Guide to Buying a Digital Camera
Andrew Gates asked:
The digital camera market this day offers buyers a large number of choices, with products in widely differing price ranges, sizes and degree of operational complexity. From miniatures the size of a credit card, to fully functional professional SLR (Single Lens reflex) systems, you can buy a digital camera from manufacturers including traditional camera brands such as Canon, Olympus, Nikon, film companies such as Kodak and Fuji, and consumer electronic companies like Sony. Then there are other options that include the mobile phone manufacturers, and webcam suppliers.
The advantages of digital photography are numerous. Topmost is the fact that there is no film processing: costly both in cost and time. But there’s also the advantage of smaller sized equipment, portable media and instant picture viewing. And if you don’t like what you see, you simply delete it and shoot again: no wastage.
If you like to take pictures, being a digital photographer makes a lot of sense. But which camera is the ideal one for you? In a field of excess abundance, how do you narrow down what you need? How much to pay? How many megapixels? (What are they anyway?) Which brand? How much memory?
Digital CamerasEvery shopper is different.
At MyShopping.com.au we recognise this fact, and so we list practically all brands and models from hundreds of suppliers. These listings include the cold hard digital data facts about each camera and a range of comparative pricings offered by different suppliers. But just as each shopper is different, each photographer is different too. And just having the facts might not make you feel any more knowledgeable about which camera is right for you.
You could start with the question: What sort of photos will you take with your new digital camera? This is a valid starting point because from here you can start to qualify your stipulations in terms of technical ability and price. What sort of pictures will you take with your new digital camera?
Is it simply for happy snaps whenever you get together with friends and family at weekends and holidays? Or are you a serious bird watcher and you want to capture nature at its finest? Perhaps you want a camera for work to record your inventory, or recording information from a client. Maybe you are a PI on a mission. The point is, you need to start by recognising that your reason for buying a digital camera may not be the same as that of your best friend who is recommending the model she purchased.
Once you have figured out the sort of photos you are going to take, you can then set about deciding on the type of camera that will meet your needs. If you need something highly portable that fits in your shirt pocket or your handbag and lets you take it anywhere you go, make size a large consideration. If you want to take seriously good photographs, and you want to pursue an artistic endeavour, make image flexibility your main concern.
It might also be worthwhile considering your own position in the digital photography experience. Are you a novice about to buy your first camera, do you have some intermediate experience, or are you an advanced user?
Someone new to the market will likely not want to spend a lot of money, nor have a lot of mind-boggling features that leave you confused. There are cameras best for beginning users that have basic ‘point and shoot’ features including optical and digital zoom lens, flexible storage media and built in flash. There’s a big range of cameras available with simple features at low cost.
If you consider yourself an intermediate user with some operational knowledge of digital camera technology, you might want to take into account more advanced features that give you more control over the pictures you take. These features usually come in a range of automatic settings and manual settings for capturing the image and different storage options in terms of resolution and picture type (raw data, jpeg, tiff). Naturally there’s some cost attached to additional features when compared to more basic cameras.
For advanced users, there are a lot of professional options you can consider; such as SLR view finding and lens interchange ability. Cameras in this range provide much greater control over the image, both before and once it is captured. These options include shutter speed and aperture adjustment, and many cameras offer the ability to manipulate images ‘in camera’, such as cropping, and brightness and contrast adjustments.
After the picture is taken
A further main consideration is what are you going to do with your images once you have them? The great beauty of digital photography is the easy fact that you can store them on digital media such as CDs and media cards, and view them on personal screens and in many cases, your television. You need print only when and those you want to see, or show to others. Digital photography also gives fantastic opportunities to manipulate your images using popular image manipulation programs, resizing them, altering brightness and contrast characteristics, and correcting problems such as red eye, or removing skin blemishes.
Most digital cameras are computer ready, able to plug directly into your Computer or Mac using USB connectors. They usually include proprietary software allowing you to easily and instantly manage your image files in pic albums or slide shows. Many digital cameras also include a video capture facility enabling you to take short motion photos.
What you want to do with your images after you’ve them can have an impact on your choice of camera. If you want to make enlarged prints for example, you’ll want a high megapixel capacity (also talked about as ‘resolution’). If you want images for website use, you’ll want to get the ideal quality images that can be reduced in resolution without severe degradation.
Beauty is in the “I”
Great pictures usually come from great conditions. You capture a great moment, the light is just right, the subject is at the perfect distance, the image is perfectly framed. But not each digital camera offers the flexibility to make the best of existing light conditions, or position. Most digital cameras (certainly at the budget end) come with a built in automatic flash, which is terrific for happy snaps in darkened environments. And the automatic flash automatically does not ‘go off’ in bright sunny conditions. But in those times when you want to use the existing light, you need a camera that gives you manual control over the operation or not, of the flash.
