Navigating the digital camera market can be a challenging prospect. Purchasing a camera that suits your personal needs can be overwhelming to both skilled amateur and novice photographers alike. Though the technology and terms are ever-evolving, you may want to re-familiarize yourself with a few basic concepts so that you make an informed choice.
Note: The following is a very brief overview of tips to remember when buying a camera. Feel free, however, to skip directly to our Browse Cameras.
How are you going to use your digital camera?
Before searching for a new digital camera, determine how you intend to use it. Will you throw it in your suitcase/carry-on primarily to take vacation photos? Or are you building a blog or online space to showcase your video work, or do you want to share spontaneous moments with friends? These factors can help determine what kind of resolution, video capabilities, zoom and memory card you should be considering.
Resolution
Regardless of how it’s viewed, a photograph is composed of tiny dots (also called pixels). The more pixels that can fit into a 1” space (dots per inch, or DPI), the tinier the dots and sharper a resulting image becomes. What kind of photo sizes you aim to print using a high- or low-resolution camera may very well determine if your pictures print clearly or look severely grainy.
Digital camera resolution is measured in Megapixels (MP). One Megapixel equals 1 million pixels/dots. Up to a certain point (and factoring in lens quality to a certain degree), higher-resolution digital cameras produce better-quality pictures. In this stage of digital camera development and usage, 1 MP is the bare minimum consumers should consider, even if they don’t intend to print photographs. Note the general correlation below of MP size to quality and size of prints depending on resolution.
|
Digital Camera Resolution |
|
Resolution |
5 x 7” |
8 x 10” |
11 x 14” |
16 x 20” |
|
<5 MP |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
5 MP |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
6 MP |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
7 MP |
4 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
|
8 MP |
5 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
|
10 MP |
5 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
|
12 MP |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
Poor = 1, Acceptable = 2, Good = 3, Very Good = 4, Excellent = 5
Optical Zoom
Cameras with a powerful optical zoom can zone in on points ranging from very close to those at far distances. Optical zoom measures the ability of the camera's lens and other parts to capture more light, and more detail, from a particular faraway point. This allows better-quality pictures to be taken from a distance without compromising picture clarity, depth, color, etc.
Memory Cards
Memory cards are the digital version of film. They are reusable and can store many more photos than traditional film (depending on card capacity). Standard size cards include 512 megabytes as well as 1, 2, and 4 gigabytes.
Aperture & Shutter Speed
Aperture and shutter work in concert to expose a particular scene properly. Aperture affects lens opening depth of field (what's in focus in the front and behind the focus point), while shutter speed affects the “stop action.” This is why a fast shutter speed will freeze a runner in time resulting in a photo with great detail. A slow shutter speed will capture the runner, but the image will be blurry to say the least.
ISO - International Standards Organization
The term ISO is used to indicate the light sensitivity of film. Digital cameras use the ISO rating to indicate the CCD sensitivity. The standard rating is ISO100 and as this is increased it means that faster shutter speeds can be used. When the ISO is doubled, it allows the doubling of available shutter speed. The drawback is that increasing the ISO increases the amount of digital noise in an image.
Exposure Value (EV)
A camera’s metering system can be “tricked” when taking pictures in which dominant areas of a scene are too bright, very dark or contain strong contrast. To help prevent a photo from under- or over-exposure, photographers typically adjust Exposure Values (EV) to overcome such exposure issues, which actually override settings automatically selected by the camera’s exposure mode. If a main subject is darker than the background, exposure value should be increased, and vice-versa.
Battery Life
Most digital cameras come equipped with lithium ion batteries. They last longer between charges (overall capacity and charging speed), weigh less and do not have the “memory effect” typical of NiCad-type batteries.
Memory effect is used to describe what happens when a rechargeable battery develops a memory when it's been improperly recharged. If a battery is recharged before it's fully discharged, it will remember its last charge level and consider it a base. This ultimately depletes the full potential of the battery’s capacity.
