level digital camera.
1. Megapixels
This is the key feature and determines the quality of your photographs – Megapixels refers to the resolution capability of your camera – simply put the higher the megapixel the better your results. These days, camera’s range from 2 or less to 10 Megapixel SLR cameras. The more megapixels the higher the quality but also the higher cost of the camera so it will be a trade off – aim for a minimum of 3 Megapixels for reasonable 4 X 6 or 8 X 10 family photographs.
2. Storage
Many camera’s come with onboard storage – a memory card expansion slot – or both – Storage is important because that’s where your photo’s will be placed before you transfer them to your computer or print them off – if your camera has an expansion slot and can take memory cards, ensure that these cards are easily available (e.g. SD cards) and ensure you have a way of transferring the contents of your memory card to your PC either by a card reader or a dedicated slot in your PC.
3. Ease of Transferring Pictures
Check out how you will transfer pictures to your PC or printer – many Digital camera’s these days will “dock” with compatible printers – or you may be able to connect to your PC via USB – also check if the camera comes with any software to help.
4. Features
Camera’s these days have a wide variety of features – some of which may be useful to you for example
• Does the camera come with a zoom function (is this optical or digital – optical will produce better results)
• Can the Camera take Movies?
• Can you manually adjust settings such as exposure
Before you buy your camera think about how you will use it and determine which features you’ll need.
5. Power/Battery Life
Finally the camera will no doubt be powered by batteries – check out how many – what type and the battery life you can expect from a fully charged set – can this be conserved by turning of the LCD screen or other features – many entry level cameras eat batteries for breakfast!! – make sure you aim for a long battery life and keep a stock of spares.
The author runs the blog Camera-zone Blog which offers reviews and information for those starting out with digital camera's and digital photography.
Written By: Steve R Martin
