It’s not enough to just decide that you want a digital camera. You must know why you want it. How and when are you going to use it? Are you the kind who views life through a viewfinder? Does every beautiful view fill you with the desire to capture it for all time? Or does every family occasion make you sentimental enough to want to hold it forever? Once you’ve taken the photographs, what will you do with them? Print them? Or save them on your computer or the Internet? Pause awhile and ponder over these issues and then decide what kind of camera you should buy.

The prices of digital cameras vary and what is, perhaps the main factor governing these prices is the “megapixels” that can be recorded or, in common parlance, the resolution. Cameras which offer more megapixels are more expensive. If you only want to put your photographs onto a computer and send them as email attachments or store them on the Internet, you do not need something that is very expensive. As most computer screens have a lower resolution than a camera, the pictures reproduce well.

Where it makes a difference is if you want to print the pictures. Photographs are printed at 300 dots to an inch. To get a good 4×6 picture, you need to buy a camera that has at least 3 megapixels. So you need to decide if your pictures will go onto the computer or whether you like to have many of them printed. What size you normally like your prints to be will also be a major factor as it is when the pictures are enlarged that the sharpness decreases. This will determine what pixel strength your camera should have.

When you’re comparing prices, keep one thing in mind. Your camera lens must be of good quality and it must have a CCD image sensor. Image sensors come in a cheaper variety too but you will find that your choice of the CCD one gives you better pictures. Lenses too come in plastic and glass. Always invest in a good quality glass one. Now you can look at the other features. Do you want video and sound recording features? It will cost you more. Do you want a camera that has a zoom function? Choose one with an optical, not a digital lens.

All it takes are a few points that you need to keep in mind when you buy a digital camera and you’ll find it serves you well.

By: Jill Kane

About the Author: