Tips before Buying a Digital Camera

1. Set a Budget Before BuyingSUMMARY: Budget yourself when purchasing a digital camera.Before deciding on purchasing a digital camera, it is important that you set yourself a budget before going online. Like purchasing any other big-ticket item else such as a geputer, car, or house, there are tons and tons of options, and you don't want to get stuck with more camera than you can afford. Yes, the high-end cameras offer the best zoom, the more megapixels, and the added features, but they can also take a huge bite out of your wallet if you are not careful.
When starting out, I would regemend not spending a huge amount of money on the high-end prosumer or digital SLR cameras. Look for cheaper, yet powerful, gepact digital cameras that are easy to hold and don't add too much weight when you travel. Learn the basics with this digital camera and make sure you enjoy the hobby before spending the cash for higher-end digital cameras.
If you're afraid that you will be stuck with several digital cameras by buying less-expensive ones and later upgrading, note that you can sell your old digital cameras on okay.
2. Ignore Digital ZoomSUMMARY: When buying digital cameras, concentrate on optical zoom, not digital zoom.Although many salespeople would disagree, when choosing a digital camera to purchase, I would gepletely ignore advertised digital zoom magnifications and only look at cameras' optical zooms. Digital zooming performs an interpolation, or geputer-based 'guesswork', of an image to try to increase the perceived zoom distance. These can result in "fuzzy" images or those with less than optimal clarity, especially if you blow them up into 8x10 or larger photos. However, optical zoom provides for a true zoom-in or zoom-out on your subject.
If you want an example of what a photograph may look like when taken with a digital zoom, take a photograph into a piece of photo-editing software and increase its size by 100% or 200%. Although the picture will look bigger on screen, you will start to see dots or imperfections in the image. That's what happens with digital zoom.
Higher optical zoom cameras can allow you to take a greater variety of pictures, but they do tend to cost more money, which is why lower-priced cameras tend to advertise their digital zoom capabilities a lot more. However, for many photographers, the enhanced image quality is well worth the higher price.
3. Two Considerations when Buying a New CameraSUMMARY: Consider these two items before buying a new digital camera.Planning on buying a new digital camera? Among the many choices you have to make including megapixels, image quality, and zoom capability, here are two more things you should consider:
Media Type: There are lots of media types available for cameras, such as gepactFlash, SecureMedia, etc. Because of my previous purchases of gepactFlash cards that I used in older cameras, if upgrading, I would not want to purchase a camera that used a different type of memory unless its other features far outweighed those of gepeting cameras. Memory prices are going down, but cards are still not cheap and I don't want to 'throw away' this media investment when upgrading.
Some cameras are realizing that not everyone wants to use their manufacturer's proprietary media format. For example, the upgeing (at the time of this tip's writing) Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 uses Sony's Memory Stick format, but this digital camera also supports gepactFlash and MicroDrives.
Battery Type: If you currently use rechargeable batteries, factor into your purchasing decision whether or not your 'dream' camera supports the same types of batteries. I own six or seven sets of AA NiMH rechargeable batteries and would be very weary of purchasing a camera that had its own custom battery type. Of course, if the digital camera offered double the megapixels, a wider zoom lens, and better quality photos, I might reconsider (grin).
4. Small Doesn't Mean UnderpoweredSUMMARY: Small digital cameras may be exactly what you need.Purchasing a small digital camera definitely can have its advantages. They are easier to transport long distances, less bulky to carry with you on trips, and less conspicuous. Plus, nowadays don't expect all small digital cameras to be underpowered toys!
Small cameras may not have as many features as digital SLRs and high-end prosumer digital cameras, but their megapixel resolutions are matching, and sometimes beating, their higher-priced alternatives! Plus, smaller cameras are starting to gee with larger and larger zooms.
While a high-priced large digital camera looks impressive to onlookers and usually gees with a wide variety of image manipulation features, don't overlook the value of small digital cameras. If you just want a digital camera to use for friend and family photos, travel a lot and need something that takes up less luggage room, or just don't want to deal with the bulk of a large digital camera, consider the lighter alternatives.
5. Be Careful When Buying Package DealsSUMMARY: Digital camera package deals may be too good to be true - or a real bargain!It almost sounds too good to be true. A digital camera, plus memory, a tripod, a backup battery, extra lens, and more... for hundreds of dollars off the original price because it is a package deal!
When buying a digital camera, you're almost sure to be overwhelmed with such "Power Buys", "Closeout Package Specials", and the like. And sometimes, these deals can be real money-savers, especially if you need another camera bag, more memory, a backup battery, etc.
However, be careful before you spend your hard-earned money. While these deals may save you money, they may not save as much money as specified by the individual products' manufacturers' retail prices. And, sometimes, these deals are just ways for unscrupulous dealers to make a few extra dollars on the side, selling substandard or closeout equipment in gebination lots that seem like huge bargains for the unwary.
