Digital photography has taken off. Each year nearly a million digital cameras are sold, and it is estimated that over 20% of NZ households already own one, or are planning to upgrade. The reasons digital photography is becoming so popular are now well known – the ability to check the quality of a shot before taking it, the ability to take hundreds of shots and view them instantly, the greater ease of exchanging photos, etc. But best of all, digital cameras are steadily reducing in price, making them a first-choice buy for casual snappers.

 

What to look for?
Resolution
Resolution is one of the biggest factors in choosing a digital camera and it is a matter of the higher, the better. Resolution is measured by the amount of pixels your camera can capture on each shot. The more pixels it captures, the better your images will be, especially if you want to enlarge them.

There are two main areas to look at when deciding on the resolution: Firstly, the megapixels that the camera can capture. Try to get this as high as you can - anything above three is acceptable and most cameras these days come with five, six or eight megapixels. The second area to look at is at what size the camera captures the images. This is the maximum and minimum pixel resolutions. The minimum resolution you’d ever want is 640 x 480, but anything around 1028 x 768 and up is great and nearly all cameras do this. If you are buying a camera with a video function, you will need to check what the video resolutions are, as they are different from the still images. It is normal for the video functions on the digital cameras to have a resolution under 640 x 480, but this is acceptable.

 

Optical vs. digital zoom
Another term you will hear when shopping

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So which is better?
Optical is better and you want to get a camera that has a better optical zoom rather than digital, although these days most cameras offer both. The reason for this is an optical zoom records what it sees in very good clarity, meaning you will get great images. A digital zoom, if you zoom in enough, will give you a pixelated image which is not good for enlarging.

One other thing to look out for is cheap cameras with large optical zooms. It is a good idea to check the quality of the lenses. Inferior ones can distort the image, and this is especially noticeable if you zoom in on a subject.

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Shutter lag
Shutter lag is the time it takes for the photograph to be taken after the shutter button on the camera has been pressed. The shutter on a digital camera is electronic, and with some cameras there is a noticeable lag between these times. What this means is the camera records the image a bit later than you think and you could have moved the camera by then, which results in blurry images.

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Video Mode
Most digital still cameras come with video mode that allows you to record video images. However, they are not the best way to do this, as they usually have much lower resolution and far less storage capacity than a video camera. So don’t plan to take movies with your digital still camera - it is only good for small grabs of video.

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LCD/viewfinder
LCD viewfinders are a mixed blessing for digital cameras. The good part is that the screen makes taking photos easy because you can see the image exactly as it will be taken through the lens. It can also be used to review your shots. The bad part is that the screens use a fair amount of power, so using them as your dedicated viewfinder means your batteries will run down quicker.

You should look for a camera with an alternative viewfinder to the LCD screen. Some give you an optical viewfinder or a smaller LCD screen in an alternative viewfinder.

Try to avoid any camera that has just a main screen LCD. Another important point to check is that you can still see the image on the screen when you are in an area of bright light, such as sunlight.

Some cameras have finishes on their LCD screens that make it easier to see in direct light.

Lastly you should try to get a camera that uses the view as seen through the lens. Cameras with a viewfinder mounted separately will limit your view of the shot because you are not looking through the lens itself.

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Batteries
Digital cameras eat through normal alkaline batteries, so it is important that you choose one with rechargeable batteries. There are two common types; the first is a cheaper NiMH (Nickel-Metal-Hydrid) battery, the better one is the Lithium Ion (Li- ion) type, which you will find are purpose-made for the camera they come with.

It’s also a good idea to get a back-up battery so your camera is always ready to take shots when you are.

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PictBridge compatibility
On today’s printer market there are many colour printers that allow you to print directly from the camera, bypassing a PC or any software. To do this, both the camera and printer need to have a communications protocol so they can speak to each other and transfer the data. There are a few different types, but the one that most manufacturers are using is called PictBridge. Most PictBridge devices allow you to connect the camera to the printer by USB and select the shots you want to print.

