Simple Camera

While there are many features modern digital cameras offer that can excite and delight amateurs and professionals alike, there are times when simple is still a blessing. A simple camera can be the best choice for a number of reasons.

1. The camera is for a young person, anyone between 8 and 16 who has never used a camera before. They aren't familiar with all of the functions of a more complicated camera and may not really be motivated to learn either. They just want to be able to snap shots of family and friends and share them online.

2. The camera is for an older person who simply never made the digital transition. Whether the last camera they used was a Polaroid, a Kodak Instamatic, or any variety of film camera, they aren't accustomed to touch screens, complicated menus, histograms, and so forth.

3. The camera is for someone who merely wants good looking pictures and doesn't want to be bothered with reading a manual, experimenting with the camera, and so forth. These individuals often value time and simplicity. In addition, many of these people will want to be able to take photos, upload them, share by them e-mail, enjoy them on TV or in a photo frame, or take them to a kiosk or store for printing.

All of these situations, explain while some people are only interested in simple camera.

When someone is on the search for a simple camera, it doesn't mean they don't want good pictures. Therefore, it's important to consider (and not consider) a number of features when making your choice.

1. Image quality.
Image quality is influenced by the sensor and lens primarily. All compact digital cameras offer small sensors and any camera offering a 6 megapixel to 14 megapixel sensor is capable of providing very good image quality. Most modern digital cameras will fall within this range easily. In fact, anything over 6-8 megapixels is generally unnecessary unless the individual will be cropping images a great deal and creating prints that are poster sized. (Not things that the person on the search for a simple digital camera are usually wanting to do.)

Color accuracy and saturation, detail, and so forth can be examined by searching photo sharing sites that have samples posted by users. For instances, a shopper can look for photos taken by a "Canon A590IS" by searching Flickr.com.

2. Automated Functions
The purpose of seeking out a simple camera is to assure that getting good shots is easy. While a lot of features can make the process more complex, having automated functions such as automatic red eye reduction can make the process simple. In addition, having a variety of scene modes that allow you to just turn a dial to get the right exposure and focus can also make taking great pictures a breeze. For instance, night mode is ideal in low light, sports is great for action shots, and macro is perfect for getting in close. Some cameras however, go a step further and have an "intelligent" scene mode or something similar that will automatically make the scene setting selection for you.

For those who like to put themselves in the shot, a self timer is important, but many other features may just create complexity. For those who truly want one button simplicity, an Auto Mode is of paramount importance. Having a shutter or aperture priority mode, a histogram, exposure aids, ISO modes and so forth may not be desired.

Controls
While on the subject of features, it's also important to consider how these features will be accessed. Touch screens can admittedly be very intuitive to use. However, they can create a situation where there are few easy to find buttons, and many layered menus that can add to complexity and frustration. It's an individual decision, but in many cases, touch screen models aren't the ideal choice for someone wanting a simple camera.

Zoom
Using the zoom on most cameras is a simple process and zoom can make getting good pictures in a wider variety of situations, easier. Getting close enough to a subject is paramount for a good photo, and sometimes you can't merely step in closer. Most modern digital cameras offer at least 3x zoom and may offer 5x zoom or better. An optical zoom is best but even digital zoom can help as it assists in stabilizing and reducing blur..

Image Stabilization
Image stabilization is a critical feature that can help assure shots aren't blurry due to hand shake. Optical image stabilization is superior to anti-shake features and electronic image stabilization but both can help. Luckily, most cameras can be set to have OIS turned on and after that, no additional button pushing or browsing of menus is needed to make use of the feature.

Easy Sharing
Uploading digital photos to a computer in order to print them, share them online or via e-mail, enjoy them on TV, or display them on a digital photo frame is a simple process. It is particularly simple when using just a memory card. This method means there is no messing with cables. Simply remove the memory card from the camera and insert it into the computer (or memory card reader) for downloading or into the TV or photo frame for viewing. Of course the user needs a device with a memory card slot. This means that the ease of uploading and sharing photos depends in great part with the other devices (computer, photo frame, TV) that the user has.

There are however Wi-Fi enabled cameras this can transfer photos wirelessly to computers, printers, and wireless photo frames. Whether or not a Wi-Fi camera is a good choice will depend on the user and the other features the camera offers.

In addition, some simple cameras include one button uploading to social and photo sharing sites, Kodak EasyShare models are good examples of this. Of course, for some individuals who really don't want to bother with their photos, they can take the memory card to a kiosk or store and have them developed, just as they did with film.