The digital camera market today offers buyers a large number of
choices, with products in widely differing price ranges, sizes
and degree of operational complexity. From miniatures the size
of a credit card, to fully functional professional SLR (Single
Lens reflex) systems, you can buy a digital camera from
manufacturers including traditional camera brands such as Canon,
Pentax, Nikon, film companies such as Kodak and Fuji, and
consumer electronic companies like Sony. Then there are other
options that include the mobile phone manufacturers, and webcam
suppliers.
The advantages of digital photography are numerous. Topmost is
the fact that there is no film processing: expensive both in
cost and time. But there is also the advantage of smaller sized
equipment, portable media and instant picture viewing. And if
you don’t like what you see, you simply delete it and shoot
again: no wastage.
If you like to take pictures, being a digital photographer makes
a lot of sense. But which camera is the best one for you? In a
field of excess abundance, how do you narrow down what you need?
How much to pay? How many megapixels? (What are they anyway?)
Which brand? How much memory?
Every shopper is different.
At MyShopping.com.au we recognise this fact, and so we list
practically all brands and models from hundreds of suppliers.
These listings include the cold hard digital data facts about
each camera and a range of comparative pricings offered by
different suppliers. But just as every shopper is different,
every photographer is different too. And just having the facts
may not make you feel any more knowledgeable about which camera
is right for you.
You could begin with the question: What sort of pictures will
you take with your new digital camera? This is a valid starting
point because from here you can begin to qualify your
requirements in terms of technical capability and price. What
sort of pictures will you take with your new
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l camera? Is it simply for happy snaps whenever you get
together with friends and family at weekends and holidays? Or
are you a serious bird watcher and you want to capture nature at
its finest? Perhaps you want a camera for work to record your
inventory, or recording information from a client. Maybe you’re
a PI on a mission. The point is, you need to begin by
recognising that your reason for buying a digital camera may not
be the same as that of your best friend who is recommending the
model she bought.
Once you’ve figured out the sort of pictures you are going to
take, you can then set about deciding on the type of camera that
will meet your needs. If you need something highly portable that
fits in your shirt pocket or your handbag and lets you take it
anywhere you go, make size a big consideration. If you want to
take seriously good photographs, and you want to pursue an
artistic endeavour, make image flexibility your main concern.
It might also be worthwhile considering your own position in the
digital photography experience. Are you a novice about to buy
your first camera, do you have some intermediate experience, or
are you an advanced user?
Someone new to the market will likely not want to spend a lot of
money, nor have a lot of mind-boggling features that leave you
confused. There are cameras ideal for beginning users that have
basic ‘point and shoot’ features including optical and digital
zoom lens, flexible storage media and built in flash. There is a
huge range of cameras available with simple features at low cost.
If you consider yourself an intermediate user with some
operational knowledge of digital camera technology, you may want
to consider more advanced features that give you more control
over the pictures you take. These features usually come in a
range of automatic settings and manual settings for capturing
the image and different storage options in terms of resolution
and picture type (raw data, jpeg, tiff). Naturally there is some
cost attached to additional features when compared to more basic
cameras.
For advanced users, there are a lot of professional options you
can consider; such as SLR view finding and lens interchange
ability. Cameras in this range provide much greater control over
the image, both before and once it is captured. These options
include shutter speed and aperture adjustment, and many cameras
offer the ability to manipulate images ‘in camera’, such as
cropping, and brightness and contrast adjustments.
After the picture is taken
A further main consideration is what are you going to do with
your images once you have them? The great beauty of digital
photography is the simple fact that you can store them on
digital media such as CDs and media cards, and view them on
computer screens and in many cases, your television. You need
print only when and those you want to see, or show to others.
Digital photography also gives fantastic opportunities to
manipulate your images using popular image manipulation
programs, resizing them, altering brightness and contrast
characteristics, and correcting problems such as red eye, or
removing skin blemishes.
Most
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l cameras are computer ready, able to plug directly into
your PC or Mac using USB connectors. They usually include
proprietary software allowing you to easily and instantly manage
your image files in photo albums or slide shows. Many digital
cameras also include a video capture facility enabling you to
take short motion pictures.
What you want to do with your images after you have them can
have an impact on your choice of camera. If you want to make
enlarged prints for example, you will want a high megapixel
capacity (also talked about as ‘resolution’). If you want images
for website use, you will want to get the best quality images
that can be reduced in resolution without severe degradation.
Beauty is in the ‘I’
Great pictures usually come from great conditions. You capture a
great moment, the light is just right, the subject is at the
perfect distance, the image is perfectly framed. But not every
digital camera offers the flexibility to make the best of
existing light conditions, or position. Most digital cameras
(certainly at the budget end) come with a built in automatic
flash, which is terrific for happy snaps in darkened
environments. And the automatic flash automatically does not ‘go
off’ in bright sunny conditions. But in those times when you
want to use the existing light, you need a camera that gives you
manual control over the operation or not, of the flash.
Moreover, most digital cameras in the lower and medium price
ranges are highly automated. If you are moving from a
traditional SLR film camera where you have maximum control over
shutter speed, aperture and ISO speeds, it may be frustrating to
not have easy access to the same range of tools to take
advantage of existing light conditions.
In the more advanced (and therefore more expensive) range of
digital cameras, most lens and aperture functions are available
in exactly the same way as other SLR systems. What differs is
how the colours and light of the image is translated through
pixel capture compared to the chemical processing systems.
You may want a wide range of focus options. Most
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l cameras have two different types of image magnification,
lens magnification (zoom) that may be equivalent of a 35mm to
150 mm lens, and a digital magnification that may be to ten-fold
(expressed as x10). This provides you with zoom lens capability,
which may be limited in its depth of field control and is
subject to soft focus and movement if the conditions aren’t just
right, and a digital magnification of the pixel image. If being
able to capture magnified distant images is important to you,
you need more megapixels, and a lens system that gives you some
control over its focus and aperture management.
A final word on accessory
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l cameras are electronic equipment. That means they run on
batteries, and if you use your camera a lot, you will find that
you will be frequently replacing batteries. Some cameras have
rechargeable batteries; others simply use dry cells (AA), which
you can of course load with rechargeable ones. It pays to have
spare batteries so that you always have a charged power source.
Some cameras have docking stations to help manage the connection
with computers. Many digital SLR cameras have interchangeable
lens systems, some of which may be compatible with traditional
film SLRs.
You can also print your own pictures at home with special
printers that handle standard photograph paper, and connect
directly to your camera. Although it may be less expensive to
simply take your camera’s card, or a CD to your local camera
store, and now many supermarkets and department stores, and use
the automatic printing machines to print the images you want.
There is a lot you can do with a digital camera, and you can pay
les than $200, or more than $10,000. It all depends on how you
see yourself as a photographer, what you’re shooting, and what
you want to do with your pictures. At Myshopping.com.au you can
very quickly compare
specifications and prices.