Digital Photography Tutorial - Selecting an ideal digital camera can be daunting given the huge number of models on the market and their varied features. Here is a quick guide to help you see what is really important when you buy. The first thing to do is to narrow down the many possible buying criteria to a few key ones. Top of the list will probably be your budget, and then what you need your digital camera for.
What to Spend?
In term of cost, the most important factors, in no particular order, are simply these:
• As with most things in life, you get what you pay for, so don't scrimp on your investment.
• Remember to budget for a decent size memory card
• Generally, always buy as many pixels as you can afford
• Buy a digital camera with a display screen, the larger the better. Without this, you'll miss some of the key benefits of using digital cameras: being able to see the shot as it looks before taking it and instantly reviewing it afterwards.
What Do You Need From a Digital Camera?
Before you buy, you need to decide what you want from a digital camera. Once that's done it becomes a much easier decision. The most common things you might use your digital camera images for are:
• Posting on the internet • Sending by email • Viewing on your PC screen • Printing out as photographs • Using for professional work or to make money
Some digital cameras can provide images that are good for all these things; some might not give images that are suitable for any of them. Knowing this is the key to buying the right camera. Essentially, the number of megapixels (1MP or 3MP for example) that the camera has is the key to the 'tasks' it can perform. It's pixels your camera has, the higher its overall specifications are likely to be and the better its build quality. You'll get bigger pictures and more quality for your money.
4MP to 5MP Digital Cameras
These are very basic digital cameras, fine for photos tasks form snapping to large prints, and most cameras now have resizing for email or web use built-in as well. You'll get prints up to maximum of 10x8 inches in size. It's worth nothing when thinking of buying that 1MP and 2MP digital cameras are being phased out and replaced by 3MP and 4MP digital cameras.
6MP to 8MP Digital Cameras
These are the most popular digital cameras and are very widely available. They're also quite inexpensive. A 6MP digital camera has around 2000x3000-pixel resolution and will print photos of around 14x17 inches in size. It's should be viewed as ideal for 'general' shooting. However, 8MP cameras provide scope for work that is more detailed and will provide even larger prints, perhaps more suited for professional-style imaging work. Always buy as many pixels as you can afford in this range.
8MP and Above The current trend in digital cameras is for more and more pixels, which in simple terms offers you lots more detail in your shots. More pixels also means you can make bigger prints, up to and even over A2 in the case of cameras with 8MP and above, but will also use up space more quickly. But such cameras are expensive and, even if your budget stretches to it, you don't necessarily need to buy to buy a high-resolution model if you're unlikely to print bigger than, say A4.
MORE PIXELS, MORE DETAIL
In general, it's best to buy a camera with as many pixels as you can afford, as you can always downsize an image if it has more pixels than you need, but you can't upsize an image that doesn't have enough. For example, if you try to print a 1MP photo at size, you'd normally print a 5MP photo; you see big blocky pixels because you cannot add detail that's not already there. However, you can easily downsize a 5MP image to the usual size of a 1MP image because you have an excess of detail.
We hope you've found this article educational and also informative. Tabitha Mwendo: A passionate Internet business consultant and a writer. she's currently focusing on Thin Digital Camera and Video Camera Lenses theme. For more inspiration on digital photography tutorial check http://www.edigitalcamera.org
