Don’t Let The Digital Camera Companies Trick You!
Are you thinking of buying a digital camera? Maybe your old camera has stopped working or maybe you just want to get a better model, it really doesn’t matter, what’s important is that you understand what you are buying, so you can get the best possible camera for yourself at the best possible price. Below I will give you a list of the most important things you need to know and look out for before you buy your digital camera.
1. megapixels:
With the exception of the high-end professional digital cameras of 12 plus megapixels, the number of megapixels a digital camera is capable of generally speaking is the most important quality factor when it comes to how good your digital photos will come out. In the case of the high-end digital cameras the lenses themselves will also play a very important part.
Now in regard to the number of megapixels, there is one thing you really do need to look out for. It is vitally important that you read the small print as it were on the digital camera. You see many digital camera manufacturers will have you believe there camera is capable of a higher number of megapixels then it really is.
Here’s what I mean, it is normal for digital cameras to have the number of megapixels they are capable of printed on them in big print, however quite often you will also find printed in relatively small print underneath the big print something like, five megapixels software enhanced to six megapixels. This will never be the same as a true six megapixel camera and will not be capable of the same quality as a true six megapixel camera would.
How much zoom do you need?
You’re going to have to decide just how much zoom your camera will need, for this think about the type of photography you want to take with the camera, if a lot of long-distance photos are going to be taken, obviously more zoom will be very useful.
Most digital cameras come with two different types of zoom, digital zoom and optical zoom. With digital zoom the more you zoom in, the more the total number of pixels in the image will decrease resulting in a considerable loss of quality. With optical zoom the number of pixels in the image stays the same because the camera will make use of its lenses to make the area you are focusing on bigger thus not losing quality.
Many digital cameras here too can be misleading since they will often state the maximum digital zoom in big letters on the camera without actually stating that it is in fact digital zoom, they will of course tell you that it is digital zoom so as to cover themselves legally but again only with very small print nearby.
In my opinion digital zoom is about as useful as mud, I’d much rather not use digital zoom and instead digitally enlarged the picture at home on my PC. This way I would be able to see exactly how much picture quality I would be losing and I would still have the original picture at full quality.
The powersupply for your digital camera:
The powersupply is something greatly ignored when people buy digital cameras. People just don’t consider it, yet when you think about it having a reliable power source for your digital camera is vital to make sure you don’t ever run out of power right when you need your digital camera most.
AA and AAA batteries are the most common method used to power the lower end digital cameras. In many ways having this kind can be a good thing in that these batteries are cheap and easily replaceable at anytime.
Specially made lithium battery packs are normally used in the higher end digital cameras. Because of the fact these battery packs are specifically made for the cameras in question they are also normally considerably more expensive.
These batteries normally last longer than normal batteries, but you will still want to have at least one spare battery Pack. Because of the price of these batteries you will need to take them into account when you’re purchasing your digital camera.
It’s not very normal but some digital cameras do exist that can take normal AA and AAA batteries as well as batteries specifically made for it.
When you take it upon yourself to purchase your next digital camera, remember to look out for the things mentioned in this article. Also once you have narrowed your search down, look at online reviews to compare each camera side-by-side.
This is especially important if you are buying a high-end digital camera, since as I have mentioned there are other factors such as the digital cameras lenses that will affect the quality of the pictures the digital camera takes.