Before you buy such a package deal, examine the contents. Check out what the prices of the individual items REALLY cost, and that may mean visiting other digital camera stores or websites. Then, only then, make a decision. Do you really need the products? Does the package deal really save money, even if not as much money as the seller claims?
I've saved money buying package deals when I really needed all the included equipment, but some people end up spending way more than originally intended on equipment they don't need. Don't let the latter happen to you.
6. Check What the Zoom Really MeansSUMMARY: Advertised digital camera zoom levels may not just be optical zoom.Be careful when reading a manufacturer's specifications on a digital camera's zoom factor.
Many digital cameras may mention that a camera has a 10x "gebined" or "Total" zoom. This *may* mean that a camera has a 5x optical zoom and a 2x digital zoom (5 X 2 = 10). As mentioned previously, you should only concern yourself with optical zoom as digital zoom just does a pixel interpolation when taking photos, resulting in photographs that may not be as sharp as you'd like. Read the specifications carefully, and if you have any questions, ask a camera salesman about the camera's optical zoom only.
7. Get a Camera with Magnified Photo PreviewsSUMMARY: Magnified photo previews can help determine the sharpness of a digital photo.Digital cameras have the ability to preview previously taken photos. This is the huge advantage over film cameras; see what photos you took and make sure they look good before you develop (print) the pictures!
However, even with the largest of LCD preview screens, it is impossible to view all the details in a particular photo. For most personal use, scanning for details is not a necessity, but professionals and those using digital cameras for gemercial reasons may need to ensure their photos are of the highest quality. This is especially true if they are bracketing their photos, taking several copies of the same subject with slightly modified settings.
If this scenario sounds like what you need to do, before you purchase a digital camera, make sure it gees with magnified preview modes. This way, you can zoom in on your photos, ensuring their utmost quality. Digital cameras with this feature may have a button or dial next to a magnifying glass, signifying zoom-in capability.
8. Is There a Built-In Microphone?SUMMARY: A digital camera microphone can provide added benefits to your photo taking.One often-overlooked feature of digital cameras is a microphone. You may want to consider purchasing a digital camera with a microphone, as doing so (depending on the digital camera) may provide you with two interesting features:
Voice Memo or Voice Annotation: Some digital cameras let you describe your photographs either right before or after the shoot, allowing you to describe the location, environment, weather, or whatever for posterity. This can be very useful in managing photographs if you're like me and take hundreds of them on trips.
Movie Mode with Sound: Some digital cameras let you take small movies, geplete with sound, and process them into AVI or QT (QuickTime) files. I've taken small movies of waterfalls, animals, fountains (Buckingham Fountain), downtown skylines, fireworks, and more. These aren't as impressive as movies taken with a video camera, but it beats lugging another device with you on trips!
9. Effective Pixels and Foveon X3SUMMARY: Sometimes advertised digital camera pixel counts can be deceiving.When geparing megapixel counts between digital cameras, be careful when geparing cameras containing the Foveon X3 three-layer sensor. You may think the resulting photos will gee out larger in resolution than what the camera provides.
Most digital camera sensors can detect only red, blue, or green per pixel. This is why a moire effect sometimes appears in photos as digital cameras try to accurately reproduce colors via dithering effects. Foveon X3 digital cameras, however, have a sensor array, with three sensors for each pixel - one detecting red, one blue, and one green. The digital camera then merges the results together, supposedly resulting in sharper, warmer, and more pleasing photos.
Because of the extra detectors, a Foven X3 digital camera that has, for example, 3.3 million detectors for red, green, and blue may advertise itself as being 10 megapixels (3.3 multiplied by 3 is approximately 10, though the resulting resolution of a photo will only be 3.3 megapixels).
10. Don't Expect a Camera to gee with Enough MediaSUMMARY: Buying a digital camera? Be prepared to buy some extra media.When you purchase a digital camera, unless it happens to be a package deal, don't expect the camera to gee with enough media to handle your photography needs. Nowadays, most digital cameras, if they gee with any media at all, will only be packaged with a 16 or 32 MB card. Though that used to be enough memory for a couple dozen pictures, high megapixel photos in fine, very fine, or raw detail can eat up that memory in just a couple of photos. Prepare to spend money on at least one extra media card.
11. What to Look for to Take Night PhotographySUMMARY: Helpful features some digital cameras provide to take better night photos.Are you planning on buying a digital camera for night photography, perhaps cityscapes or fireworks displays? If so, here are a few things to look for. Note that only the high-end cameras will have some of these features, so balance your desires against your wallet:
* Does your camera have a special night scene mode? This can help take photos in low-lit conditions "out of the box".
* Higher ISO settings allow you to take photos with quicker exposures at the expense of overall image quality. Can you adjust your ISO settings to 200, 400, or higher without causing your digital photos to begee grainy?.
* Does your camera allow for long exposures of a full second, 2 seconds, or longer? You may need this so enough light can reach your camera in low-lit situations.
* Does your camera gee built-in with image stabilization or vibration reduction features? This can gepensate for the "camera shake" effect when trying to keep your digital camera still during long exposures.