Planning Buy Digital Camera

Planning to buy a digital camera? Market is flooded with digital cameras from various brands. Here follows the article that tries to impart some of the useful digital camera buying tips:

What do you need the camera for?

Digital cameras available in the market are of three basic types: Point and Shoot, Lifestyle and Professional. Based on the purpose one can choose from the following main three types:

• Point and Shoot: - reasonably compact, with common features and size like 35mm digital cameras.

• Professional: - with interchangeable lenses, flashes and other accessories, this type of digital cameras is robust and feature laden, just the best choice for a professional or serious photographer.

Features you must look for

Resolution

Digital images are made up of dots (.) called as pixels. Compression

Compression shrinks a photo's file size so that more images can be stored in the memory card. If you need the absolute best quality images, you have to consider buying a digital camera that takes uncompressed photos but will accommodate less number of images.

Memory

A digital camera's memory size will determine the number of images that can be stored. Memory of 128MB will be good enough if you want to use the camera for personal purposes. LCD Screen

Most digital cameras come with at least an optical viewfinder but many digital cameras also come with an LCD screen built into the back. The display panel varies from 1.5” - 2.5” from camera to camera.

Lens

It is the length of a digital camera's lens that determines how much of a sight will fit in a picture. Digital Zoom

This feature enables the photographer to zoom in on the centre of the picture by removing the edges of the image. Doesn’t this feature make a digital camera cool.

Focus an Exposure

In most digital cameras, the correct exposure for the lighting conditions is automatically determined. A camera rated ISO 100, has approximately the same light sensitivity as that of a traditional film camera loaded with ISO 100 film. Movie Mode

This is a feature that lets you take short film clips with your digital camera. Flash

Most digital cameras come with an in-built flash. Some cameras however include additional features, such as red-eye reduction or night portrait mode.

Image Erase

Most cameras also let you select pictures to erase. Self-Timer

A self-timer allows a digital camera for a delayed exposure, usually giving you about 10 seconds before the picture is taken. Computer Connections

Most high-end digital cameras have software and connections for all Mac, PC computers and laptops. Image Stabilization

This feature enables the photographer to capture still images of something moving very fast. This feature is a must for all professional photographers, especially sports photographers.

This applies both for digital and SLR Professional cameras.

The Significance of Digital Camera Size and Portability
Size is another very important factor to be taken care of. Budget – The “Cannot Be Ignored Option”

Based on the budget the features will vary and the overall offering of a digital camera. Today's digital cameras run anywhere from Rs 800 to Rs 30,000, depending on resolution and feature specifications.