10 Things to Know Before You Buy

Buying a digital camera doesn’t have to be as exhausting as buying a car. You can avoid the heckling salespeople, long lines, and over-priced tags by understanding these ten things about digital cameras.

1. Do your research. Before you head to the camera store, make sure you have an idea of what you want. Otherwise, the salespeople will sell you whatever is overstocked that day. Be sure to know roughly how many megapixels you want, how long of a zoom lens you want, and what price range you’re delving in.

2. Consider a trip to the camera store even if you’re buying online. You may want to handle the camera you’ve been eyeing before you drop a bunch of money on it. Some cameras have tiny buttons that are not conducive to large-fingered people. Some cameras have big grips for big hands. Be sure it’s comfortable.

3. Megapixels aren’t everything. Less than 3 megapixels are required to make a 4 x 6-inch print that doesn’t “look digital.” If you plan on printing 8 x 10-inch prints, a 5 megapixel digital camera is more than enough. And if you’re going to make enormous 20 x 30-inch posters, 7 megapixels should do the trick. Megapixels do cost money and often come at the expense of added noise, so if you’re using your camera to photograph your eBay merchandise, don’t just go for a 7 megapixel model because it has more juice. Go for a nice 3-5-megapixel model. And remember that when you crop a photo, you’re cutting out pixels too.

4. Size does matter. It depends on what you will use the camera for. If you want to take pictures of your kid’s first steps and first trip to the zoo, be sure to get a camera with a manageable size – so you will use it. If you buy an SLR to get stunningly sharp photos of your kid, remember that you’ll have to carry it – and its flash accessories, lenses, memory cards, and tripod – along with the diaper bag, lunch, stroller, and toys when you go out.

5. Digital and optical zoom are two different animals. Optical zoom is what you want. Digital zoom is a cop-out manufacturers use to lure unsuspecting consumers to buy their crap. Digital zoom only enlarges the pixels; this is what makes pictures “look digital.” When you use the 4x digital zoom found on some cameras, all you get is a pile of colorful blocks in the shape of a person instead of a nice portrait.

6. All image sensors are not created equal. Each digital camera manufacturer has its own funky brand of sensor and image processor. So while they may all be the same size, they work differently. CCDs and CMOS sensors record the image as digital data and the image processor regurgitates it as a nice coherent picture. Some sensors produce more noise (the purple and green dots that randomly appear in digital photographs). Check out web sites like www.easydigitalcameras.com and www.digitalcamerainfo.com and see what they say about the camera’s color, resolution, and performance speeds.

7. What you see in the viewfinder may not be what you get on the print. Many digital cameras, especially cheap ones, come with optical viewfinders. These pose a visual problem, as the viewfinder is placed above the lens, CCD, and image processor. This means that when you look through the viewfinder, what you see is not always what you get. You may frame a portrait in the viewfinder, then look at the image on your computer and wonder how the ears got cut off. If you do get a camera with an optical viewfinder, use the LCD to frame your subjects.

8. You won’t just be buying a camera. You may as well face the fact now. You will be buying more than just a camera body. Basic digital cameras sometimes come with memory cards, but they are never enough to shoot more than about ten pictures. Since you’ll probably take more than that, plan on buying at least another 256MB of memory. Some cameras require SD cards, but others require their own brand of memory card (which is most likely more expensive). Also, you may need to purchase a camera bag, lenses, and flash accessories – not to mention the cost of printing your pictures.

9. You aren’t going to find anything worthwhile under a hundred bucks. The absolute lowest end of digital cameras is around ninety dollars right now and that’s for a featureless point-and-shoot without zoom. Just splurge and get something with optical zoom. You’ll be sad if you can’t get a good shot from your back row seats at the Rolling Stones concert.

10. The printer is just as important as the digital camera. There’s no point in getting a fancy digital camera if you’re just going to print the pictures at sub-standard resolution or on cheap paper. Be sure to check out retail printers before sending them your pictures; there are different papers, inks, and techniques. If you want your pictures to last longer than 50 years, be sure to ask for archival ink.