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CAMERA BUYING GUIDE
Don't get hang up over Pixels
I start off with this comment, because the marketing media appear to have convinced every one, that the only measure of a camera's quality is the number of Mega Piixels used in the composition of the image. This has prompted manufacturers to find a way of increasing this magical number to achieve more sales - it is called interpolation !
The truth is that while Pixel power is very important, there are other factors which also significantly affect the quality of the pictures taken by a camera.
Pixel Power
Pixel Power is important, but only up to a point, determined by the size of pictures you intend to produce. For example, 3 Megapixels are ample for viewing on a computer or making a small 6x4 inch print, and 5 Megapixels are sufficient to produce high quality A4 images. Paying for more Pixels cannot be commercially justified unless you intend to make larger pictures, which most people don't. You will improve the quality of your pictures more by spending any extra money on the other features which contribute to the making of good pictures.
Our advice to users is that they purchase a camera with at least the 5.0 Megapixels, but having achieved that their attention should turn to the other features, which will contribute to the taking of quality pictures. Obviously more Megapixels do theoretically improve the quality, but for the pictures that the average person takes, the extra quality may hardly be noticed.
Lens
Your next consideration should be the quality of the lens, and probably one important factor here is to ensure that the camera allows for the lens to be easily replaced. Depending on what you intend to use the camera for, you may find that you can make significant improvements to your work by using different lenses for different types of pictures.
A bad lens will result in barrelling when it converges the verticals as well as soft focusing and distortion on the edges. Lens quality is definitely important !
Optical Zoom
The Zoom of the Lens is another important consideration, but again I need to stress that the way products are marketed can be misleading. Do not pay too much importance to claims of Digital Zoom - this sounds more impressive than Optical Zoom but it most certainly is not. True zoom is only achieved with optical zoom.
Digital Zoom simply enlarges a section of the image, making it fill the same area but losing resolution, whereas Optical Zoom changes the distance between the lens and the image sensor producing a true optical close up with little noticeable loss of quality.
Battery Power
Some Cameras only work with camera specific rechargeable batteries and others only with AA batteries. You are always going to be better off getting one that works with both.
AA batteries are less efficient that the specific rechargeable batteries, but useful when you are out on the road any length of time.
Why Digital ?
Getting a camera now ? It has to be digital ! Here's why:
- You see the picture straight away.
- You can save the pictures in the camera.
- You can adjust them on a computer. Take it from us you can improve pictures significantly.
- You can print and store your pictures, send them by email and also share them on the web.
- Oh... and I almost forgot ! Better Quality.
Other Features
Digital Cameras now come with many other features, some of which may be of little value to you, but others will, and if so, they need to be included in your evaluation. Some of these features and other factors you may consider are listed below:
- Comfort and Weight
- Controls - Auto Setting and/or Complete Control - Get one that allows you to choose !
- View Finder - Small Glass Optical Window or LCD ? - LCD drains batteries but makes picture taking easier - get one with both !
- Camera Modes - Useful for the novice with standard settings such as Night-time, portrait, Landscape and Sports Mode.
- Flash - Red Eye reduction.
- Auto Focus
- Storage
- Image Transfer
- Software
- Extra Features - Movies - Stitch - Remote.
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