Choosing A Digital Camera That's Right for You

1) How often do you take pictures?

2) What are the primary subjects you take pictures of? Is it kids, animals, sporting events, vacations, landscapes or close ups?

3) Are your subjects usually far enough away that you need telephoto ability to get the shots you want?

4) What do you do with the pictures you take? Do you enlarge and frame them, use standard-size prints for scrap booking or in an album, or do you email and/or post to the internet?

5) Are you an amateur that really enjoys photography as a hobby and takes your camera with you most of the time?

Putting some thought into what you personally need a camera for will make choosing one that you are happy with a much less formidable task.

Are you someone who only dusts the camera off two or three times a year? If so, then investing money in a camera that has a lot of extra features, or purchasing a home printing system to make prints at home is most likely overkill. So let's talk about what might be a better alternative for you.

Below I've listed a couple very affordable cameras that take good quality digital pictures. You can grab the camera take nice photos a few times a year when the family gets together, then after downloading them to your computer you can decide which ones you wish to print. Both use double 'A' batteries so you don't have to worry about expensive camera batteries sitting unused in the camera for months at a time and not working when you need them. Rechargeable batteries are a great solution for these cameras and can always be available when you need them.

There are many online places that you can upload your picture files and get very affordable, nice 4x6 and larger prints to frame, add to your scrap book, or your photo album. You can always email the pictures to your circle of friends. These camera choices come with software to install on your computer or if you don't have any computer savvy, you can bring the card to a variety of locations in your town and have them downloaded and printed or put on a disc you can email from.

Lastly these two cameras record your pictures in a standard jpeg format, meaning they are ready to email to friends or upload to an online print shop or website. There is no fancy conversion that needs to take place; the camera is recording the images exactly as you need them to send in emails to friends and family.

If you want a camera to capture the kids and grandkids while they are being their vivacious selves, then you need a camera that will 'stop the action' and record the moment on a flash card fast enough for your camera to keep up with them. For a moving subject you want to be able to shoot several frames per second. Professionals call this 'fps'. So you want to look for how many frames per second the camera can shoot, and make sure that it is fast enough for your needs. This tip applies for animal and sport photography as well. You may also need some telephoto ability if the kid's are in sports, in the pool or your dog is into agility training. Look for telephoto ability, the 20x Optical show below would be a good choice.

For those of you who like to shoot primarily scenic, and capture all the places traveling takes you, make sure you choose a camera with a lens that will give you a wide view (called a wide angle) in addition to a great depth of field. You'll also want at least 4.0 mega pixels so that if you stumble on a great shot you want to blow up to 8x10, you can. Additional needs might be a focal length that will give you good portrait shots of your family and the native culture while on vacation, as well as a bit of telephoto ability so you can capture a subject that might be a hundred feet away.

Depending on how often you travel will depend on whether you want to go with an SLR (single lens reflex) system, which will give you interchangeable lens opportunities; or whether you simply want a digital camera with enough features to be 'self-contained'. I've listed various options below that you can check into and if you don't have any preference to the brand of camera, I would highly recommend Canon for this choice because they led the industry in professional nature photography for many years, and I have traveled with a Canon SLR for nearly 30-years with very pleasing results.

For the occasional close up shot, many of the non-SLR cameras will focus closely enough to make a shot that you're happy with, but for those of you who frequently want to take great shots of those award winning roses you're growing, or the hobbyist who thinks their 'niche' is macro photography, you'll need to step into the SLR arena and purchase a macro system. You can choose a macro lens, or start with a more affordable solution like a macro filter system.

If you want to download your pictures onto your computer, the camera most likely comes with software and a cable to connect to your home computer or laptop to allow download. This is fine and typically works, though the negative aspect of this method is that it usually is slow, and the camera has to be on during the download process so you are using up your camera's batteries. An inexpensive and excellent choice would be to get a USB Multi-Card Reader. The beauty of these gadgets are they will read any type of card so if you change camera type later, you don't have to purchase another. They are also less than $20 and plug right into a USB port on your computer, so you can plug them in when you want to download pictures, then disconnect when you aren't using it. I've had mine for about six years, used it several times a week and it's never failed me.

Next you need to decide if the software that comes with your camera is enough for you. If you want to 'play' with your photos and make cards for family and friends using your pictures you may want to invest in a more extravagant software tool.

Do you want to print your own copies? If you do, you need to get a photo printer and decide what you want the prints for. If you really just want copies to put in your photo albums or for scrap booking, then choose a compatible 4x6 printer that you can just stick your memory card into and print copies. Most of these don't even require a computer, so they are a great option for those who don't want or own a home computer system.

If you want to print enlargements, it really gets tricky to get good results at home unless you invest in a reasonable quality printer, understand the need for high-quality photo paper and are willing to spend a lot of hours calibrating your computer and printer so you get consistent results. It can get expensive and if your enlargements are for personal use and only a rare requirement, I would recommend getting them made through a photo lab and not go through the hassle yourself.

Lastly, I'll talk about memory cards and batteries. First memory cards: Most cameras, if they come with one, will only hold 12 to 36 pictures. I would suggest that when figuring your budget for your new camera, that you include funding for at least a 1GB memory card. When shooting jpgs, this will let you take hundreds of pictures so you won't have to worry about it when you are out having fun. If your camera uses double 'A' batteries, I would suggest investing in two sets of high-quality rechargeable batteries and a recharging unit dedicated for use in your camera. Our experience is that they run the camera just as well as non-rechargeable batteries, and you'll save a lot of money and the environment in the long-run.

Whether you have been 'into' photography for many years or are going from a disposable to a point-and-shoot for the first time, all cameras are different. The factory settings are unique to each brand and each model. Those settings are based on the 'average' subject and the 'average' lighting conditions. What I highly suggest is that when you get your camera home, you spend a few hours getting to know how your cameras records subjects in different situations before heading out to capture photographs that are important to you. Let's face it, shooting in a digital environment means you can erase all the test shots you take, so it costs you nothing to 'bond' with your camera! Here are some suggestions that might help you.

1) I know people don't like to 'read' the manual, but most of these digital cameras do so much that they come close to cooking you dinner! Repeat after me, "The manual is my friend". Once you read enough about the camera to have installed the strap, the memory card and the battery, sit with the camera and your manual and do a chapter at a time. I like to read a chapter by referring to the diagrams and making note on the camera where certain controls are, then do several shots by following the instructions in that chapter.
2) Get some little post-it notes and write a word that makes sense to you every time you find something the camera does that you would want to use. Use these post it notes as bookmarks. If you mark your manual this way, then finding something is faster than trying to look it up later. What you call that option and what they call it in the manual are often two different things.
3) You are going to get better and more consistent results when you have made some kind of personal adjustments to the camera. Pick three things you have at home, one that is dark in tones (blacks, dark browns, dark grey), one that is light in tones (preferably white) and one that is brightly colored (multi-colored is even better). Take these three items first to a sunny spot outside, set them next to each other (on the same plane to be accurate) and take several photographs by changing the light settings, changing the ISO (ASA of the 'film' but don't go above 400). Stand in the same spot and hold the camera at the same angle each time. What you are trying to do is find which 'auto' settings you like best. Which offer the truest color match for the bright colors, which gives the most detail in the light and dark values. Repeat this process with the same items in the shade and then again indoors using the flash.

The goal is to establish a group of settings that you know are best for those three situations so that when you go to the park with the kids, you'll know that if you set the camera to the settings you liked best out in the sun, you'll probably be happy with the exposure, tonal value and color of the pictures.