 

Storage options
Storage is another very important area to look at when choosing a digital camera. Nearly every digital camera these days uses removable media, such as Smart Media or Compact Flash to store images.

The benefit of using removable storage is that you can buy a larger capacity memory card if you need to increase your storage space. It also makes transferring your images to your computer a lot easier, as you can eject the card from the camera and insert it into a compatible memory card reader on your PC. It’s pretty similar to using a floppy disk to transfer data, except these cards can hold hundreds of times more data.

Some memory cards can be used in devices other than cameras. For example, a SD memory card can also be used in an mp3 player, mobile phone, PDA and much more. So if you do have a device that already uses some sort of removable memory card, it’s a good idea to get a camera that uses the same one, so you can swap between devices.

• Compact Flash – This is one of the original types of memory cards and by far the largest physically. The pay-off is that you can buy Compact Flash cards with the capacity of one gigabyte.
  
• SD/ MMC – Secure Digital and Multi Media cards are very similar in shape and size, but MMCs are usually a little thicker and both have different connections. While some devices can use both, it is very important that you don’t get muddled up with what your camera is using and accidentally purchase the wrong card. If you are going to purchase an extra memory card it’s a good idea to take the camera with you so you can test it there in the store. SD memory cards are by far the most popular today and offer great compatibility with other devices.
  
• Sony Memory stick – These memory sticks can be used across multiple Sony devices. Unfortunately there is very little support for these cards on other non-Sony multimedia devices.
  
• xD picture card – This is a relatively new arrival and is really small, around the size of a postage stamp. Like the Sony memory stick, this card is slow to be taken up by manufacturers, so you’ll find very little use for it outside the camera.
  
• Smart Media – Smart Media cards are one of the oldest types of memory card and you’ll be hard pressed to find a camera that uses them. They were not very compatible with other devices because there was no controller built into the card.

 

Connectivity
This is another very important factor when buying a digital camera. Connecting your camera is a vital part of digital photography as you will need to transfer photos, update the camera software and, where possible, print directly to your printer. Most cameras utilise USB to transfer data, so it’s important to get cameras that support USB2 for faster file transfers.

 

Consider buying a tripod
If you are planning to use your digital camera a lot, it’s a good idea to get yourself a good quality tripod.

Tripods are especially handy for digital cameras, as they reduce the effects of shutter lag by keeping the camera still; plus if you are doing any macro or long-distance shots the tripod will steady the camera, eliminating any shaking that can cause blurring.

 

Jargon Buster

• Aperture – The aperture is the amount of distance a lens opens to allow light onto the CCD, much like the way the pupil of your eye works. Aperture is important for low- light shots. The aperture is recorded in two sets of numbers for when the camera is using its wide angle or telephoto lens. The numbers indicate the amount of light entering the camera. The lower the number, the more light will be allowed in the camera. This is a handy thing to know if you are taking photos in low or bright light situations.
  
• Megapixel – A megapixel is equal to one million pixels. Each pixel is a tiny square designed to capture a tiny fraction of light on the camera’s CCD, just like a pixel on your monitor displays a tiny fraction of the image you are seeing.
  
• CCD – The CCD is the heart of your camera, as this is the part that records the image. CCDs are described in terms of megapixels, and the higher this number, the more detail is captured.
  
• ISO sensitivity – This is used to gauge the sensitivity your camera has for light. Good digital cameras give you a wide variety of ISOs. ISOs are like choosing film speeds for your camera and low-number ISOs are good for normal shots, while higher-number ISO settings are good for fast-moving and low-light scenes.
  
• Macro – The macro mode on cameras is used for doing extreme close-ups. You’d use this mode if you want to get in close to a subject to record fine detail. This also means the shot will only be of an area a few centimetres wide.
  
• Scene modes – Scene modes are a feature of digital cameras that automatically sets all the correct speeds and shutter times for particular common scenes like parties, night shots, portraits and much more.