Moreover, most digital cameras in the lower and medium price ranges are highly automated. If you’re moving from a traditional SLR film camera where you’ve maximum control over shutter speed, aperture and ISO speeds, it might be frustrating to not have easy access to the same range of tools to take advantage of existing light conditions.
In the more advanced (and therefore more expensive) range of digital cameras, most lens and aperture functions are available in exactly the same way as other SLR systems. What differs is how the colours and light of the image is translated through pixel capture compared to the chemical processing systems.
You might want a wide range of focus options. Most digital cameras have two different types of image magnification, lens magnification (zoom) that might be equivalent of a 35mm to 150 mm lens, and a digital magnification that might be to ten-fold (expressed as x10). This provides you with zoom lens ability, which may be limited in its depth of field control and is subject to soft focus and movement if the conditions aren’t just right, and a digital magnification of the pixel image. If being able to capture magnified distant images is important to you, you need more megapixels, and a lens system that gives you some control over its focus and aperture management.
A final word on accessory
Digital cameras are electronic equipment. That means they run on batteries, and if you use your camera a lot, you’ll find that you will be frequently replacing batteries. Some cameras have rechargeable batteries; others simply use dry cells (AA), which you can of course load with rechargeable ones. It pays to have spare batteries so that you always have a charged power source. Some cameras have docking stations to help manage the connection with personal. Many digital SLR cameras have interchangeable lens systems, some of which might be compatible with traditional film SLRs.
You can also print your own photos at home with special printers that handle standard photograph paper, and connect directly to your camera. Even though it might be less pricey to simply take your camera’s card, or a CD to your local camera store, and now many supermarkets and department stores, and use the automatic printing machines to print the images you want.
There’s a lot you can do with a digital camera, and you can pay les than $200, or more than $10,000. It all depends on how you see yourself as a photographer, what you’re shooting, and what you want to do with your photos. At Myshopping.com.au you can very quickly compare specifications and prices.
The digital camera market this day offers buyers a large number of choices, with products in widely differing price ranges, sizes and degree of operational complexity. From miniatures the size of a credit card, to fully functional professional SLR (Single Lens reflex) systems, you can buy a digital camera from manufacturers including traditional camera brands such as Canon, Olympus, Nikon, film companies such as Kodak and Fuji, and consumer electronic companies like Sony. Then there are other options that include the mobile phone manufacturers, and webcam suppliers.
The advantages of digital photography are numerous. Topmost is the fact that there is no film processing: costly both in cost and time. But there’s also the advantage of smaller sized equipment, portable media and instant picture viewing. And if you don’t like what you see, you simply delete it and shoot again: no wastage.
If you like to take pictures, being a digital photographer makes a lot of sense. But which camera is the ideal one for you? In a field of excess abundance, how do you narrow down what you need? How much to pay? How many megapixels? (What are they anyway?) Which brand? How much memory?
Digital CamerasEvery shopper is different.
At MyShopping.com.au we recognise this fact, and so we list practically all brands and models from hundreds of suppliers. These listings include the cold hard digital data facts about each camera and a range of comparative pricings offered by different suppliers. But just as each shopper is different, each photographer is different too. And just having the facts might not make you feel any more knowledgeable about which camera is right for you.
You could start with the question: What sort of photos will you take with your new digital camera? This is a valid starting point because from here you can start to qualify your stipulations in terms of technical ability and price. What sort of pictures will you take with your new digital camera?
Is it simply for happy snaps whenever you get together with friends and family at weekends and holidays? Or are you a serious bird watcher and you want to capture nature at its finest? Perhaps you want a camera for work to record your inventory, or recording information from a client. Maybe you are a PI on a mission. The point is, you need to start by recognising that your reason for buying a digital camera may not be the same as that of your best friend who is recommending the model she purchased.
Once you have figured out the sort of photos you are going to take, you can then set about deciding on the type of camera that will meet your needs. If you need something highly portable that fits in your shirt pocket or your handbag and lets you take it anywhere you go, make size a large consideration. If you want to take seriously good photographs, and you want to pursue an artistic endeavour, make image flexibility your main concern.
It might also be worthwhile considering your own position in the digital photography experience. Are you a novice about to buy your first camera, do you have some intermediate experience, or are you an advanced user?
