Digital Camera Guide

Not that many years ago, digital cameras were 1) ghastly expensive, 2) thought to be "less than" 35mm cameras, and finally incredibly hard to understand. I mean after all, "where are my pictures?"

Today, it seems digital cameras are everywhere. The days of just having Sony digital cameras, Kodack digital cameras and Canon digital cameras are over. Look at your cell phone. There's a better than even chance that your cell phone has a digital camera built into it.

This Digital Camera Buying Guide is not intended for the expert. Nor is it intended for some member of an obscure aboriginal tribe who has never even heard of a digital camera, let alone, considered buying one. It's meant to help average folks who may know some things but not others. Folks who may not like to ask questions, and finally for folks who may just need a little updated, easy to follow information on digital cameras. Wherever possible, we'll be speaking English here.

Once the itch to purchase a digital camera begins, things can get very confusing. What is the best digital camera? What should I buy? Is it going to be very expensive? Relax, although there are literally hundreds of cameras you can choose from (Newegg currently lists over 300 for sale- kids digital cameras, pink digital cameras, waterproof digital cameras, mini digital cameras and more), there is a digital camera to fit virtually all needs and all budgets. And, if you're reading this, you probably don't really need "the best" digital camera or a super exhaustive digital camera comparison.

The truth is that we can glean these hundreds down into a meaningful handful just by considering our answers to some very straightforward questions. Sometime in the 6th Century BC, Solon of Athens was credited with the quote "Know thyself". And, although he wasn't considering the purchase of a new digital camera, his advice holds up well whenever I find myself in unfamiliar territory. So let's get started.

How much do you want to spend on a digital camera?

Notice I didn't ask what you could afford. That's a similar yet different question. Don't be afraid to go low here if you just want to test the waters of this whole digital thing. While just a few years ago, I found myself spending close to $1,000 for my first digital camera, today you can actually buy a decent digital camera, from a well-known manufacturer (Kodak, Samsung, Sanyo, HP) for as little as $75.00. Go ahead satisfy your curiosity. Go to Newegg, Wal-Mart, Circuit City or Best Buy and check that out. Don't worry we'll be here when you get back. Back? Bet you feel better don't you? I bet that while you were there you also noticed you can spend over $2,000. Don't go back, you can trust me on that. Pick a budget number you can be comfortable with. Let's move on.

How do you plan on using your digital camera?

How have you used cameras in the past? Are you a casual snap-shooter who takes out the camera on special occasions? Do you want to carry your digital camera with you at all times? You'll find that the very smallest (ultra-compact or mini) and to a much greater degree, the very largest (dSLRs) are the most expensive. Fortunately for most of us the broad sweet spot is right in the middle, the compact point & shoot camera, as small or smaller than that old Kodak Instamatic you used to have but larger than a Zippo lighter.

How much image quality do you need?

The quick, automatic answer of course is "very high!" But again, knowing yourself will help us make a smarter choice. In the past, when you developed your photos, did you have many enlarged? How large? ( 5"x7", 8"x10", larger?). Do you plan on enlarging the photos you take with your new digital camera? Or, do you think you'll just be emailing them to friends or maintaining an on-line photo collection?

See, image quality has a lot to do with just how many megapixels your camera has. Think of a pixel as a pinpoint of color and a megapixel as 1 million pinpoints. If the image you are ultimately producing is say, 1"x1", then a million pinpoints will give you a pretty high quality image. But if you wanted to make a 4"x6", the pinpoints would spread out a bit and the image quality would suffer. That makes sense doesn't it? For the average snap-shooter producing 4"x6" prints with an occasional 5"x7" or even an 8"x10" print, a camera of roughly 3 megapixels (3MP) will do nicely. If this is you, rejoice. A good camera of this sort is common and inexpensive. Cameras in the 3MP - 5MP range can be purchased for around $100.

If you plan on large prints, or just would like to have the potential, a digital camera of 6MP - 8MP, probably makes more sense and will still not break the bank.

How much zoom do you need on the digital camera?

Keep in mind, until fairly recently most general purpose cameras came with no zoom. What you saw in the viewfinder is pretty much what would result on the print. Most point and shoot cameras today pretty much throw in 3x - 4x optical zoom. This means you'll have the ability to shoot from a slight wide-angle to a roughly portrait type telephoto. I recently purchased this type of camera for my daughter's 11th birthday, the Fujifilm FinePix Z10fd. About as small as my Moto Razr Cell Phone it has a 3X zoom, 7.2MP and big bright LCD. On sale at the time I may have cost $129.

My newest digital camera is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3, a point and shoot compact that although small enough to fit in my pocket sports a 10X zoom that gives me everything from a true wide-angle to a long telephoto lens. This is a lot of camera for $249.

What do you tend to take pictures of and where?

This is often an overlooked consideration. Do you take a lot of indoor shots? Do you prefer to take pictures of people? How about sporting events? Many popular priced digital cameras today offer features such as Face Recognition and Image Stabilization. Both of these features will help you produce sharp images in low light and fast action situations. The good news is they don't add much significant cost to the camera, but could make a big difference with you satisfaction with your purchase.

Storage Media

While most cameras give you an insignificant amount of internal memory to store your images, you're going to need a memory card. This is your "film", so to speak. In the dawn of digital photography you generally had two options, Compact Flash or SmartMedia. Compact Flash is still around. But now you have more options. Sony features Memory Sticks, Olympus features xD cards, there are MMC (Multi-Media Cards and finally SD (Secure Digital) Cards. All are perfectly fine in most situations, but my recommendation is the SD Card. It is the most widely used storage medium, the most versatile and generally the least costly. Since the greatest number of cameras use SD, should you change cameras in the future, the likelihood of being able to use the same cards will reduce your expenses. By the way, even an 8 gigabyte (huge) SD card is about the size of a postage stamp.

The Safe Bet

While you'll find a wide range of high quality digital cameras from each of a number of manufacturers such as Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic and Olympus, if I had to select a single manufacturer that consistently scores in virtually every category of camera, from entry level through professional grade, that manufacturer would have to be Canon. Buying a Canon Digital Camera is a safe bet. 

Across the board it is hard to find fault with their offerings. Check out Canon's Digital Camera line-up:

• Canon Ultra-compact - Powershot SD 1000 or Powershot SD 870 ($150 - $250)
• Canon Compact -Powershot A570IS ($150)
• Canon Compact Long Zoom - Powershot A720IS (6X Zoom) ($179)
• Canon Compact Mega-Zoom - Powershot SX 100IS (10X Zoom) ($225)
• Canon dSLR (digital single lens reflex) - virtually any of their EOS line.
• Canon Best Buy Pick - Powershot A560 ($125-$135)