We’re kicking off our week-long look at digital photography (see overview story here) with information on purchasing a digital camera.

Purchasing a digital camera can be a confusing undertaking. At any given time there are hundreds of models on the market, and new models come and go with surprising frequency. Canon alone currently has 30 models available for purchase. Digital cameras have hundreds of different features, and range in price from less than $100 to several thousand.

In this article we’ll look at some of the most important things to consider when purchasing a digital camera. We’ve also included links to several on-line buying guides that go into even more detail.

Try Before You Buy
If you don’t already have a digital camera and would like to try one out before you buy, IT Services has several cameras available for Wabash students, faculty, staff to borrow. If you’d like to borrow a camera, contact Jamie Ross (rossja@wabash.edu, x6302).

Key Things to Consider When Purchasing a Digital Camera
Camera Size: Cameras come in many shapes and sizes. Some are smaller than a deck of cards, while some models are large with huge lenses and external flash attachments. Smaller cameras are lighter and easier to carry, but may lack features or larger models.

Megapixels: Each “dot” in a picture is a pixel, so the more megapixels, the higher the resolution of your pictures. So more is better, right? Not always — higher resolution pictures have higher storage requirements, so you need more memory to store the same number of pictures (a 256Mb card can store approximately 128 4-megapixel pictures, but only 80 6-megapixel pictures). Look for 4-megapixel or higher if you will primarily print 4×6 or smaller prints or email your pictures. If you would like to print pictures 8×10 or larger, look for 6-megapixel or more.

Zoom: Digital cameras offer two types of zoom: optical and digital. Optical zoom is done with the camera lens to bring the subject closer. Digital zoom simulates optical zoom by cropping and enlarging a portion of the image, which degrades the quality of the image. When looking for a camera, consider only the optical zoom (typically 3x to 12x) and ignore digital zoom. You can achieve the same effect as digital zoom when editing your photos, if necessary.

Image control: Some digital cameras are completely automatic, and some allow manual control of many aspects of the picture – focus, shutter speed, white balance, etc. Depending on your interest in photography, manual control may be essential for you, or it may just make your camera more confusing to operate. Most digital cameras also offer a variety of “scene” modes which automatically adjust camera settings for specific uses, such as shooting action shots, portraits, or shooting in low-light conditions.

Other features: Many other features are available, some of which you may find very useful, and others irrelevant or even annoying. Some cameras can record video (if this interests you, be prepared for the massive storage requirements). Others have tools for creating panorama shots, or offer red-eye removal. One feature I recommend is image stabilization (often designated IS), especially for cameras with large zoom capabilities. Image stabilization accounts for camera shake, and eliminates or reduces blurriness in your pictures. You can see the benefit of IS in this picture (click here for larger version) I took from a moving (and bouncing) safari truck at the Animal Kingdom in Disney World with my Canon PowerShot G3 IS.

Digital Camera Buying Guides
The following web sites offer buying guides or other helpful information on selecting the best digital camera for your needs.

CNET Digital Camera Buying Guide
The CNET guide includes helpful information on how to select the best camera for you, how many megapixels you need, and what to look for in terms of lenses and batteries.

PC Magazine
PC Magazine provides a wealth of information on digital cameras, from product guides to detailed reviews. It’s a bit disorganized, but there lots of useful information if you’re willing to put in some time searching. A good place to start is their essential buying guide.

Digital Photography Review Buying Guide: Features Search
This web site helps you identify specific cameras that meet your requirements. For example, are you looking for a 6-megapixel ultra-compact camera with image stabilization? This is the place to get a list of cameras to check out. Warning: unlike some of the other guides listed, this one assumes you already know a fair amount about what you want in a camera.

Flickr Camera Finder
Flickr (a popular photo-sharing web site that will look at in more detail later this week) offers camera reviews, as well as charts that show the most popular cameras among Flickr users.

Digital Photography Review
In addition to the buying guide mentioned above, dpreview.com has detailed reviews of hundreds of digital cameras, often including samples of pictures taken with the cameras. It’s a great resource once you’ve begun to narrow down your search.