Someone new to the market will likely not want to spend a lot of money, nor have a lot of mind-boggling features that leave you confused. There are cameras best for beginning users that have basic ‘point and shoot’ features including optical and digital zoom lens, flexible storage media and built in flash. There’s a big range of cameras available with simple features at low cost.
If you consider yourself an intermediate user with some operational knowledge of digital camera technology, you might want to take into account more advanced features that give you more control over the pictures you take. These features usually come in a range of automatic settings and manual settings for capturing the image and different storage options in terms of resolution and picture type (raw data, jpeg, tiff). Naturally there’s some cost attached to additional features when compared to more basic cameras.
For advanced users, there are a lot of professional options you can consider; such as SLR view finding and lens interchange ability. Cameras in this range provide much greater control over the image, both before and once it is captured. These options include shutter speed and aperture adjustment, and many cameras offer the ability to manipulate images ‘in camera’, such as cropping, and brightness and contrast adjustments.
After the picture is taken
A further main consideration is what are you going to do with your images once you have them? The great beauty of digital photography is the easy fact that you can store them on digital media such as CDs and media cards, and view them on personal screens and in many cases, your television. You need print only when and those you want to see, or show to others. Digital photography also gives fantastic opportunities to manipulate your images using popular image manipulation programs, resizing them, altering brightness and contrast characteristics, and correcting problems such as red eye, or removing skin blemishes.
Most digital cameras are computer ready, able to plug directly into your Computer or Mac using USB connectors. They usually include proprietary software allowing you to easily and instantly manage your image files in pic albums or slide shows. Many digital cameras also include a video capture facility enabling you to take short motion photos.
What you want to do with your images after you’ve them can have an impact on your choice of camera. If you want to make enlarged prints for example, you’ll want a high megapixel capacity (also talked about as ‘resolution’). If you want images for website use, you’ll want to get the ideal quality images that can be reduced in resolution without severe degradation.
Beauty is in the “I”
Great pictures usually come from great conditions. You capture a great moment, the light is just right, the subject is at the perfect distance, the image is perfectly framed. But not each digital camera offers the flexibility to make the best of existing light conditions, or position. Most digital cameras (certainly at the budget end) come with a built in automatic flash, which is terrific for happy snaps in darkened environments. And the automatic flash automatically does not ‘go off’ in bright sunny conditions. But in those times when you want to use the existing light, you need a camera that gives you manual control over the operation or not, of the flash.
Moreover, most digital cameras in the lower and medium price ranges are highly automated. If you’re moving from a traditional SLR film camera where you’ve maximum control over shutter speed, aperture and ISO speeds, it might be frustrating to not have easy access to the same range of tools to take advantage of existing light conditions.
In the more advanced (and therefore more expensive) range of digital cameras, most lens and aperture functions are available in exactly the same way as other SLR systems. What differs is how the colours and light of the image is translated through pixel capture compared to the chemical processing systems.
You might want a wide range of focus options. Most digital cameras have two different types of image magnification, lens magnification (zoom) that might be equivalent of a 35mm to 150 mm lens, and a digital magnification that might be to ten-fold (expressed as x10). This provides you with zoom lens ability, which may be limited in its depth of field control and is subject to soft focus and movement if the conditions aren’t just right, and a digital magnification of the pixel image. If being able to capture magnified distant images is important to you, you need more megapixels, and a lens system that gives you some control over its focus and aperture management.
A final word on accessory
Digital cameras are electronic equipment. That means they run on batteries, and if you use your camera a lot, you’ll find that you will be frequently replacing batteries. Some cameras have rechargeable batteries; others simply use dry cells (AA), which you can of course load with rechargeable ones. It pays to have spare batteries so that you always have a charged power source. Some cameras have docking stations to help manage the connection with personal. Many digital SLR cameras have interchangeable lens systems, some of which might be compatible with traditional film SLRs.
You can also print your own photos at home with special printers that handle standard photograph paper, and connect directly to your camera. Even though it might be less pricey to simply take your camera’s card, or a CD to your local camera store, and now many supermarkets and department stores, and use the automatic printing machines to print the images you want.
There’s a lot you can do with a digital camera, and you can pay les than $200, or more than $10,000. It all depends on how you see yourself as a photographer, what you’re shooting, and what you want to do with your photos. At Myshopping.com.au you can very quickly compare specifications and prices.
Now, wasn't that an easy read? We hope that you found the article as useful as we did. It's hard to understand why some information is written in a way that just makes it impossible to decipher. the subject is so important to so many people that getting the right information, the first time, makes all the difference in making a timely decision. And who has time to wait these days?
Categories: Digital Cameras Tags: Miniatures, Price Ranges, Pricings, Reflex Systems