How To Buy a Digital Camera
Are you looking for a new camera? The first thing you should decide is, if it will be a point and shoot camera or a SLR. In both cases the price should not be on the first place in your decision. You will get an SLR for the price of a good point and shoot camera. You should go for quality. Choose a camera which has a solid body and which has a good image quality. The image is the output of a camera and that is in fact what you want: a good picture.
1. Determine what you want to photograph
- Do you take pictures only a few times a year (christmas, holidays, anniversaries)?
- What is your personal experience level with cameras?
- What type of photography will you be doing? (portraits, landscapes, macro, sports, nature? I guess a little bit of everything, right?)
2. Look for image stabilisation
This is a great feature of modern cameras. What is our goal? Yes, good pictures, and good pictures are razor sharp where they have to be. Image stabilisation is a great help.
3. Megapixels are not everything
When marketers advertised new digital cameras, then the megapixels (MP) came first in bold letters. It seemed to be the most important number. There was a real race about who had most of them. In fact the number of megapixels is the least important detail of the camera.
Let me explain, what those pixels are: A pixel is a tiny colored dot, and thousands or millions of those dots create the picture. Imagine the paintings of the old impressionists like Van Gogh, or imagine a mosaique.
Now it seems logical, that many dots will make a better picture. Well, a mosaique of thousands of tiny stones sure is more precise than the same mosaique made of a few bigger stones. With smaller pieces you can work out the details better. This is a fact.
If you remember the first digital cameras with a few hundred thousand pixels, their images were grainy. Consider that it wasn’t only a question of the pixels, the image processors were in an early stadium too.
The electronic became smarter and the pixels smaller (and more). How much pixels are enough now? To be clear, then years ago – and that was Stone Age concerning digital photography – I saw a king size print in a photographer’s store. The print had the format of your front-door.
The print showed a woman almost in natural size and it was made with an early Nikon/Kodak SLR of 6 million pixels. The print was razor sharp! Every detail like hair, clothes etc. were cristal clear. Absolutely terrific.
Recently I found in my archive a forgotten poster print. It was such of a sharpness that I wondered if I made it with my Mamiya 6×7 middle format. But nope, it was taken with my 5MP Olympus E1. Hence you can combine, 5 or 6 MP would be more than enough for your own use, more than 12 MP are ok for SLRs. For a pocket 10 MP this is a good standard.
First of all the sensor size matters in relation to its megapixels. Since the sensors of pocket cameras are tiny, it’s not the best choice to buy a camera with 14 MP. For an SLR it’s ok, because the sensors and the pixels are bigger.
If you want to make money from your camera, then you should work with an SLR of at least 14 MP. There are stock agencies not accepting smaller image files.
Be aware that the higher resolution of a camera creates bigger digital files. Since you are photographing with the highest resolution setting (what I hope), you need to have enough memory cards with your camera.
It would absolutely make no sense to buy a high-res camera and decrease the resolution setting to store more pictures on the card and hard drive.
4. Do you want to improve your photography?
Do you want to take more professional portraits, dynamic landscapes, fascinating nature shots? In this case you should look for additional options like an external flash, changeable lenses, filters and other lens attachments. You don’t have to buy it at once, but you will have the flexibility to complete your equipment according to your needs.
5. Read reviews
Read what others have to say about a camera before you buy one. When users write about their experiences with a camera, they are unbiased.
Read more about digital cameras on
www.photography-tips-for-your-profit.com
1. Canon EOS Rebel T1i 15.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens
7. Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Black)
8. Nikon Coolpix L20 10MP Digital Camera with 3.6 Optical Zoom and 3 inch LCD (Deep Red)
9. Nikon Coolpix L20 10MP Digital Camera with 3.6 Optical Zoom and 3 inch LCD (Navy Blue)
14. Nikon D90 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX Nikkor Zoom Lens
Since I take pictures every single day, I wear always a camera with me. The bulky and heavy equipment I take when I have a plan or an assignment. But when I leave the house for other reasons I have a little point and shoot camera in my jacket. I can combine the advantages of both worlds like this and I never miss a shot (most of the time).
