I have received a lot of questions from people about what to look for when purchasing a digital camera. There are 3 things that really concern me.
First is batteries. One of the major problems I have with electronic devices is that they all run on batteries. The batteries only go dead when you are using the device. But not just when you are using it but when you really want to get a picture! When the batteries go dead you cannot use the camera until you get new /charged batteries. There are a lot of different batteries available but you need to find that one kind/size that works in your camera. A; when it comes to a pocket digital point and shoot camera I look for one that uses replaceable AA batteries. I can get them anywhere. They are cheap and I can carry spares in my pocket. B; check how many pictures you can get from a set of batteries. I bought a pocket Olympus that needed the E2 AA batteries. The alkaline batteries lasted for only about 4-6 pictures.
Second is “lag time”. “Lag Time” is a term that refers to the time between when you push the button and the camera actually takes the picture. This can be 1-2 seconds. It doesn’t sound like much until you try to take a picture of something that is moving – your children for example. When you look at the picture you find they are gone because you pushed the button when you wanted the camera to take a picture but it did not until 1-2 seconds later. OOPS! My feeling is don’t buy a camera that has noticeable lag time. My Canons are very fast but there is technically still a little “Lag Time”. Try it out in the store before you buy it. When you push the button you should immediately hear a click.
Third is something you will be told not to be concerned with, a viewfinder. All the digital cameras come with a view screen on the back. So you can see what you are shooting and how it looks when you are done. The problem is in bright situations outside – you cannot see anything in the viewer. The sun is too bright. When this happens your camera again is useless. I know it won’t happen to you. I gave my wife a nice little Olympus pocket digital I purchased on the internet. I loved my first one except for the batteries I needed. The new one does not have a viewfinder. The first time she went to use it I heard that she could not see what was in the view screen. I then gave her the older Olympus and went out and bought the E2 batteries for her.
A few minor things to finish, pixels only matter when you want to make a photo very large, over 8x10inches. Most cameras today are over 6 megapixels so they can easily give you photos 11x14 and larger. If you don’t crop or you have some good software you can even make them even life size. Don’t count on or use “Digital Zoom” Use only the optical zoom in your camera. Digital zoom just makes the pixels larger, then you get a nasty looking picture. Remember the old computers and how the letters of the fonts had square corners in the straight lines that went any direction other than horizontal or vertical? That is what “Digital Zoom” looks like. The flash that comes on the camera is only good for about 3-6 feet distance in the dark, maybe 10 feet. As fill flash they can work pretty good. Buy a tripod. There are some that will fit in your pocket. Learn to use it when it is dark out. Learn to use the settings on your camera. Last, buy lots of memory cards, move around try different angles and shoot, shoot, shoot.
Check out these photos. The difference in size is caused by zooming in.
This 8x10 inch photo was shot with a 3.2 megapixel pocket digital Olympus camera.
This 8x10 inch photo was shot with an 8 megapixel Canon 20D with a 24-70mm F2.8 lens.
Have fun, learn to use your camera and enjoy!
Bernie
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